The U.S. Commerce Dept.'s announcement late yesterday of countervailing duties against biodiesel imports from Argentina and Indonesia was the dominant news for soy complex futures markets today. General Comments The announcement late Tuesday by the U.S. Commerce Dept. that it would impose countervailing duties on biodiesel imports from Argentina and Indonesia (see Ag Perspectives, 22 August for Dave Juday's detailed discussion) was not exactly a surprise given the U.S. International Trade Commission’s (USITC’s) findings last month that such duties were appropriate. However, it provided the first longer-term, truly bullish fundamental input for the soy complex in quite some time. The tariffs, which will be retroactive for imports duri...
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.