General CommentsMarkets were all slightly higher during the first half of the Sunday evening session and then faded as the sun began rising to finish lower. Soybeans and soymeal reversed that trend this morning to trade higher much of today with corn and wheat lower. USDA announced the sales of another 261,000 MT of soybeans to China and 126,000 MT to unknown this morning.The next major hurricane is Maria, and she is building strength rapidly with Puerto Rico apparently the primary target area. Today’s forecasts then push the storm north and east, away from the mainland U.S. Puerto Rico has not been hit by a category four or five hurricane since the 1920s.U.S. financial markets pushed to new record highs again today. The U.S. dollar was fir...
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.