World Perspectives
feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

What Are Funds Doing Now? Forecasting the Missing CFTC Data

One of the key data points the ag (and broader) commodity markets are used to getting from the now-shuttered federal government is the weekly CFTC report, which shows how funds and commercials are positioned in the markets. The data is highly useful for myriad applications, and the current lack of information has certainly stressed markets.  To help address this issue, WPI recently completed an exercise in which we use price, volume, and open interest data to infer funds’ positions amid the CFTC data blackout. Further, the data can be used to estimate daily changes in fund positions, which can be especially useful in times of extreme market moves.  WPI’s system revolves around a state-space model estimated using the Ka...

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feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Summary of Futures

May 26 Corn closed at $4.6725/bushel, up $0.0475 from yesterday's close.  May 26 Wheat closed at $5.9775/bushel, up $0.0775 from yesterday's close.  May 26 Soybeans closed at $11.7175/bushel, up $0.1675 from yesterday's close.  May 26 Soymeal closed at $319.8/short ton, down $2.6...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Market Commentary: Demand Builds, Markets Await Confirmation

Key Market Developments Macro: Playing or Trading “Truth or Dare” We’ve entered the “truth or dare” phase of this market — where conviction takes a backseat and headlines drive direction. At any given moment, the narrative shifts: progress in negotiations on...

livestock

Early 2026 Projections of Cow-Calf Finances

Cow-calf margins hit all-time record highs in 2025 as the industry benefited from the downstream impacts of record-breaking beef demand and the smallest beef cattle herd in decades. As WPI readers will know well, the resulting supply crunch boosted cattle prices across the production landscape...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Summary of Futures

May 26 Corn closed at $4.6725/bushel, up $0.0475 from yesterday's close.  May 26 Wheat closed at $5.9775/bushel, up $0.0775 from yesterday's close.  May 26 Soybeans closed at $11.7175/bushel, up $0.1675 from yesterday's close.  May 26 Soymeal closed at $319.8/short ton, down $2.6...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Market Commentary: Demand Builds, Markets Await Confirmation

Key Market Developments Macro: Playing or Trading “Truth or Dare” We’ve entered the “truth or dare” phase of this market — where conviction takes a backseat and headlines drive direction. At any given moment, the narrative shifts: progress in negotiations on...

livestock

Early 2026 Projections of Cow-Calf Finances

Cow-calf margins hit all-time record highs in 2025 as the industry benefited from the downstream impacts of record-breaking beef demand and the smallest beef cattle herd in decades. As WPI readers will know well, the resulting supply crunch boosted cattle prices across the production landscape...

Iran War Impacts; Trade Agreements

Iran War Impacts Confidence in the economy is often tied to partisan politics, with Democrats seeing green when they control the White House, and Republicans ready to invest when their party is in charge. War always creates uncertainty, but uncertainty does not determine the market. A famous gr...

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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.

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