It was no surprise given the dynamics but the last day of the year trading session was unusual for its volume (especially in corn) and its overall bullishness. New contract highs were placed for corn, soymeal, and soyoil. The feel good even carried over into the otherwise lackluster cattle pit. As expected, current high values made deliveries miniscule against the Board for January contracts. It was a good way to end what some would call a bad year. Looking back, it wasn’t so bad for the major commodity futures contracts. Soybeans saw its largest increase in value since 2007, corn its biggest annual gain since 2010, and wheat embraced its fourth year in a row of higher gains. More importantly, the year ahead for Chicago futures looks...
What You Need to Know Today: Commodities were mostly lower across the board today after yesterday’s Federal Reserve meeting hinted at a potential interest rate hike later in 2026. The dollar index reached its highest level in over a year, and a strong dollar makes U.S. agricultural expor...
Tomorrow is the Juneteenth federal holiday, and the USDA, along with the rest of the federal government and the CME, will be closed, so the monthly Cattle on Feed report was released a day early. The total number of cattle on feed in feedlots with 1,000 head or more capacity on 1 June amounted...
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.