Friday’s trade was largely all about macroeconomic markets with traders showing little interest in adding risk to portfolios as the U.S. stock market melted down in early trade. Concerns about another 75-bps rate hike from the Fed and warnings about future earnings from Fortune 500 companies put equity and macro-market traders on edge Friday. Those concerns rippled over into the CBOT, though market action remained relatively subdued. Wheat was the upside leader in a late-day rally, while corn and soybeans drifted lower but recovered most of their losses by the day’s end. Funds were net buyers in wheat while liquidating more of their post-WASDE long in soybeans. The August monthly retail sales report from the U.S. Census B...
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.