News overnight that China had dropped the import tariffs on U.S. sorghum ignited a nice rally in the corn market, which carried over to this morning and held together throughout today. Dry weather across some of the world’s major wheat-exporting regions, including the northern U.S. Plains, Canada, Australia and Ukraine, pushed wheat futures to strong gains as well. The soy complex was mostly steady. There is nothing certain out of the China/U.S. trade conversations. The U.S. House failed to pass the new farm bill today. The problem was all about immigration and not farm-related. U.S. equity markets were a nonevent today. Crude oil was just slightly lower. Corn FUTURES The fact that China reopened imports of U.S. sorghum a...
What You Need to Know Today: U.S. Treasury Secretary Bessent said the U.S. and Iran could “today or tomorrow” reach a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Despite the Secretary’s claims, an attack on a vessel off the Omani coast suggests plenty of risk remains in forming a lo...
Beef packer margins slipped modestly for the first time in four weeks, declining $15/head to -$78 as fed cattle prices firmed while boxed beef values continued to weaken. The Choice cutout eased another $2.63/cwt to $364.69, while dressed cattle prices fell only $2.76/cwt to $362.25/cwt, limiti...
Key Takeaways: Offal represents an important segment of global meat trade by adding value to underutilized portions of livestock carcasses and improving overall resource efficiency. Strong export demand for products such as pork variety meats and chicken feet allows processors to maximize carc...
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.