World Perspectives
  • Markets
  • World
  • Publications

Articles

WASDE Soymeal

U.S. soybean meal price is projected at $375 per short ton, up 45 dollars...

WASDE Soybeans

U.S. soybean ending stocks for 2021/22 are raised 10 million bushels to 350 million. The U.S. season-average soybean price for 2021/22 is forecast at $12.6...

WASDE Corn

U.S. corn ending stocks for 2021/22 are raised 47 million bushels to 1,540 million. The season-average corn price received by producers is unchanged at $5...

China In-Country Analysis

Macroeconomics Food Inflation Reverses Course, Falls in December With pork prices continuing to remain well below their averages from a year ago, food cost...

WASDE Wheat

U.S. wheat ending stocks for 2021/22 are raised 30 million bushels to 628 million.  The season-average farm price is raised $0.10 per bushel to $7.15...

Black Sea Regional Analysis

Russian Grain Markets: 3-7 January 2022 The first week of January was holiday season, as usual, so it was impossible to register any changes on the Russian...

Fake Pork Trade; Humoring Russia

Fake Pork Trade USTR Katherine Tai announced that bilateral negotiations had resulted in India opening its market to imports of U.S. pork. This past year,...

Summary of Futures

Mar 22 Corn closed at $6.01/bushel, up $0.0125 from yesterday's close.  Mar 22 Wheat closed at $7.7025/bushel, up $0.0825 from yesterday's close. ...

Middle East, Mediterranean and Africa Regional Analysis

Regional Updates MEDITERRANEAN/MIDDLE EAST/NORTH AFRICA  MEA region grain importers will face lower Russian export quotas in 2022 – 8 MMT of whe...

Three-Year Rebuild

The price of palm oil has been rising since the start of 2021, reaching a local price roughly double the average of the previous dozen years. Production in...

Beef with Oil; Carbon Trouble

Beef with Oil The Biden Administration dislikes the oil industry as much or more than Big Beef. After stating the goals of ending drilling on public lands,...

Summary of Futures

Mar 22 Corn closed at $5.9975/bushel, down $0.07 from yesterday's close.  Mar 22 Wheat closed at $7.62/bushel, up $0.035 from yesterday's close. ...

Fat Cats

Investors are most interested in maximizing their return on capital. It is notable that across 97 different industries, the agrifood sector is a mixed bag...

EPA Renewable Fuels Coming Regulations and Canola Trade

On 7 December, EPA announced its proposed required volume obligations (RVO) rules which gained much attention. What gained less attention was the regulator...

Mercosur Regional Analysis

Argentina’s Wheat/Corn Trust The Argentine government is being creative in trying to control inflation rates. They are trying to control local wheat...

European Market Analysis

Regional News  Ukraine’s grain exports for MY 2021/22 total 33.5 MMT, up 23 percent from the same period last year. Of that, wheat accounts for...

A Different Kind of Inflation in 2021

The U.S. has not used the gold standard since 1933, when the Emergency Banking Act forced Americans to give up gold and convert their holdings to dollars...

Real Food Sovereignty; Obesity Solutions

Real Food Sovereignty Activists and their populist politicians in rich, developed countries have an answer for reforming agriculture – small farms us...

CFTC COT Report Analysis

The attached PDF offers graphical depiction and seasonal analysis of managed money and commercial traders' net position in key agricultural commodity marke...

Oilseed Situation Update

As the trading week closed out, the soy complex incurred another series of impressive gains largely driven by production uncertainties in South America. Th...

Summary of Futures

Mar 22 Corn closed at $6.0675/bushel, up $0.03 from yesterday's close.  Mar 22 Wheat closed at $7.585/bushel, up $0.125 from yesterday's close. ...

Market Commentary: Topsy Turvey

Corn and cattle opened down but settled up; soyoil opened up but closed down with the rest of the complex; and wheat never saw the light of day. The ration...

Mistakes on All Sides

Russian President Vladimir Putin complains that NATO is a threat to Russia and seeks a buffer to establish states but the nations he wants to isolate from...

Livestock Round-Up: Dealing with the Omicron Effect

The increased number of cases of the Omicron variant of COVID has been weighing somewhat on the cattle markets this past week. There is general chatter abo...

Summary of Futures

Mar 22 Corn closed at $6.0375/bushel, up $0.015 from yesterday's close.  Mar 22 Wheat closed at $7.46/bushel, down $0.1475 from yesterday's close.&nbs...

China In-Country Analysis

Livestock Major Live Hog Companies Target Increased Capacity in 2022 Even with live hog prices down year-on-year by 54.8 percent and the corn-hog ratio in...

Export Sales

Export Sales for December 24-30, 2021 Wheat:  Net sales of 48,600 metric tons (MT) for 2021/2022--a marketing-year low—were down 76 percent from...

Summary of Futures

Mar 22 Corn closed at $6.0225/bushel, down $0.0725 from yesterday's close.  Mar 22 Wheat closed at $7.6075/bushel, down $0.0925 from yesterday's close...

Dissecting Beef

The Biden Administration is charging the meat packing industry with exploitation for elevated beef prices. Beef is certainly not the only industry with ris...

