The U.S. dollar's up-and-down indecisiveness was mirrored by grain and soy futures as well as other commodity markets. All of the grain and soy complex contracts with the exception of soyoil traded on both sides before ending the day. General Comments After yesterday's strong U.S. dollar-inspired rally of grain and soybean prices, the overnight session seemed rather tame. Trading volume was quite low, and price movements were mixed and limited. The day session proved to be more active but not necessarily more decisive. The U.S. Dollar Index was stronger early, partially as a reaction to yesterday's big drop. However, it then declined again to close the day with a slight loss. Within the basket of currencies, the U.S. dollar fell against t...
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...
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.