Corn South American corn premiums continue to drop, staying at -25/-30 CU for August/September. Some trades were reported at those levels, while several inquiries were made at -35 CU. Meanwhile, Upriver ports are facing bottlenecks.Most of the 3 MMT of Argentine corn export licenses were adjudicated to small trading houses and farmers and large trading houses were expected to buy more licenses; however, this was not the case. This situation has turned typical sellers into buyers, as some are running short licenses.The U.S. corn basis is on fire. North America continues to suffer from adverse weather conditions and high temperatures are affecting crop conditions, as reflected in each USDA Crop Progress report. Thus, corn premiums out of t...
Key Takeaways: President Trump announced $8 billion in additional agricultural assistance through the Harvest Fuel Relief Program, as USDA projects farm fuel and oil expenses will increase 28.8 percent in 2026. The package follows $12 billion in earlier relief, while government farm payments w...
Key Takeaways: A student group from the University of Chicago is protesting to bring back onion futures trading. Trading in onion futures was banned in 1958 following a spectacular bout of market manipulation that resulted in a corner of the physical market. The ban on onion futures led t...
Beef packer margins deteriorated to $141/head last week, down $55 from the prior week as fed cattle prices strengthened while the Choice cutout remained nearly unchanged. The cutout held near $373/cwt while fed cattle prices climbed $4/cwt to $224/cwt, narrowing processor profits. Despite the d...
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.