Black Sea Regional Analysis

Russian Grain Markets: 27-31 December 2021 The last week of December on the Russian grain market was very calm. General trends were downward. Market player...

Summary of Futures

Mar 22 Corn closed at $6.095/bushel, up $0.2025 from yesterday's close.  Mar 22 Wheat closed at $7.7/bushel, up $0.12 from yesterday's close.  Ma...

Market Commentary: Boisterous Day

The second trading day of the new year started modestly enough. Corn and soybeans were up a nickel, soymeal was in the hole. Then with a burst of volume co...

Eye on Weather for 2022 Considering Fertilizer Prices

There has been much discussion and focus on the weather conditions in South America, and Brazil in particular where it has been dry across the central and...

Biden’s Beef to Nowhere; Irrepressible COOL

Biden’s Beef to Nowhere In 2005, members of the Alaska Congressional delegation tried to add funding equivalent in today’s inflation-adjusted d...

Market Swing Leans Bullish

Berry Marttin at Rabobank notes that agricultural commodity prices have risen 28 percent over the past year and are 40 percent above pre-pandemic levels. L...

Middle East, Mediterranean and Africa Regional Analysis

Regional Updates MEDITERRANEAN/MIDDLE EAST/NORTH AFRICA  Syria is facing a water crisis in the northeast that it blames on Turkey. Dams on the Euphrat...

Biden Plan to Downsize “Big Meat”

The Biden Administration today held a roundtable to discuss the details of its Action Plan for a Fairer, More Competitive, and More Resilient Meat and Poul...

WASDE Adjustments to South America

La Niña events are not infrequent and should provide some level of predictability. However, there is wide variability in each event, seed genetics c...

Summary of Futures

Mar 22 Corn closed at $5.8925/bushel, down $0.04 from yesterday's close.  Mar 22 Wheat closed at $7.58/bushel, down $0.1275 from yesterday's close.&nb...

The State and Monopolies

The Biden Administration announced a $1 billion program to incentivize “independent processing capacity” in the meat industry. Noting the irony...

Mercosur Regional Analysis

Wheat In the last two weeks, amid drought and sunny, warm weather, Argentina’s wheat harvest moved fast and reached almost 90 percent of the planted...

Summary of Futures

Mar 22 Corn closed at $5.9325/bushel, down $0.0275 from yesterday's close.  Mar 22 Wheat closed at $7.7075/bushel, down $0.09 from yesterday's close.&...

Low Volume, High Interest

Today’s trading went as expected with a low volume of business but that does not obviate the high interest in agricultural commodities as we move int...

GE Labeling; Skewed Meat View; Accurate Milk View

GE Labeling  Starting in 2022, the U.S. will have mandatory labeling of foods with detectable amounts of genetically modified content. WPI emphasizes...

Market Commentary: Profit Taking, Brazil Rains Weigh on CBOT

The CBOT came under pressure Thursday from a combination of end-of-year profit taking and rains that are pushing into southern Brazil. Traders were eager t...

An Early Look at Red Meat’s Future

At the end of the year, thoughts are turning to the future – not just 2022, but the longer term as well. USDA released its preliminary long-term outl...

Export Sales

Export Sales for December 17-23, 2021. Wheat:  Net sales of 199,500 metric tons (MT) for 2021/2022 were down 53 percent from the previous week and 43...

Summary of Futures

Mar 22 Corn closed at $5.96/bushel, down $0.095 from yesterday's close.  Mar 22 Wheat closed at $7.7975/bushel, down $0.08 from yesterday's close.&nbs...

Russian Roulette

Market volatility has risen with Covid and its latest iteration Omicron but has thus far underplayed the current security risks playing out in Eastern Euro...

Summary of Futures

Mar 22 Corn closed at $6.0475/bushel, down $0.1 from yesterday's close.  Mar 22 Wheat closed at $7.835/bushel, down $0.205 from yesterday's close.&nbs...

Market Commentary: Small Comeback

Today’s trading opened like a continuation of the day before. Wheat corn and soy all opened lower with just the livestock complex in a more bullish m...

Farm Bill Negotiations to Start Soon

House Agriculture Committee Chairman David Scott (D-Georgia) has indicated that negotiations for the farm bill will start in the very early weeks of 2022...

Summary of Futures

Mar 22 Corn closed at $6.0475/bushel, down $0.1 from yesterday's close.  Mar 22 Wheat closed at $7.835/bushel, down $0.205 from yesterday's close.&nbs...

Market Commentary: Corrective Doldrum

It now looks like Omicron is manageable, which supports macros and ethanol but otherwise there are few new commodity market inputs. That led to an opportun...

Soft Opening

Welcome back from the holiday. The latest weather reports have not brightened prospects for crops in Argentina and southern Brazil and weather premium was...

Summary of Futures

Mar 22 Corn closed at $6.1475/bushel, up $0.09 from yesterday's close.  Mar 22 Wheat closed at $8.04/bushel, down $0.1075 from yesterday's close. ...

