General Comments This morning USDA reported an export sale of 120,000 MT of old crop soybeans to unknown destinations (probably China) and a sale of 120,000 MT of new crop 2013/14 soybeans specifically to China. The old crop sale may be related to the rumored business done earlier this week. The old crop supply situation for U.S. soybeans is such that every new export sale puts outsized pressure on whatever limited supply of soybeans that remains.Buying interest in nearby U.S. soybeans at a time when the Brazilian harvest should be ramping up can be blamed on the logistical nightmare and transport problems that are choking Brazilian soybean exports. Newly imposed government rules have the effect of reducing trucking capacity in the face...
Yesterday, Alberta held a referendum on whether to begin the process toward independence from Canada. With more than one million votes counted as of early Tuesday morning, around 77 percent supported remaining in Canada, and 23 percent voted to start the process of separation, according to unof...
Mediterranean/Middle East/North Africa/Africa – MEA Region Pakistan’s smaller wheat farmers have been holding protests to complain about the lack of a support price for wheat and the potential expansion of GMO crop production. They also want the reinstatement of PASSCO, the governme...
What You Need to Know Today: Harvest pressure in the U.S. sent corn and soybeans lower as supplies increased and there were signs USDA’s upward revisions to yields in the October WASDE could be close to right. The conflict between Russia and Ukraine escalated over the weekend, with Ukrai...
Illuminating the value of technical research
On behalf of a commodity producer organization, WPI evaluated the outputs from a project that featured a $5 million investment into technical research over multiple years. WPI’s team captured the results of this extensive effort and synthesized them for presentation to the organization’s governing board; among the findings uncovered and presented for the first time was the development of genomic traits proven, via rigorous testing, to provide crop yield advantages of 50 percent or more to U.S. farmers in times of drought. Capturing measurable results from long-term efforts can be challenging. Educating clients on the dynamics of success measurement when quantifiable results are not readily available requires deep client-consultant collaboration and an ability to consider both near- and long-term client aspirations with market/policy dynamics – attributes that WPI brings to every consulting engagement.