World Perspectives
wheat livestock

Federal Reserve Economic Summary

The Federal Reserve on Wednesday issued the "Beige Book," the annual "Summary of Commentary on Current Economic Conditions by Federal Reserve District" that is compiled at year's end -- in this case, in December 2011. The following are some highlights.

Consumer spending picked up in most Districts, reflecting significant gains in holiday retail sales compared with last year's season, and activity in the travel and tourism sector expanded in most areas. Demand strengthened further for nonfinancial services, including professional and transportation services. Manufacturing activity generally continued to expand, although the pace of growth has slowed for selected subsectors such as technology products. Agricultural producers and extr...

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feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Summary of Futures

Jul 26 Corn closed at $4.635/bushel, down $0.0025 from yesterday's close.  Jul 26 Wheat closed at $6.1675/bushel, down $0.035 from yesterday's close.  Jul 26 Soybeans closed at $11.785/bushel, up $0.0375 from yesterday's close.  Jul 26 Soymeal closed at $319.1/short ton, up $2.6...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Market Commentary: Mixed Week and a Mixed Outlook

This is the limbo period between the expectations and reality of a new crop going into the ground. Prices gyrate in a narrow range, awaiting something more definitive than planting “intentions.” The bears see a planting pace off to a quick start, the bulls see ground that in many pl...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Summary of Futures

May 26 Corn closed at $4.555/bushel, up $0.0125 from yesterday's close.  Jul 26 Wheat closed at $6.2025/bushel, up $0.1325 from yesterday's close.  May 26 Soybeans closed at $11.5975/bushel, down $0.0475 from yesterday's close.  Jul 26 Soymeal closed at $316.5/short ton, up $0.2...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Summary of Futures

Jul 26 Corn closed at $4.635/bushel, down $0.0025 from yesterday's close.  Jul 26 Wheat closed at $6.1675/bushel, down $0.035 from yesterday's close.  Jul 26 Soybeans closed at $11.785/bushel, up $0.0375 from yesterday's close.  Jul 26 Soymeal closed at $319.1/short ton, up $2.6...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Market Commentary: Mixed Week and a Mixed Outlook

This is the limbo period between the expectations and reality of a new crop going into the ground. Prices gyrate in a narrow range, awaiting something more definitive than planting “intentions.” The bears see a planting pace off to a quick start, the bulls see ground that in many pl...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Summary of Futures

May 26 Corn closed at $4.555/bushel, up $0.0125 from yesterday's close.  Jul 26 Wheat closed at $6.2025/bushel, up $0.1325 from yesterday's close.  May 26 Soybeans closed at $11.5975/bushel, down $0.0475 from yesterday's close.  Jul 26 Soymeal closed at $316.5/short ton, up $0.2...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Market Commentary: War Sustains Wheat; Corn Up Fifth Day

The Middle East truce is a rough one and the uncertainty spiked oil prices and the dollar again for another day. The wheat market has droughty conditions in the U.S., but globally there is pressure on a crop that gets both its fertilizer and a chunk of its demand from this volatile region. ...

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From WPI Consulting

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.

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