Overnight trading saw soybean prices open higher on a rebound, then slip lower under more selling pressure while the grains hung on to trade marginally on both sides of Tuesday’s closes. An early rally attempt was quickly aborted. General Comments The Chinese soybean delegation and U.S. exporters signed frame agreements for the purchase of 4 MMT of U.S. soybeans valued at $1.8 billion in Indianapolis last night. This has been an annual public relations exercise to remind everyone, U.S. politicians included, of just how important China is to the U.S. ag economy. As noted here before, these annual frame agreements make for good press, but they cover purchases that Chinese buyers know they will be making and thus do not really add to the ult...
What You Need to Know Today: Russia rejected calls for a ceasefire in the Black Sea, including a proposal to halt attacks on civilian shipping that could help restore grain flows from Ukrainian ports. Tyson Foods announced plans to permanently close its Joslin, Illinois, beef processing facili...
The big news in the cattle markets yesterday was Tyson Foods’ move to close two more beef plants. One of them, the Joslin, Illinois, plant was shuttered immediately after the announcement. The other, in Eagle Mountain, Utah, is a case-ready plant that does not slaughter cattle. Tyson also...
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released the Consumer Price Index (CPI) on Wednesday. In July, the CPI rose 0.1 percent, seasonally adjusted, and rose 3.4 percent over the last 12 months, not seasonally adjusted. The index for all items less food and energy, or the “core” infla...
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.