General Comments Markets were soft in the Sunday evening session on another round of weakness in financial markets. There is still no agreement on the restructuring of Greek debt. Weekend rains in Argentina and southern Brazil were less than expected, but the forecast looks wet for the balance of this week. Markets opened lower than expected with soybeans dropping more than 20 cents and corn more than a dime. Wheat actually resisted the plunge in corn and soybeans. There wasn't much news around the markets other than the better weather forecast. Cash corn markets are still tight and basis levels strong. China returned from the Lunar New Year holiday, but there was no purchase activity by China evident in today's market. U.S. financial...
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.