Key Market Developments Macros & Energy: Outside markets continue to trade in a tug-of-war between escalation and de-escalation — and crud...
Articles
War Impacts; Taxes and Tariffs
War Impacts May soybeans are now within a penny of their value two weeks ago, and May corn is back up to within half a percent of its price at that time. T...
Black Sea Regional Analysis
Russian Grain Markets: 6-10 April 2026 During the week in review, the Russian grains market was volatile. Domestic sentiment remained bullish, supporting a...
Summary of Futures
May 26 Corn closed at $4.43/bushel, up $0.0275 from yesterday's close. May 26 Wheat closed at $5.92/bushel, up $0.0975 from yesterday's close. ...
Market Commentary: Wheat Rallies on Falling Conditions; Cattle Surge to New Records
The CBOT received several pieces of key fundamental information on Tuesday, including updated production figures from CONAB, the results of the USDA’...
China Market Analysis
Soybeans Dalien soybean futures and spot prices have defied seasonal trends since October 2025. They have been rising due to structural shortages of high-p...
Congress Coming Back to Busy Agenda
The House and Senate are returning from their two-week Easter recess period with a busy agenda ahead. While the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) shutd...
Middle East, Mediterranean, and Africa Regional Analysis
Mediterranean/Middle East/North Africa/Africa – MEA Region Syria is reported to be the main destination for Russia’s shipments of Ukraine grain...
Livestock Industry Margins
Beef packer margins deteriorated further last week to -$85/head, down from -$17/head the prior week, as continued strength in fed cattle prices again outpa...
Summary of Futures
May 26 Corn closed at $4.4025/bushel, down $0.0075 from yesterday's close. May 26 Wheat closed at $5.8225/bushel, up $0.1125 from yesterday's close.&...
Market Commentary: Political Tail Still Wagging the Market Dog
Politics are once again the tail wagging the dog in commodity markets. U.S. negotiations with Iran fell apart (again) over the weekend after Iran refused t...
War Impacts
Commodity markets were mixed today, while Wall Street traded higher after President Trump said the Iranians still want to negotiate after he closed the Str...
JBS Strike Settled, Beef Sector Still Under Inflationary Pressure
JBS USA announced on Sunday that it has reached a new collective bargaining agreement with UFCW Local 7, allowing the Greeley beef production facility to r...
Mercosur Regional Analysis
CORN With a rainy start to April and excess moisture across much of Argentina’s agricultural region, the corn harvest has slowed, advancing just 2 pe...
CFTC COT Report Analysis
Friday’s CFTC report showed funds paring back their net long position across the major ag futures contracts, ending a ten-week streak of net buying...
Summary of Futures
May 26 Corn closed at $4.41/bushel, down $0.03 from yesterday's close. May 26 Wheat closed at $5.71/bushel, down $0.035 from yesterday's close. ...
Transportation Perspectives - 10 April
WPI has officially launched Transportation Perspectives as a standalone weekly report separate from our Ag Perspectives articles and analysis. Current Ag P...
Market Commentary: Conflicting Factors Equals Mixed Day
There are so many conflicting narratives between war and peace, rain and drought, hopes and fears, that it was a mixed day of trading on Friday, and a mixe...
Inflation Ramps Up on Energy and Food Away from Home
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released the March Consumer Price Index (CPI) today, showing that it rose 0.9 percent, seasonally adjusted, month over...
Wheat’s Fall from Grace
Buried in the many mountains of USDA data last week was the March 2026 Prospective Plantings report. There you will find one specific figure among the many...
Transportation Perspectives - 9 April
WPI has officially launched Transportation Perspectives as a standalone weekly report separate from our Ag Perspectives articles and an...
Summary of Futures
May 26 Corn closed at $4.44/bushel, down $0.0325 from yesterday's close. May 26 Wheat closed at $5.745/bushel, down $0.0575 from yesterday's close.&n...
Market Commentary: Fundamentals Replace War Trading
Geopolitics has proven that it beats weather as a volatility driver, but agricultural markets and financials returned to fundamentals today. The truce/non-...
Livestock Round Up: Red Meat Production Down, Broilers Up
USDA released the April WASDE today with new 2026 meat production forecasts, changed from the March release. Beef is now projected at 25.79 billion pounds...
Quick Hits: Ethanol and Biodiesel Margins Update
Ethanol Ethanol production margins continue to experience a counter-seasonal surge, with the energy market rally driving the bulk of the move. Prior to the...