Holiday Schedule

Financial markets will be closed tomorrow, December 24, for Christmas Eve. As a result, there will be no Ag Perspectives report tomorrow. WPI wishes everyo...

Livestock Round Up: Bullish Report on Hogs, Neutral on Cattle

USDA released a trifecta of livestock reports today. First, the much-awaited quarterly hogs and pigs report. Pre-report expectations were for a bullish rep...

Summary of Futures

Mar 22 Corn closed at $6.0575/bushel, up $0.0325 from yesterday's close.  Mar 22 Wheat closed at $8.1475/bushel, up $0.0075 from yesterday's close.&nb...

Greed versus Apathy

President Biden and his economic team attacked the U.S. meat industry this year for being greedy. Meanwhile, he has politely asked the oil industry to plea...

China In-Country Analysis

Livestock Tariff on Imported Pork Set to Rise to Help Domestic Industry Even with China’s national reproductive sow inventory falling to 43 million h...

Export Sales

Export Sales for December 10-16, 2021. Wheat:  Net sales of 425,400 metric tons (MT) for 2021/2022 were down 35 percent from the previous week, but up...

December Cold Storage Report

November total red meat and poultry stocks were down from October and fell 11.3 percent from November 2020. Once again, pork and chicken stocks posted five...

Africa Already Green

When the EU and the African Union meet in February, Brussels will reportedly encourage the AU to adopt Europe’s Green Deal/Farm to Fork strategy in a...

Summary of Futures

Mar 22 Corn closed at $6.025/bushel, up $0.0425 from yesterday's close.  Mar 22 Wheat closed at $8.14/bushel, up $0.15 from yesterday's close.  J...

Diabolical Plan; Trade in Cancer; Energy Reality

Diabolical Plan USTR issued a blistering report regarding Russia’s increasingly protectionist trade policy. It accused Moscow of employing localizati...

Black Sea Regional Analysis

Russian Grain Markets: 13-17 December 2021 Russian grain market wheat prices decreased at higher rates than during the previous week due to growing grain e...

Which Way Chile; Green Excuse

Which Way Chile Analysts are pondering the future of Chile now that it has elected socialist Gabriel Boric as its next president. Boric campaigned to end n...

Rarely Due to War

Syria’s wheat production collapsed this year, but it was not due to the nearly decade-long civil war. The FAO cites three causes: 1) drought; 2) high...

Cattle on Feed and Hogs and Pigs Preview

It’s a holiday shortened week, but a big week for livestock reports from USDA. On Thursday, the quarterly Hogs and Pigs report comes out. (We’v...

Middle East, Mediterranean and Africa Regional Analysis

Regional Updates MEDITERRANEAN/MIDDLE EAST/NORTH AFRICA  Egypt’s Agricultural Bank is putting up EGP 4 billion (about U.S. $254 million) “...

Perk up Attention

Exports point to climate change as the cause of the plateauing in global crop production but no where is it more apparent than in coffee production. Brazil...

Summary of Futures

Mar 22 Corn closed at $5.91/bushel, down $0.0225 from yesterday's close.  Mar 22 Wheat closed at $7.7775/bushel, up $0.0275 from yesterday's close.&nb...

BBB Blowback; Shoot the Messenger; Silver Lining

BBB Blowback Although word yesterday that U.S. Senator Joe Manchin’s rejection of President Biden’s Build Back Better (BBB) Act appears to be l...

Meat Inflation: Income Elasticity Worked as Expected in 2021

Inflation is a hot topic lately; it is the reason why the Fed has signaled it will raise interest rates three times next year. Moreover, it is why Senator...

European Market Analysis

Regional News  Concerns about the frost-tolerance of the Black Sea wheat crop are growing after the EU Commission confirmed last week that a late star...

Mercosur Regional Analysis

Export Quota Update Finally, the Argentine government implemented a so-called “new” system to control wheat and corn exports. The “new&rd...

CFTC COT Report Analysis

The attached PDF offers graphical depiction and seasonal analysis of managed money and commercial traders' net position in key agricultural commodity marke...

Russian Ultimatum; Cynical Tax Break

Russian Ultimatum Russian President Vladmimir Putin just provoked the transatlantic strategy on managing his country’s possible aggression in Eastern...

Fertilizer Worries and Natural Gas News

The November edition of the Purdue University/CME Ag Economy Barometer shows that November was the lowest index of the year to date at 116 – down 51...

Summary of Futures

Mar 22 Corn closed at $5.9325/bushel, up $0.02 from yesterday's close.  Mar 22 Wheat closed at $7.75/bushel, up $0.045 from yesterday's close.  J...

Oilseeds Situation – Mixed Outlook

Supply While the global supply of oilseeds and products is tight, it could get tighter or looser. The least likely factor to reduce demand and thus loosen...

Market Commentary: Confidence in the Pits

The market appeared to be half asleep at the start of today’s session. Corn and wheat were up relatively modestly for a while until wheat shot up to...

Summary of Futures

Mar 22 Corn closed at $5.9125/bushel, up $0.055 from yesterday's close.  Mar 22 Wheat closed at $7.705/bushel, up $0.145 from yesterday's close. ...

