World Perspectives
feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Let the Guessing Games Begin

The noted economist John Kenneth Galbraith famously observed that “the only function of economic forecasting is to make astrology look respectable,” which is interesting since he was one of the foremost economic forecasters of his time. His remark could be considered especially applicable to efforts at predicting what may lie ahead for commodity markets. In fact, like other forms of economic forecasting, predicting the future of grain and soy markets as well as the fundamental factors that may drive them is basically glorified guesswork. Quite literally, exchange-traded futures markets for corn, wheat and soybeans are little more than organized frameworks for guessing what prices will be at set periods of time in the future. Gu...

Related Articles
feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Market Commentary: War, Crude Oil Still Dominate

The geopolitics of war in Iran are said to now be eclipsing any market focus on next week’s USDA March WASDE report. Volumes were modest in today’s trading, but the message was nonetheless clear – shipping grain and inputs is getting complicated.  Notably, the ratio of De...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Summary of Futures

May 26 Corn closed at $4.605/bushel, up $0.07 from yesterday's close.  May 26 Wheat closed at $6.1675/bushel, up $0.33 from yesterday's close.  May 26 Soybeans closed at $12.0075/bushel, up $0.215 from yesterday's close.  May 26 Soymeal closed at $317.2/short ton, up $7.9 from ye...

Farm Bill Clears House of Representatives

After two days of mark-up, the so-called “skinny farm bill,” the Farm, Food, and National Security Act, cleared the House of Representatives Agriculture Committee by a vote of 34-17, with 7 Democrats joining all 27 Republicans voting in favor. It will now move to the House floor and...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Market Commentary: War, Crude Oil Still Dominate

The geopolitics of war in Iran are said to now be eclipsing any market focus on next week’s USDA March WASDE report. Volumes were modest in today’s trading, but the message was nonetheless clear – shipping grain and inputs is getting complicated.  Notably, the ratio of De...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Summary of Futures

May 26 Corn closed at $4.605/bushel, up $0.07 from yesterday's close.  May 26 Wheat closed at $6.1675/bushel, up $0.33 from yesterday's close.  May 26 Soybeans closed at $12.0075/bushel, up $0.215 from yesterday's close.  May 26 Soymeal closed at $317.2/short ton, up $7.9 from ye...

Farm Bill Clears House of Representatives

After two days of mark-up, the so-called “skinny farm bill,” the Farm, Food, and National Security Act, cleared the House of Representatives Agriculture Committee by a vote of 34-17, with 7 Democrats joining all 27 Republicans voting in favor. It will now move to the House floor and...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Middle East Grain Trade Trends

Somewhat lost in the current discussion over the impacts of the conflict in Iran and the Persian Gulf is the impact on grain trade. The region is not usually at the top of grain market analysts’ thinking when it comes to major demand centers, yet it accounts for significant global grain c...

Image
From WPI Consulting

Communicating importance of value-added products

Facing increasing pressure to quantify the value of export promotion efforts to investors, a U.S. industry organization retained WPI to develop a quantitative model that better communicated the importance of exports. The resulting model concluded that value-added meat exports contributed $0.45 cents per bushel to the price of corn, increasing support for that sector’s financial support of WPI’s client. In addition to serving the red meat industry with this type of analysis, WPI has generated similar deliverables for the U.S. soybean and poultry/egg industries.

Search World Perspectives

Sign In to World Perspectives

Don’t have an account yet? Sign Up