The CBOT was stronger to start the day with corn and wheat finding mild, continued strength from last week’s rallies. The winterkill threats to the HRW crop mean that KCBT wheat is the upside leader in wheat futures with funds slowly shifting to the long side of the market. Corn ticked higher on concerns for the long-run outlook for Argentina’s weather, but the weather forecasts were, for the day at least, more relevant for the soy complex. Soybeans and soymeal jumped higher with the latter posting fresh contract highs as the Argentine drought remains a major threat to world supplies. Funds were net buyers in soybeans and soymeal and secured an estimated 15,000 soybean contracts and 12,000 soymeal contracts. Funds are thought to...
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.