Tripping Up Shipping; Minimal? 2022 Drivers

Tripping Up Shipping The shelves are not bare before Christmas, but somethings remain in short supply. Political success means saving the day and some drea...

Export Sales

Export Sales for Dec 3-9, 2021. Wheat:  Net sales of 650,600 metric tons (MT) for 2021/2022--a marketing-year high--were up noticeably from the previo...

Summary of Futures

March 22 Corn ($/bu) $5.8575 March 22 Wheat ($/bu) $7.5600 March 22 Hard Red Winter ($/bu)     $7.8550 March Hard Red Spring ($/bu) $10.0925...

Inflation Truth; Excess Demand; Source of News

Inflation Truth The U.S. Federal Reserve sent a strong signal today that inflation is endemic in the economy and that strong action is needed to bring it u...

How Sweet it Isn’t

In the past three years, India has switched from being the number four exporter of sugar in the world to number two. Over the past dozen years, its domesti...

China In-Country Analysis

Macroeconomics Food Inflation Sees First Uptick Since May After five consecutive months of declines, food prices in the aggregate rose by 1.6 percent on an...

Black Sea Regional Analysis

Russian Grain Markets: 6-10 December 2021 Russian grain market wheat prices continue to decrease. Export milling wheat average offer price decreased to $33...

Food Better Than Healthcare; Big Ag is Safe; Siloed Big Tech

Food Better Than Healthcare While the healthcare sector has been called a miracle for the way it has handled the pandemic, the food industry has been criti...

Producer Prices Hit Record High as Fed Begins December Meeting

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released the Producer Price Index (PPI) today, the primary measure of inflation for manufacturers and producers. The P...

Summary of Futures

Mar 22 Corn closed at $5.9025/bushel, up $0.0525 from yesterday's close.  Mar 22 Wheat closed at $7.87/bushel, down $0.0175 from yesterday's close.&nb...

Ukrainian Opportunity

Ukraine has become an important supplier of corn over the past decade, increasing its exports by 155 percent. However, its share of the global market has o...

Middle East, Mediterranean and Africa Regional Analysis

Regional Updates MEDITERRANEAN/MIDDLE EAST/NORTH AFRICA  Egypt reports that current wheat reserves will cover consumption for 5.3 months. Egypt’...

Next Trade War; Blaming Meat Industry; Taiwan Trouble

Next Trade War The EU Commission is moving forward on its goal of ensuring that constraints imposed on European producers will also be applied to imports...

Summary of Futures

Mar 22 Corn closed at $5.85/bushel, down $0.05 from yesterday's close.  Mar 22 Wheat closed at $7.8875/bushel, up $0.035 from yesterday's close. ...

Potato Trade Grows

Potatoes have taken a dietary beating for being a basic starch that raises blood sugar as fast as pure glucose. By contrast, whole wheat contains complex s...

European Market Analysis

Milling Wheat  World wheat markets are under pressure from USDA’s December WASDE, which increased global 2021/22 ending stocks due to larger pro...

Mercosur Regional Analysis

Wheat Argentina  Argentina’s wheat harvest is 54 percent complete after advancing 8.5 percent last week. Yields in the center and south of the a...

CFTC COT Report Analysis

The attached PDF offers graphical depiction and seasonal analysis of managed money and commercial traders' net position in key agricultural commodity marke...

GMO Debate Over; More China Calculations

GMO Debate Over Mark Twain may have said that a lie travels around the globe while the truth is putting on its shoes and the adage is truer today than ever...

Taking a Closer Look at a Few Details About the RVOs

There was a lot to sort through on Tuesday’s RVO announcement. Below is a look at some key issues.  SREs: There has been a lot of media coverage...

Summary of Futures

Mar 22 Corn closed at $5.9/bushel, down $0.0175 from yesterday's close.  Mar 22 Wheat closed at $7.8525/bushel, up $0.085 from yesterday's close. ...

Oilseeds Situation Update

A summary of the bullish and bearish supply, demand and policy machinations affecting the global oilseeds sector. Supply Bullish Argentina: Soybean planted...

Export Sales

Export Sales for Nov 26 to Dec 2,2021.  Wheat:  Net sales of 239,900 metric tons (MT) for 2021/2022 were up noticeably from the previous week, bu...

WASDE Soyoil

Soyoil: USDA’s December 2021 estimate is for soyoil to average 65 cents per pound in the 2021/22 season. ...

WASDE Soymeal

Soymeal: USDA’s December 2021 estimate is for meal price to increased $5.00 to $330.00 per short ton...

WASDE Soybeans

Soybeans: USDA’s December 2021 estimate is unchanged from last month. Soybean crush is unchanged but soybean oil production is raised on a higher ext...

WASDE Corn

Corn: USDA’s December 2021 estimate is unchanged from last month. The projected season-average farm price remains at $5.45 per bushel. Global coarse...

WASDE Wheat

WHEAT: USDA’s December 2021 estimate is for a small increase in U.S. ending stock because exports are lowered 20 million bushels. U.S. export prices...

