World Perspectives

Trade War to Worsen; USMCA Optimism; U.S.-EU Pessimism

Trade War to Worsen Uncertainty around trade has been a burden to the U.S. economy, especially to farmers, and yet more trouble appears to be coming. Following are the five reasons why Donald Trump is likely to raise punitive tariffs on Chinese goods to 25 percent:

Politics: This president has very little bipartisan support on most things, but both political parties and the American business community agree with his effort to reduce the adverse impact of China’s state-directed economy. Obstinance #1: Donald Trump walked away from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a relatively good deal, so he certainly has little trouble walking away from a bad deal with China. Obstinance #2: He walked away from an agreement with North Korea&...

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CFTC COT Report Analysis

Friday’s CFTC report showed funds paring back their net long position across the major ag futures contracts for the second straight week as signs of hope in the Middle East triggered an exit of geological “risk on” trades from commodity markets. Funds sold 40,000 contracts (4...

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Cattle on Feed - April 1 2026

U.S. cattle on feed totaled 11.6 million head on April 1, 2026, 1 percent below April 1, 2025.  Placements in feedlots during March totaled 1.71 million head, 7 percent below 2025.  Marketings of fed cattle during March totaled 1.63 million head, 6 percent below 2025.  Other disa...

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Summary of Futures

May 26 Corn closed at $4.4875/bushel, up $0.0025 from yesterday's close.  May 26 Wheat closed at $5.9125/bushel, down $0.0725 from yesterday's close.  May 26 Soybeans closed at $11.6725/bushel, up $0.035 from yesterday's close.  May 26 Soymeal closed at $331.8/short ton, down $0...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

CFTC COT Report Analysis

Friday’s CFTC report showed funds paring back their net long position across the major ag futures contracts for the second straight week as signs of hope in the Middle East triggered an exit of geological “risk on” trades from commodity markets. Funds sold 40,000 contracts (4...

livestock

Cattle on Feed - April 1 2026

U.S. cattle on feed totaled 11.6 million head on April 1, 2026, 1 percent below April 1, 2025.  Placements in feedlots during March totaled 1.71 million head, 7 percent below 2025.  Marketings of fed cattle during March totaled 1.63 million head, 6 percent below 2025.  Other disa...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Summary of Futures

May 26 Corn closed at $4.4875/bushel, up $0.0025 from yesterday's close.  May 26 Wheat closed at $5.9125/bushel, down $0.0725 from yesterday's close.  May 26 Soybeans closed at $11.6725/bushel, up $0.035 from yesterday's close.  May 26 Soymeal closed at $331.8/short ton, down $0...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Market Commentary: Rebound for Corn, Beans on Iran News; Wheat Declines

New variables specifically in the agricultural markets were light today, but the Iran war news hit some markets like a tsunami. The war and Iran’s chokehold on global oil supplies have subjugated economies for nearly seven weeks with outsized petrol prices. Everything became distorted aro...

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From WPI Consulting

Communicating importance of value-added products

Facing increasing pressure to quantify the value of export promotion efforts to investors, a U.S. industry organization retained WPI to develop a quantitative model that better communicated the importance of exports. The resulting model concluded that value-added meat exports contributed $0.45 cents per bushel to the price of corn, increasing support for that sector’s financial support of WPI’s client. In addition to serving the red meat industry with this type of analysis, WPI has generated similar deliverables for the U.S. soybean and poultry/egg industries.

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