Two-sided, narrow trading continues as uncertainty competes with certainty over where true value is headed. In an almost hands off manner, soybeans failed to trade at its usual 25-cent minimum daily spread, and corn barely broke a 10-cent range. There is plenty of macro suspense – the Russians, Hurricane Ian, and interest rates, to just name a few. There was some angst for the ABCDs as Moscow entertained a proposal to ban them from trading in Russia. Energy markets remain in Moscow-driven upheaval. More directly bullish is the increasing likelihood that Moscow will let the Ukraine grain export corridor expire, though shipments eastward over land will gain some efficiency over time. This morning’s USDA Export Sales report...
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.