The certainty that comes with USDA WASDE numbers inevitably fades during subsequent trading sessions as the focus shifts to what some might derisively call conformation bias. The harvested acres are large, but test weights are low due to drought. The stocks are tight, but Russia and Brazil are 800-pound gorillas when it comes to wheat and soybeans, respectively. Look at India’s situation, and how about dryness in Australia and Southeast Asia. Still, it is what it is. That is why days like today are about tweaks and not definitive shifts, unless you are in the ever-bullish cattle market. Corn and soybeans sank on the report while wheat shot higher for two days. But after two days it was time to take profits in wheat and all thre...
The U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) enters its mandated six-year review on 1 July. The original intent of the review is outlined in Article 34.7, which obligates members to: Provide recommendations and decide on appropriate actions. Extend the USMCA for another 16 years and meet aga...
Key Market Insights Geopolitical Limbo: Geopolitical risk remained a key driver across global commodity markets today. President Trump stated that the Iran memorandum of understanding is not yet final and warned that military action could resume if negotiations fail. Both sides continue w...
Key Takeaways: Drought remains a major threat to global agricultural production, particularly in regions with limited rainfall and growing water scarcity. Commercially available drought-tolerant traits in corn, soybeans, and wheat have generally delivered modest yield improvements, limiting th...
From WPI Consulting
Communicating importance of value-added products
Facing increasing pressure to quantify the value of export promotion efforts to investors, a U.S. industry organization retained WPI to develop a quantitative model that better communicated the importance of exports. The resulting model concluded that value-added meat exports contributed $0.45 cents per bushel to the price of corn, increasing support for that sector’s financial support of WPI’s client. In addition to serving the red meat industry with this type of analysis, WPI has generated similar deliverables for the U.S. soybean and poultry/egg industries.