As we reported on 25 June, ethanol in Brazil is now cheaper than gasoline and that is creating a demand for ethanol. The latest data shows that the price of ethanol is 63 percent that of gasoline, with the rule of thumb being that at a price ratio of 65 percent motorists start switching to more ethanol consumption. The auto fleet is more than 40 percent flex-fuel, which can run on mixed fuel or straight ethanol. Sugar production is up and prices are down, which is also diverting more sugar into ethanol and away from the sweetener market. The crop in the center-south region will come in at 590 MMT this year according to União da Indústria de Cana-de-Açúcar (UNICA), the Brazilian Sugarcane Industry Association.Meanwhile, as ethanol producti...
What You Need to Know Today: U.S. weather is getting more attention this week as conditions vary greatly across the western, central, and eastern corn belts, with the different regions battling dryness and too much rain simultaneously. The ProFarmer Crop Tour began today in Indiana and Nebrask...
Key Takeaways: Argentina is on pace for a record corn crop and record exports in the current marketing year, with abundant supplies likely to keep the country highly competitive in global export markets. Argentina’s record exportable surplus is allowing it to offer highly competitive pri...
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.