Some are raising concerns that cooler temperatures and excess late season rain have caused quality problems for the typically high protein/strong gluten spring wheat crop. There is the threat that the lower quality wheat will end up being delivered against futures contracts and is causing falling prices in Minneapolis. That concern has not been reflected thus far in USDA’s weekly Crop Progress report. The share of the hard red spring wheat crop rated Good/Excellent fell from 74 percent at the beginning of August to 72 percent last week. That is still well above the average of the past ten years, and strikingly better than the 2021 and 2023 HRS crops at this time of the season. Thus far in August, the December HRS contract has f...
What You Need to Know Today: Traders are increasingly focused on next Wednesday’s August WASDE report, with corn and soybean yield estimates expected to drive the next major move in grain markets. Recent crop condition declines and late-July heat have increased uncertainty around USDA&rs...
Yesterday the Senate Agriculture Committee held its markup of the “skinny” farm bill, and it was derailed over Democratic opposition to plans for imposing food stamp costs on state governments. The Democrats pushed back on a provision that required states to pick up a larger share o...
Key Takeaways: WPI’s 2025/26 corn export models continue to reflect strong international demand and put the total marketing year volume slightly above USDA’s estimates. Strong old crop corn exports are offset by weaker feed and residual use, leaving ending stocks slightly ele...
From WPI Consulting
Forecasting developments in production agriculture
On behalf of a private U.S. agricultural technology provider, WPI’s team generated an econometric model to forecast the movement of concentrated corn production north and west from the traditional U.S. Corn Belt. WPI’s model has subsequently provided quantitative support to a multi-million-dollar investment into short-season corn variety development. WPI’s methodology included a series of interviews with regional grain elevators and seed consultants. Emphasizing outreach and communication with stakeholders who possess intimate sectoral knowledge – on-the-ground insights – is a regular component of WPI’s methodologies, made possible by WPI’s ever-growing network of industry contacts.