Overnight trade in grain and soy complex futures had low volume and was quiet without much price movement. Soybeans were a couple of cents lower, but corn and wheat were about unchanged. There was little fresh news to trade on. Weather forecasts for South America and the U.S. were about unchanged except for less precipitation expected out of the system now moving eastward across central parts of the U.S., which should reduce flooding risks. Also, one weather model is projecting some light showers over the western edge of Argentina’s crop area, but the main production areas remain bone dry. A few Chinese traders were back at their desks today. However, the New Year’s celebration of the Year of the Dog does not end until Friday,...
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.