Grain and soy prices crept lower overnight after Wednesday’s trading featured more large-scale liquidation of positions in December contracts. Open interest (O/I) in December corn dropped 93,790 contracts, with total corn O/I down 57,055 contracts. Soybean O/I climbed 9,877 contracts, which likely is mostly new spec longs. December SRW futures O/I fell 15,667 contracts. Open interest in December contracts was further reduced by deliveries. There were 2,000 contracts of SRW intentioned against Chicago wheat, a clear sign of how unwanted SRW is these days. That is the most wheat intentioned against Chicago wheat on the first day in many years. There were also deliveries of 55 KC HRW contracts and 200 MGEX HRS contracts. Corn deliveries...
What You Need to Know Today: Russia rejected calls for a ceasefire in the Black Sea, including a proposal to halt attacks on civilian shipping that could help restore grain flows from Ukrainian ports. Tyson Foods announced plans to permanently close its Joslin, Illinois, beef processing facili...
The big news in the cattle markets yesterday was Tyson Foods’ move to close two more beef plants. One of them, the Joslin, Illinois, plant was shuttered immediately after the announcement. The other, in Eagle Mountain, Utah, is a case-ready plant that does not slaughter cattle. Tyson also...
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released the Consumer Price Index (CPI) on Wednesday. In July, the CPI rose 0.1 percent, seasonally adjusted, and rose 3.4 percent over the last 12 months, not seasonally adjusted. The index for all items less food and energy, or the “core” infla...
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.