General Comments Markets feed on what can be loosely defined as news, and when fresh supplies of news are limited, markets can grow tired and head for the couch. Today was one of those days. Trading volume was light, and there was not much interest in seeing prices headed either up or down. The result was slightly lower prices for most corn and wheat futures contracts, but slightly higher closes for soybeans and soymeal, but not for soyoil. It was a "slightly" kind of market today.Overnight trading provided a preview. Grain and soy futures traded on both sides in reduced volume and little enthusiasm. The absence of anything fresh to trade on was evident in the market's behavior and in the choppy price action both overnight and again in t...
What You Need to Know Today: U.S. weather is getting more attention this week as conditions vary greatly across the western, central, and eastern corn belts, with the different regions battling dryness and too much rain simultaneously. The ProFarmer Crop Tour began today in Indiana and Nebrask...
Key Takeaways: Argentina is on pace for a record corn crop and record exports in the current marketing year, with abundant supplies likely to keep the country highly competitive in global export markets. Argentina’s record exportable surplus is allowing it to offer highly competitive pri...
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.