It was a day of red at the CBOT with corn and soybeans marking new contract lows and Chicago wheat breaking below key support. MGEX HRS wheat found support just above its contract low and did not venture below that point today. The cause of the day’s price weakness was – what else? - escalation in the U.S.-China trade war. China announced it will file another WTO dispute if the Trump Administration activates new tariffs in August. The situation is hardly improving for U.S. ag interests, a fact evident in CBOT prices today. It’s a “risk off” day in the markets with U.S. stock indexes lower amid trade war and other global geopolitical worries (i.e., conflict at the NATO meetings). The VIX is higher...
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...
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.