General Comments This is what a weather market looks like, and there is no doubt that we are in one. Yesterday's weekly crop condition reports dropped corn's good/excellent ratings 7 percent to only 56 percent, the second-lowest reading for this particular week since USDA began its weekly crop condition reports. Corn conditions fell 10 percent in several states, including Illinois, where good/excellent is just 37 percent, and Indiana, where good/excellent is a mere 27 percent. From central Iowa eastward the corn crop is badly in need of rain. Precisely when the need becomes desperate, we cannot say, but that point in time cannot be far away. Hot temperatures are forcing the early planted corn crop to mature rapidly. Upwards of 50 percent...
Key Takeaways: President Trump announced $8 billion in additional agricultural assistance through the Harvest Fuel Relief Program, as USDA projects farm fuel and oil expenses will increase 28.8 percent in 2026. The package follows $12 billion in earlier relief, while government farm payments w...
Key Takeaways: A student group from the University of Chicago is protesting to bring back onion futures trading. Trading in onion futures was banned in 1958 following a spectacular bout of market manipulation that resulted in a corner of the physical market. The ban on onion futures led t...
Beef packer margins deteriorated to $141/head last week, down $55 from the prior week as fed cattle prices strengthened while the Choice cutout remained nearly unchanged. The cutout held near $373/cwt while fed cattle prices climbed $4/cwt to $224/cwt, narrowing processor profits. Despite the d...
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.