The big picture for commodity markets is that imperfect weather and the lack of a peace deal in the Middle East are mandating that traders keep risk premia in prices. All other developments in ag futures stem in some way from these two factors, though the details of how, exactly, these factors are driving specific markets differ. For corn, the oil trade has largely worn off and now it’s Brazil’s weather driving the rally. For wheat, the situation in Iran is still driving fund buying, but now it’s coupled with weather and yield concerns for the U.S. Southern Plains. Soybeans have recently been somewhat immune to these impacts, but the effects of fund buying were clearly on display on Monday as futures rallied towards their...
Macro: Relief Meets Reality July’s CPI report matched expectations. Headline inflation eased to 3.4 percent year over year, while core inflation declined to 2.5 percent. On a monthly basis, headline CPI rose 0.1 percent and core increased 0.2 percent. Equities and the U.S. dollar traded h...
Key Takeaways: Corn yield came in below expectations at 180.7 bushels per acre, validating WPI’s view that last year’s exceptional yield may have anchored analyst estimates higher. Despite slightly higher production for corn, stronger export projections tightened the balance sheet,...
From WPI Consulting
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.