Overnight trading saw prices ease back from yesterday’s rally levels, but that session’s results did not prepare the market for today’s wave of long liquidation. Soybeans, corn and Chicago wheat all gave back yesterday’s gains and more. General Comments Yesterday’s buying blitz by commodity funds brought on some startling changes in the open interest in CME grain and soy futures. Open interest in corn jumped by more than 53,000 contracts, the biggest single day change for any CME ag commodity in memory. Soybean open interest grew by 8,839 contracts; soyoil open interest was up a huge 9,541 contracts; and meal open interest gained 4,411 contracts. Chicago wheat open interest fell 3,398 contracts. All told, the open interest for corn and th...
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...
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.