As trading of agricultural crop futures contracts evolved in the 19th century at the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), there were futures markets for wheat, corn, oats, rye and hay. In the 20th century, trading in the hay and rye markets diminished so much that the CBOT eventually dropped them. However, emergence of soybeans as a major crop prompted the CBOT to create futures contracts for soybeans, soymeal and soyoil, which attracted enough trading volume to become very successful. Grain exchanges in Kansas City and Minneapolis then used those as models when they created futures contracts for the specific classes of wheat commonly produced in their geographic areas. Trading volume for Kansas City and Minneapolis wheat futures contracts was re...
What You Need to Know Today: Commodities were mostly lower across the board today after yesterday’s Federal Reserve meeting hinted at a potential interest rate hike later in 2026. The dollar index reached its highest level in over a year, and a strong dollar makes U.S. agricultural expor...
Tomorrow is the Juneteenth federal holiday, and the USDA, along with the rest of the federal government and the CME, will be closed, so the monthly Cattle on Feed report was released a day early. The total number of cattle on feed in feedlots with 1,000 head or more capacity on 1 June amounted...
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.