No one can say that for agricultural derivative markets, the year of 2011 lacked for excitement and drama -- some of which was quite painful. Some of the excitement came from the structural changes either adopted or proposed by the CFTC to meet the requirements of the Dodd-Frank financial reform legislation. Some of the drama stemmed from external factors that seemed on occasion to wield so much influence over short-term market prices direction. These included the never-ending eurozone sovereign debt crisis and the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank's accommodative monetary policies. They also included rising tensions with Iran with potential ramifications for energy costs. The wrong kind of excitement was generated by the collapse of MF Global, a...
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.