World Perspectives
feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Worsening Food Prices

Key agricultural commodity prices have risen sharply over the past two years, some reaching their highest level in a decade (see graph below). Now the UN says that climate change could cause production to fall 30 percent at the same time food demand is forecast to rise by 50 percent. The caution with this prognostication is that it was made by two of the worst professions at forecasting: economists and meteorologists! Nonetheless, any price increases will be further compounded by the policy decisions that are being made.  Restrictions on inputs such as land, fertilizer, water, and biotechnology. Disincentives for fossil energy development. Initiatives such as local/food sovereignty. Prohibiting products from certain geographies (...

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feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Market Commentary: Market Stalls Waiting for South American Weather Definition

There were modest volumes on this last trading day of the week, except in soymeal and cattle where the goal was to get out of the former and into the latter. There were new contract highs, again, in cattle. Overall weakness was blamed on Argentina’s announced lower tax rates on commodity...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Summary of Futures

Mar 25 Corn closed at $4.865/bushel, down $0.0325 from yesterday's close.  Mar 25 Wheat closed at $5.44/bushel, down $0.1 from yesterday's close.  Mar 25 Soybeans closed at $10.5575/bushel, down $0.0975 from yesterday's close.  Mar 25 Soymeal closed at $304.9/short ton, down $10...

Rollins Confirmation Hearing

As Gary Blumenthal reported yesterday, the Senate Agriculture Committee held a confirmation hearing on the nomination of Brooke Rollins to be Secretary of USDA. As Gary noted, she “rolled” through the hearings “poised, confident, charming” and had done the groundwork as...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Market Commentary: Market Stalls Waiting for South American Weather Definition

There were modest volumes on this last trading day of the week, except in soymeal and cattle where the goal was to get out of the former and into the latter. There were new contract highs, again, in cattle. Overall weakness was blamed on Argentina’s announced lower tax rates on commodity...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Summary of Futures

Mar 25 Corn closed at $4.865/bushel, down $0.0325 from yesterday's close.  Mar 25 Wheat closed at $5.44/bushel, down $0.1 from yesterday's close.  Mar 25 Soybeans closed at $10.5575/bushel, down $0.0975 from yesterday's close.  Mar 25 Soymeal closed at $304.9/short ton, down $10...

Rollins Confirmation Hearing

As Gary Blumenthal reported yesterday, the Senate Agriculture Committee held a confirmation hearing on the nomination of Brooke Rollins to be Secretary of USDA. As Gary noted, she “rolled” through the hearings “poised, confident, charming” and had done the groundwork as...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Market Commentary: Tick Tock on South American Weather

TikTok is still operating but the tick tock on South American will eventually run out of time. Notable developments today included a lower open, but still plenty of strength. Corn remains up about a nickel for the week, beans up more than 30-cents and while wheat dipped today, the large gains l...

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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.

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