Better than expected retail sales results for December sent stock markets higher today following earlier January losses. China reportedly turned down more containers of DDGS today. General Comments As always at this point on the calendar, South American weather and its impact on soybean and corn production prospects has become a major factor for markets to consider. South American crop production, primarily in Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay, covers a huge land mass just as it does in the U.S. Weather conditions are never entirely good or entirely bad for the continent's crop-producing regions. Despite this, there is a tendency to reduce weather analyses to a few broad generalities.This year's general weather theme for South Amer...
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.