World Perspectives

USDA Trade Estimates Report Comes Under Scrutiny

USDA’s delay of its quarterly agricultural trade report, and exclusion of its typical explanatory text, raised concerns because the moves raised questions about the objectivity of the data. The bottom line is that the trade is uneasy about USDA statistics now. USDA data is considered a gold standard, used by much of the world, and any loss of trust in USDA’s veracity is potentially devastating.       A USDA spokesperson said the report was delayed by an internal review and was hung up in an internal clearance process and was not finalized in time for its typical deadline. Given this report is not statutory, as many other reports USDA does are, USDA is undergoing a review of all non-statutory reports, includin...

Related Articles
feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Market Commentary: Markets Hopeful but Guarded on China; CBOT Falls on Demand Worries

Technical selling, disappointment with the USDA’s latest policy moves, and favorable rains across the Midwest took a bearish toll on the CBOT markets Wednesday. The Federal Reserve, as expected, cut interest rates today and signaled a more dovish approach for the next several months, whic...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Summary of Futures

Dec 25 Corn closed at $4.2675/bushel, down $0.0275 from yesterday's close.  Dec 25 Wheat closed at $5.2825/bushel, down $0.0575 from yesterday's close.  Nov 25 Soybeans closed at $10.4375/bushel, down $0.06 from yesterday's close.  Dec 25 Soymeal closed at $285.7/short ton, down...

WTO and Trump; Analytically Correct, Predictably Wrong

WTO and Trump To quote Wikipedia, James Bacchus is “an American statesman, scholar, writer, and politician". He also served as a founding member and twice chairman of the WTO’s Appellate Body. He now writes from the Libertarian Cato Institute and provocatively asks why the WTO is no...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Market Commentary: Markets Hopeful but Guarded on China; CBOT Falls on Demand Worries

Technical selling, disappointment with the USDA’s latest policy moves, and favorable rains across the Midwest took a bearish toll on the CBOT markets Wednesday. The Federal Reserve, as expected, cut interest rates today and signaled a more dovish approach for the next several months, whic...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Summary of Futures

Dec 25 Corn closed at $4.2675/bushel, down $0.0275 from yesterday's close.  Dec 25 Wheat closed at $5.2825/bushel, down $0.0575 from yesterday's close.  Nov 25 Soybeans closed at $10.4375/bushel, down $0.06 from yesterday's close.  Dec 25 Soymeal closed at $285.7/short ton, down...

WTO and Trump; Analytically Correct, Predictably Wrong

WTO and Trump To quote Wikipedia, James Bacchus is “an American statesman, scholar, writer, and politician". He also served as a founding member and twice chairman of the WTO’s Appellate Body. He now writes from the Libertarian Cato Institute and provocatively asks why the WTO is no...

FOB Prices and Freight Rates App (Updated 17 September)

WPI Grain Prices and Freight Rate App Note: you can also visit the app directly by clicking here. Supplemental Information The section below offers a concise view of the options available in the current version of the WPI FOB Price and Freight Rate app, along with a short “How To”...

Image
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.

Search World Perspectives

Sign In to World Perspectives

Don’t have an account yet? Sign Up