Market Commentary: The Mysteries of WASDE

USDA seems to never cease disappointing some traders’ expectations. USDA characterized its December WASDE report as containing “minor” ch...

Summary of Futures

Mar 22 Corn closed at $5.9175/bushel, up $0.045 from yesterday's close.  Mar 22 Wheat closed at $7.7675/bushel, down $0.1775 from yesterday's close.&n...

Congressional Reform; Inflation Rate

Congressional Reform The U.S. Congress is held in general low regard by the American public. Seen as petty, partisan and dysfunctional, the institution doe...

WASDE, 2022 Cattle Prices and 2021 Pork Imports

Today’s WASDE shows total red meat and poultry production finishing the year slightly below last month’s forecasts, though up 0.3 percent from...

Changes in Chemical Usage

The U.S./Canada and Europe have increased pesticide usage only slightly over the past two decades whereas South America’s usage has grown by almost 1...

Wishful Thinking; Better Buyers than Sellers; Siloed Market

Wishful Thinking The EU is developing a new trade policy intended to rapidly respond to “coercive measures” by third countries, such as Donald...

Summary of Futures

Mar 22 Corn closed at $5.8725/bushel, up $0.0125 from yesterday's close.  Mar 22 Wheat closed at $7.945/bushel, down $0.14 from yesterday's close.&nbs...

China In-Country Analysis

Livestock Muyuan’s Credit Default Sends Shockwave Through Industry Based on recent reports from the Shanghai Commercial Paper Exchange (SHCPE), more...

Black Sea Regional Analysis

Russian Grain Markets: 29 November-3 December 2021 Russian grain market wheat prices decreased mainly due to downward trends on international wheat markets...

Corruption Focus; Next Transportation Fuel

Corruption Focus The Biden Administration will emphasize its Strategy on Countering Corruption at this week’s Summit for Democracy. Shell companies w...

Summary of Futures

Mar 22 Corn closed at $5.86/bushel, up $0.025 from yesterday's close.  Mar 22 Wheat closed at $8.085/bushel, up $0.0225 from yesterday's close. ...

Government Led Nutrition

Everyone knows China loves pork, but its new affinity is dairy. Throughout Chinese history, dairy was mostly associated with nomadic tribes, like the dread...

Middle East, Mediterranean and Africa Regional Analysis

Regional Updates MEDITERRANEAN/MIDDLE EAST/NORTH AFRICA  Pakistan has agreed that the transportation of 50,000 MT wheat from India to Afghanistan, via...

Summary of Futures

Mar 22 Corn closed at $5.835/bushel, down $0.005 from yesterday's close.  Mar 22 Wheat closed at $8.0625/bushel, up $0.025 from yesterday's close.&nbs...

Growing Threat to Trade

Russia is positioning to invade Ukraine if it wants, and China is seeking to put a military base on the Atlantic in Equatorial Guinea. Then there is China&...

Brazilian Beef and BSE

Brazilian Minister of Agriculture, Tereza Cristina, has stated she’s hopeful Brazil will be shipping beef to China again this month. Brazil’s l...

Hurdles for Beef

Making beef is challenging, and making good beef is even more complicated. It requires far more resources than competing animal proteins, which is why glob...

European Market Analysis

Regional News  Russia continues to build its troop presence on the border with Ukraine and has mobilized some 170,000 troops to the region. That is 70...

Mercosur Regional Analysis

Wheat Argentina’s wheat harvest continues at high speed with 12 percent harvested this week. The total has now reached 45 percent of the planted area...

CFTC COT Report Analysis

The attached PDF offers graphical depiction and seasonal analysis of managed money and commercial traders' net position in key agricultural commodity marke...

Summary of Futures

Mar 22 Corn closed at $5.84/bushel, up $0.0725 from yesterday's close.  Mar 22 Wheat closed at $8.0375/bushel, down $0.1125 from yesterday's close.&nb...

Greens on Defense; Apparel Peril; NAFTA Changes Parties

Greens on Defense For decades the policy bible for Greens in Europe has included scriptures against GMO’s and nuclear energy. But GMO’s can aid...

Cotton Beats Wheat

There is much consternation over the fact that global stocks-to-use in wheat is down to 12.5 percent and as a result, the price of the March SRW contract i...

Market Commentary: Omicron Correction

It was a risk off day as investors shook off earlier Omicron concerns and bought back part of what they’d given up in the past few days. With indicat...

Summary of Futures

Mar 22 Corn closed at $5.7675/bushel, up $0.0525 from yesterday's close.  Mar 22 Wheat closed at $8.15/bushel, up $0.245 from yesterday's close. ...

Energy and Food Lessons; Implications of Ukraine; Omicron Buys WTO Time

Energy and Food Lessons Energy and food prices are spiking at the same time policy reform advocates are seeking wholesale changes in the production of both...

Livestock Round Up: Broiler Production Ramping Up

The broiler production is looking strong for the new year. Chick hatching for placements in October was up 6 percent year-over-year. That’s the large...

China In-Country Analysis

Livestock Senior Ag Ministry Official Warns of Sustained Low Hog Prices In a recent interview, the Deputy Director of MARA’s Animal Husbandry and Vet...

