Overnight news that Australia’s 2019/20 wheat crop will be smaller than expected set the stage for a sharp rally in the CBOT wheat markets. Morning calls were for wheat to open higher and pull corn along with it, which is exactly what happened. Few, if any, analysts, however, expected wheat to post gains of 20+ cents for the day, but both KC and Chicago wheat did just that. The soy complex spent most of the day trading with a weaker tone but short covering in soymeal helped that market to a higher close. The biggest news of the day was the release of a list of U.S. commodities for which companies can apply for import tariff waivers this year. The list includes 696 products that are eligible for tariff exclusion (including soybe...
What You Need to Know Today: President Trump suspended the planned attacks on Iran and announced that the pieces for a framework for peace were in place in a weekend social media post. Iran, however, later said no efforts were underway to conduct negotiations with the U.S., though Oman indicat...
Key Takeaways: E15 expansion would support corn and ethanol demand by increasing domestic biofuel consumption and reducing reliance on petroleum-based fuels. Year-round E15 has gained bipartisan momentum, but the policy remains in legislative limbo as lawmakers continue to negotiate provisions...
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.