With the 2010 decade drawing to a close, there is value in looking back at what major developments occurred. The value is derived both from a reminiscent, “remember when?” standpoint and from teachable, real-life examples of the interplay between supply and demand. After all, “Those who cannot recall the past are doomed to repeat it.” WPI’s Dave Juday gave an excellent summary of the macroeconomic changes observed through the decade and this piece attempts to recall and examine the most influential changes on major CBOT/CME markets over the past 10 years. Corn – The 2012 U.S. Drought The 2012 drought impacted crops beyond corn, including soybeans and wheat, but there are few events since 20...
From WPI Consulting
Illuminating the value of technical research
On behalf of a commodity producer organization, WPI evaluated the outputs from a project that featured a $5 million investment into technical research over multiple years. WPI’s team captured the results of this extensive effort and synthesized them for presentation to the organization’s governing board; among the findings uncovered and presented for the first time was the development of genomic traits proven, via rigorous testing, to provide crop yield advantages of 50 percent or more to U.S. farmers in times of drought. Capturing measurable results from long-term efforts can be challenging. Educating clients on the dynamics of success measurement when quantifiable results are not readily available requires deep client-consultant collaboration and an ability to consider both near- and long-term client aspirations with market/policy dynamics – attributes that WPI brings to every consulting engagement.