On Sunday night, the CBOT seemed set to dramatically extend last week’s rally with corn, wheat, and soybeans all gapping higher at the open in response to a more concerning Midwest weather pattern over the weekend. By the day’s close, however, wheat futures fell 30+ cents and pared gains in new crop corn and soybeans down to single digits. The only markets to post meaningful rallies for the day were the live and feeder cattle markets, where a combination of bullish near-tern fundamentals and technical buying spurred the markets higher. Weighing on grain and oilseed price action was the looming July WASDE, to be released at Noon Tuesday, and in which analysts are generally expecting larger ending stocks for U.S. corn, soybeans, a...
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...
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.