Export Sales

Export Sales for November 19-25, 2021. Wheat:  Net sales of 79,900 metric tons (MT) for2021/2022--a marketing-year low--were down 86 percent from the...

Market Commentary: Ag Markets Bounce, Pullback as Omicron Detected in U.S.

The CBOT started the day higher with corn and the soy complex leading the way after “buy on the bounce” and “risk on” trade develop...

China Strategy; Biotech Breakout

China Strategy The U.S., EU and Japan have agreed to collaborate on how to deal with non-market economic practices – read China. The debate over how...

AI Impact

As the media tracks the spread of the Omicron version of COVID, there are reports of additional outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza (H5N1) in Eu...

Summary of Futures

Mar 22 Corn closed at $5.715/bushel, up $0.04 from yesterday's close.  Mar 22 Wheat closed at $7.905/bushel, up $0.0325 from yesterday's close. ...

Black Sea Regional Analysis

Russian Grain Markets: 22-26 November 2021 Russian grain market prices moved in different directions, but the changes were not dramatic. They took place ma...

Market Commentary: COVID Tanks Markets (again)

“… [covid’s] always on my mind, [covid’s] always on my mind.” With apologies to Willie Nelson, that was the tune markets wer...

Anti-vaxxers Come to Ag; Identity Politics Come to Trade

Anti-vaxxers Come to Ag The Green Revolution created modern agriculture, which has been called a mechanism for turning fossil fuels (inputs) into food. In...

COVID Variant Inflation

The Senate Banking Committee held a hearing today entitled, “CARES Act Oversight of Treasury and the Federal Reserve: Building a Resilient Economy.&r...

Aussie Wheat Importance

Although Australia produces less than 5 percent of global wheat output, it is typically the world’s fourth largest exporter. Due to its tendency towa...

Summary of Futures

Mar 22 Corn closed at $5.675/bushel, down $0.1475 from yesterday's close.  Mar 22 Wheat closed at $7.8725/bushel, down $0.35 from yesterday's close.&n...

Middle East, Mediterranean and Africa Regional Analysis

Regional Updates MEDITERRANEAN/MIDDLE EAST/NORTH AFRICA  Pakistan and India are having difficulty in agreeing on the method to move Indian wheat to Af...

CFTC COT Report Analysis

The attached PDF offers graphical depiction and seasonal analysis of managed money and commercial traders' net position in key agricultural commodity marke...

December’s Legislative Traffic Jam

Congress has a busy December ahead of it, including keeping the government open and increasing the Treasury Department’s borrowing authority. As it s...

Summary of Futures

 Dec 21 Corn closed at $5.81/bushel, down $0.0575 from yesterday's close.  Mar 22 Wheat closed at $8.2225/bushel, down $0.18 from yesterday's clo...

India’s Dangerous Reversal; Dems vs. Coms

India’s Dangerous Reversal Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent reversal on farm policy reforms will reverberate for years to come. Ess...

Mercosur Regional Analysis

Last week was a short one for trading with Monday having been an Argentine holiday and Thursday marking the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday. Markets were, of cou...

Poultry Politics

Inflation is worrisome to the public and so politicians feel compelled to deflect any blame from themselves. Thus, President Biden called for an FTC invest...

European Market Analysis

Regional News  France has detected the highly pathogenic bird flu virus on a farm in the northern part of the country, officials said on Saturday. The...

Summary of Futures

Dec 21 Corn closed at $5.8675/bushel, up $0.07 from yesterday's close.  Mar 22 Wheat closed at $8.4025/bushel, down $0.1 from yesterday's close. ...

Cancellation of Convenience; Fox in the Henhouse

Cancellation of Convenience The WTO’s 12th ministerial conference scheduled to begin next week has reportedly been postponed due to news of a new COV...

Export Sales

Wheat:  Net sales of 567,500 metric tons (MT) for 2021/2022 were up 42 percent from the previous week and 70 percent from the prior4-week average. Cor...

Delayed RVOs Leads to Pushing Back RFS Compliance Deadlines

Recently, WPI reported on the Subcommittee on Commodity Exchanges, Energy, and Credit hearing about the timeline for the required volume obligations (...

Happy Thanksgiving

U.S. markets, including the CBOT and CME, are closed for the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday on Thursday, 25 November. Consequently, WPI’s offices will be...

Summary of Futures

Dec 21 Corn closed at $5.7975/bushel, down $0.0075 from yesterday's close.  Mar 22 Wheat closed at $8.5025/bushel, down $0.1725 from yesterday's close...

China Does it Again

Tomorrow is “turkey-day” in the U.S. but today the story is beef. Prices are up nearly 30 percent and while the cattle cycle is part of the sto...

China In-Country Analysis

Livestock Feed Demand Slows in Q4  Data from the surveys of China’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (MARA) Affairs and the China Feed...

Black Sea Regional Analysis

Russian Grain Markets: 15-19 November 2021 Russian grain market prices moved in different directions. Export duties continued to increase. Export milling w...

