General Comments The Greeks are back on again -- at least that is today's thinking. The euro bounced higher and the dollar eased, which helped support dollar-denominated commodities. Crude oil gained again, adding $0.51 to finish at $102.31. Brent crude hit $120 today. Crude oil has climbed $6.00 so far this month and is back near the highs of early January. It may not be long before we hear talk about the negative pressure on the economy from $100-plus crude oil, especially if Iran keeps talking about limiting shipments, etc. That is something for the future, however. Good news about jobs today helped push stocks higher. The Dow picked up about 123 points to close fewer than 100 points away from 13,000, which has become a "magic number...
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.