Geopolitics has proven that it beats weather as a volatility driver, but agricultural markets and financials returned to fundamentals today. The truce/non-truce/truce had its influences, with the soy sector following oil higher, but wheat traded down on stocks reports while corn buyers’ eyes were on large South American crops. It was the second day in a row of higher volume across several contracts, including corn, soybeans, meal and wheat, but below yesterday’s peak movement. There was something for everyone in today’s topsy-turvy world. The truce was on, the truce was broken, the truce was pieced back together. Stocks were down; stocks were up. Ags closed higher in the overnight and opened mostly higher this...
What You Need to Know Today: Crude oil prices dropped sharply with traffic flowing through the Strait of Hormuz. There were reports that Iran was behind an attack on a cargo ship near the coast of Oman, which would be a violation of the memorandum of understanding between the U.S. and Iran. Pr...
On Wednesday, the White House submitted a national security supplemental spending request for $87.6 billion. The majority of the request includes funding for the conflict in the Middle East, but there are agricultural provisions as well. The supplemental funding package includes more than $11 b...
Can we really expect a bushel of corn to carry an environmental passport throughout the entire food system? One that reliably documents its carbon footprint, biodiversity impacts, water use, soil carbon, and other environmental attributes all the way from the farm field to the consumer? This is...
From WPI Consulting
Weighing in on strategic realignment
WPI’s team was retained by the governing board of a U.S. industry organization to review a decision, reached by vote, to invest significant assets into the development and management of an export trading company. WPI’s team conducted a formal review of this decision and concluded that the current level of market saturation would limit the benefits of the investment. Based on WPI’s analysis and recommended actions, the board subsequently reversed its decision and undertook a strategic planning effort to identify more impactful investments. On behalf of numerous clients, WPI has not only assisted in identifying strategic paths but also advised their implementation.