Market Commentary: Energies Collapse on Ceasefire News but Grains Reclaim Early Losses
Once again, Trump, Iran, and the Middle East were the hub around which the CBOT trade revolved on Wednesday. Late Tuesday, the U.S. agreed to a two-week ce...
Policy Deference; Reasserting Article I; Two-Tailed Dog; EU Imports; WTO Skepticism
Policy Deference The bilateral trade balance is a narrow way to look at the relative relationship between two countries. The government of Mexican Presiden...
European Market Analysis
Regional News Egypt is increasingly finding itself caught between Russia and Ukraine, in a battle for supplying its domestic wheat markets. Egypt, th...
Black Sea Regional Analysis
Russian Grain Markets: 30 March - 3 April 2026 Market overview The Russian grains market remained broadly stable during the week, with a slightly firmer un...
Summary of Futures
May 26 Corn closed at $4.4725/bushel, down $0.0175 from yesterday's close. May 26 Wheat closed at $5.8025/bushel, down $0.1775 from yesterday's close...
Summary of Futures
May 26 Corn closed at $4.49/bushel, down $0.05 from yesterday's close. May 26 Wheat closed at $5.98/bushel, up $0.0275 from yesterday's close. ...
Market Commentary: Risk is Priced In — But Not Yet Believed
Key Market Developments Macro/Geopolitics: Markets are staring down a deadline tonight as President Donald Trump pushes Iran to reopen the Strait of...
China Market Analysis
Hormuz Strategy China has been assisting Iran under a 25-year strategic agreement that has 90 percent of Iranian crude going to the Middle Kingdom. Iran is...
Sugar Supply and Demand Situation
Mexico’s 2025/26 sugar production is estimated to be 5.024 million MT, reflecting about a 6 percent increase from 4.7 million MT after the past two y...
Middle East, Mediterranean, and Africa Regional Analysis
Mediterranean/Middle East/North Africa/Africa – MEA Region Egypt has said that it will no longer import any shipments of grain exported by Russia fro...
Livestock Industry Margins
Beef packer margins reversed sharply to -$17/head from $120/head the prior week, as rising fed cattle prices more than offset a modest decline in the Choic...
Market Commentary: The Long-Run Draws Near
The CBOT markets were surprisingly insulated from a jump in crude oil that started the week. Crude oil futures rallied to $115/brl - their highest levels s...
Farmland Consolidation
Under the theory of economies of scale, the size of farms, like that of all industries, should increase over time due to improvements in productivity. Farm...
Summary of Futures
May 26 Corn closed at $4.54/bushel, up $0.0175 from yesterday's close. May 26 Wheat closed at $5.9525/bushel, down $0.03 from yesterday's close. ...
Mercosur Regional Analysis
Argentina Corn Argentina’s corn harvest continued to advance nationwide, gaining 3.8 percentage points on the week to reach 19 percent of planted are...
The President’s 2027 Budget Proposal
President Trump unveiled his FY2027 budget proposal on Friday. The President’s budget, which is largely for positioning purposes, poses a starting po...
Transportation Perspectives - 2 April
WPI has officially launched Transportation Perspectives as a standalone weekly report separate from our Ag Perspectives articles and an...
Market Commentary: War and Easter Exit Strategy
There were a lot of moving parts on the last trading day of the holiday-shortened week, but liquidation and profit-taking may have been the strongest. A pr...
Good Friday
Tomorrow, 2 April, is a holiday for the CBOT/CME markets in observance of Good Friday. Please note that our office will also be closed. The next Ag Perspec...
Poultry Production Rebounds on Heavier Weights
Through the week ending 21 March, U.S. broiler production remains well above year-ago levels, with total headcount surpassing 2.04 billion, a 3.63 percent...
Transportation Perspectives - 2 April
WPI has officially launched Transportation Perspectives as a standalone weekly report separate from our Ag Perspectives articles and analysis. Current Ag P...
Summary of Futures
May 26 Corn closed at $4.5225/bushel, down $0.02 from yesterday's close. May 26 Wheat closed at $5.9825/bushel, up $0.0075 from yesterday's close.&nb...
Summary of Futures
May 26 Corn closed at $4.5425/bushel, down $0.035 from yesterday's close. May 26 Wheat closed at $5.975/bushel, down $0.1875 from yesterday's close.&...