The CBOT was mostly lower to end the week with cattle and soyoil the only major markets to post gains. China is on its Dragon Boat holiday, which kept markets quiet as few developments in the cash market were expected. USDA’s report of old crop corn sales to unknown destinations offered some brief support on Friday, but old crop corn futures posted 3-cent losses anyway. Position liquidation based on Russian-Turkish talks about a Ukrainian grain export corridor was once again the primary driver of the day’s grain trade. For the day, funds are thought to have sold some 12,000 contracts of soybeans, 5,000 contracts of corn, and 6,000 contracts of wheat. Funds were also net sellers in the soy product markets and sold 3,000 co...
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.