In the past two months, the spread between natural gas and crude oil continues to widen. Brent oil remains high despite cuts in the 2012 demand outlook made by the IEA. The positive macros, particularly from China, underpin some optimism for demand growth. Chinese data included lowering new home prices and economic growth 'slowing' to 8.9 percent. The growth number is not as bad as anticipated and the general idea is that this data may actually prompt some renewed monetary easing. In addition, supply threats from the Middle East are not abating, with the EU continuing to pursue a ban on imports of Iranian crude.In the meantime, natural gas prices continue to drop with working inventories in the U.S. well above last year's levels and 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.