Tomorrow night will see the usual array of Independence Day fireworks displays across the U.S. (except where they are cancelled due to heat, extreme dryness and fire risks), but grain and soy markets have already been setting off fireworks of their own. At the risk of becoming overly dramatic, we might say that current grain and soy markets and the wildfires raging in Colorado, Idaho, Montana and South Dakota are symbols of what is happening to crops throughout much of the Midwest. Timber is burning and crops are firing under blazing heat, moisture sucking winds and very limited rainfall.There is no doubt that U.S. corn and soybean yields are in increasingly rapid retreat. USDA's weekly crop condition reports are mostly based on visual ob...
Key Takeaways: President Trump announced $8 billion in additional agricultural assistance through the Harvest Fuel Relief Program, as USDA projects farm fuel and oil expenses will increase 28.8 percent in 2026. The package follows $12 billion in earlier relief, while government farm payments w...
Key Takeaways: A student group from the University of Chicago is protesting to bring back onion futures trading. Trading in onion futures was banned in 1958 following a spectacular bout of market manipulation that resulted in a corner of the physical market. The ban on onion futures led t...
Beef packer margins deteriorated to $141/head last week, down $55 from the prior week as fed cattle prices strengthened while the Choice cutout remained nearly unchanged. The cutout held near $373/cwt while fed cattle prices climbed $4/cwt to $224/cwt, narrowing processor profits. Despite the d...
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.