Markets traded just slightly better overnight and found additional buying ahead of the USDA reports this morning. Wheat markets led the pre-report rally, trading as much as 20-25 cents higher in KC and Chicago. Corn followed wheat for a bit with 6-7 cent gains, and soybeans were also strong. The mid-summer U.S. 4th of July holiday is next week. The markets will be closed all day Wednesday and that night, reopening Thursday morning. That is followed by the 6 July deadline for the imposition of the first round of tariffs on specific Chinese imports. China is expected to quickly retaliate with tariffs on U.S. soybeans. Hot, mostly dry weather is expected to cover the Corn Belt and northern Plains next week. The question today is, how long mi...
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.