Quiet overnight trading saw weaker wheat prices, while corn and soybeans traded narrowly on either side of unchanged. Winter wheat futures fell below technical support, bringing on long liquidation by noncommercials that accelerated during the day session. Chicago wheat finished today 10.75-15 cents lower with Kansas City wheat down 8.75-12.75 cents following the lower closes for Paris wheat futures. MGEX wheat was not hit nearly as hard, and its December contract was down just 5.75 cents at the close. Spring wheat harvest is on the downhill slope at 60 percent complete, according to USDA, versus an average of 44 percent. Soy futures prices chopped around during the day session before closing lower with November down 7.25 cents. Corn futur...
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.