There are many different pressure points facing fund managers these days, and they are stirring up crosswinds for grain and soy markets.Grain and soy futures markets are very nervous. For that matter, most commodity and financial markets are as well. World markets anxiously await Thursday’s referendum vote on whether or not Britain should leave the EU (aka Brexit). No one really knows what will happen if the results favor doing so. There is no precedent for such a move, but the prospect of the departure of one of the EU’s most important members and economic engines is unsettling, to say the least. Even the normally cautious Janet Yellen, chair of the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank, told the Senate Banking Committee this morning that a British ex...
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.