Farm Bill Outlook; China Phase One

Farm Bill Outlook Former Congressional staffer turned University of Illinois professor Jonathon Coppess correctly opines that negotiation on the 2023 farm...

How Sweet it Isn't

  Two major U.S. sugar processors, U.S. Sugar and Imperial Sugar planned a merger, but the Justice Department is saying no. It warns that the duopoly...

Summary of Futures

Dec 21 Corn closed at $5.805/bushel, up $0.0375 from yesterday's close.  Mar 22 Wheat closed at $8.675/bushel, up $0.1 from yesterday's close.  J...

SPR Release Turns Out to be Bullish

President Biden ordered the release of 50 million barrels of crude oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserves (SPR) to ease gas prices. The release will be...

Middle East, Mediterranean and Africa Regional Analysis

Regional Updates MEDITERRANEAN/MIDDLE EAST/NORTH AFRICA  Bangladesh reports that the lowest offer under its 50,000 MT wheat tender is $409.77 MT CNF L...

Build Back Better Legislation Through the House

The House passed the scaled back version of the President’s Build Back Better reconciliation bill; the original package was $3.5 trillion, what got t...

Inflation Blame-Shifting; India’s Un-Reform

Inflation Blame-Shifting President Joe Biden has asked the Federal Trade Commission to investigate the major oil companies for raising the cost of the fuel...

GM Advantage

Eggplant (Brinjal) is one of the more important vegetables consumed in South Asia. It is low in nutrients but provides bulk and fiber while also being high...

Summary of Futures

Dec 21 Corn closed at $5.7675/bushel, up $0.06 from yesterday's close.  Dec 21 Wheat closed at $8.4575/bushel, up $0.2275 from yesterday's close. ...

Mercosur Regional Analysis

Argentina’s government has already started playing games with the export declarations allowances. They reopened the export registry for additional qu...

Cattle on Feed

U.S. Cattle on Feed, in feedlots with capacity of 1,000 or more head, totaled 11.9 million head on November 1, 2021. The inventory was slightly below Novem...

True Conclusion; All the Above

True Conclusion Art Cullen, publisher of Iowa’s The Storm Lake Times, correctly opines that most farmers want to protect the soil and the environment...

Neutral Cattle on Feed Report

USDA released its monthly cattle on feed report today showing a total inventory of cattle and calves in feed yards of 11.9 million head on 1 November, whic...

Summary of Futures

Dec 21 Corn closed at $5.7075/bushel, down $0.0225 from yesterday's close.  Dec 21 Wheat closed at $8.23/bushel, up $0.03 from yesterday's close. ...

Russia's Wheat Export Tax

Russia has exploded as a wheat exporter, tripling its sales in just a decade. By contrast, domestic consumption grew some but has been relatively stagnant...

Market Commentary: Record Gains, Then Losses

It was a strange trading day with twists and turns that were at a minimum, unusual: Grains and oilseeds all closed higher overnight and then continued th...

Summary of Futures

Dec 21 Corn closed at $5.73/bushel, down $0.0225 from yesterday's close.  Dec 21 Wheat closed at $8.2/bushel, down $0.0225 from yesterday's close.&nbs...

State-led Chips; Grand Bargain Needed

State-led Chips Governments around the world spend billions of dollars in pursuit of food security and now the focus has expanded to computer security. Chi...

Livestock Round Up: Cattle Marketing Legislation Proposed

The cattle marketing bill we reported was being developed (9 November) was introduced yesterday in both the House and Senate. It is a mash-up of two cash m...

Export Sales

Exports for November 5-11, 2021 Wheat:  Net sales of 399,100 metric tons (MT) for 2021/2022 were up 40 percent from the previous week and 21 percent f...

Selective Application; Missing Agenda

Selective Application The EU proposed a new regulation requiring due diligence on the part of companies marketing specific products (soybeans, beef, palm o...

Summary of Futures

Dec 21 Corn closed at $5.7525/bushel, up $0.0425 from yesterday's close.  Dec 21 Wheat closed at $8.2225/bushel, up $0.12 from yesterday's close. ...

China In-Country Analysis

Macroeconomics Food Prices Fall Again But Pace Slows With the average prices for fresh vegetables climbing by 15.9 percent year-on-year in October, the cos...

Food System Speed Bumps

There were plenty of critics of the food system before the pandemic and the disruptions it caused prompted even more over-the-top accusations of total fail...

Black Sea Regional Analysis

Russian Grain Markets: 8-12 November 2021 Russian grain market prices moved in different directions and changed insignificantly. Export duties continued to...

Where’s the RVO?

The House Agriculture Committee’s Subcommittee on Commodity Exchanges, Energy, and Credit held a hearing today on the “Renewable Economy in Rur...

Summary of Futures

Dec 21 Corn closed at $5.71/bushel, down $0.055 from yesterday's close.  Dec 21 Wheat closed at $8.1025/bushel, down $0.16 from yesterday's close.&nbs...

Activist Math; COP26 and Biotech Future

Activist Math In the latest analytical miss by the activist group Food & Water Watch, “The Economic Cost of Food Monopolies: The Grocery Cartels,...

“Infrastructure” Package Details

Now that the new infrastructure bill has been signed into law, we almost know what is in it. While it is called an infrastructure bill, a little over a qua...

Middle East, Mediterranean and Africa Regional Analysis

Regional Updates MEDITERRANEAN/MIDDLE EAST/NORTH AFRICA  Iraq says it intends to tender for 500,000 MT of wheat in December 2021 or early 2022. The te...

Summary of Futures

CORN December 2021 ($/bu)                      &nb...

CFTC COT Report Analysis

The attached PDF offers graphical depiction and seasonal analysis of managed money and commercial traders' net position in key agricultural commodity marke...

Mercosur Regional Analysis

Wheat Brazil Last week Brazil became the first country to authorize the use of wheat flour made with genetically modified (GM) wheat (specifically, the HB4...

October Ethanol Production a Blip Not a Trend According to EIA

Last week’s WASDE raised the outlook for corn used in ethanol production by 50 million bushels based on September data from USDA’s Grain Crushi...

Orange Juice is Fleeting

In the spring of 2020 as COVID-19 was spreading, U.S. consumption of orange juice increased as consumers sought to inoculate themselves with vitamin C. How...

COP26 Informs MC12; He Who Pays; Tech Sovereignty

COP26 Informs MC12 COP26 has ended and MC12 is about to begin and while the substance is vastly different, both share the goal of reaching global agreement...

Summary of Futures

Dec 21 Corn closed at $5.7725/bushel, up $0.0775 from yesterday's close.  Dec 21 Wheat closed at $8.17/bushel, up $0.045 from yesterday's close. ...

Export Sales

Exports for October 29 to November 4, 2021 Wheat:  Net sales of 285,900 metric tons (MT) for 2021/2022 were down 29 percent from the previous week and...

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 s...

Corn versus Soybean Acres in 2022

High crop prices and generally tight stocks are bullish for fertilizer prices, from a demand-pull side. But fertilizer prices are also up on supply-push fa...

Market Commentary: Whether and Weather

The USDA Export Sales report is delayed until tomorrow due to today’s Veterans Day holiday and so it is not definitive whether China has been in the...

Livestock Round Up: Cattle Price Rally

This week’s WASDE forecast showed total meat and broiler production increased slightly over last month’s projections. Beef is up on increased s...

Summary of Futures

Dec 21 Corn closed at $5.695/bushel, up $0.0025 from yesterday's close.  Dec 21 Wheat closed at $8.125/bushel, up $0.095 from yesterday's close. ...

Inflation is Good; Transitory Fake Meat; Not so Fast; Fading Green

Inflation is Good The news yesterday about the surprising rise in U.S. inflation spooked markets and has President Biden’s team scrambling to avoid p...

Summary of Futures

Dec 21 Corn closed at $5.6925/bushel, up $0.145 from yesterday's close.  Dec 21 Wheat closed at $8.03/bushel, up $0.245 from yesterday's close. ...

CAFTA-DR Rewrite; Phase One Failure; Divergent Transatlantic

CAFTA-DR Rewrite When the CAFTA-DR FTA was finalized back in 2004, GDP in the Central American region was 30 percent smaller. Since that time, growth as be...

China In-Country Analysis

Macro Trends U.S. Ag Exports to China Set Record Through September For the first nine months of 2021, the U.S. has shipped a total of 37.17 MMT of agricult...

No N, No GMO, No Food

Some environmentalists were aghast at the COP26 meeting when mega-billionaire and serial do-gooder Bill Gates described nitrogen fertilizer as “magic...

Black Sea Regional Analysis

Russian Grain Markets: 1-5 November 2021 The Russian grain market was very slow due to nationwide holidays. Export milling wheat average offer price grew t...

WASDE Soyoil

The U.S. season-average soyoil price for 2020/21 is unchanged at 65.0 cents per pound...

WASDE Soymeal

The U.S. season-average soymeal price for 2020/21 is unchanged at $325 per short ton...

WASDE Soybeans

The November WASDE projected U.S. soybean ending stocks at 340 million bushels for the 2021/22 season. That estimate is up 20 million from the October fore...

WASDE Corn

The November WASDE projected U.S. corn ending stocks at 1,493 million bushels for the 2021/22 season. This estimate is down 7 million from the October fore...

WASDE Wheat

The November WASDE projected U.S. wheat ending stocks at 583 million bushels for the 2021/22 season. That estimate is up 3 million from the October forecas...

Summary of Futures

Dec 21 Corn closed at $5.5475/bushel, up $0.0325 from yesterday's close.  Dec 21 Wheat closed at $7.785/bushel, up $0.105 from yesterday's close. ...

New Cattle Market Mandate Bill Developed

As we reported in March, Senator Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) introduced his 50/14 cash marketing plan for the fed cattle market. The proposed legislation wou...

Inflation Sparks Changes; China Hits Unions

Inflation Sparks Changes Food is one of the four essentials of life and yet politicians often tax it domestically and impose tariffs against its importatio...

Search World Perspectives

Sign In to World Perspectives

Don’t have an account yet? Sign Up