World Perspectives

Reading the Economic Tea Leaves

There has been some underlying positive economic news starting to emerge from the August data, though given the unprecedented nature of the economic disruption since February 2020, it is a bit of a mixed bag.   The private Institute for Supply Management (ISM) survey for manufacturing activity for August showed the 27th consecutive month of growth – which, by the way dates to June 2020 after the major impact of COVID. The August index was 52.8 percent, the same reading as recorded in July. While the index was up, it was only slightly higher than June 2020 at 52.4 percent and the second lowest since June 2020. But it is up. The jobs payrolls rose 315,000 in August, which narrowly beat consensus expectations. However, downwa...

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feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Export Sales

Export Sales and Shipments for September 5-11, 2025 Wheat: Net sales of 377,500 metric tons (MT) for 2025/2026 were up 24 percent from the previous week, but down 12 percent from the prior 4-week average. Export shipments of 774,800 MT were up noticeably from the previous week and up 19 percent...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Market Commentary: Looking for Demand Amidst Ample Supplies

Grain and oilseed trading was mostly in the red today, with livestock markets trading higher. Volume was higher today in soymeal, but otherwise it was modest and even relatively low in corn. Markets tend to drift when lacking any major new directional inputs.  USDA’s weekly Export Sa...

biofuel energy

How the EPA’s Anti-Decision Will Affect Biofuels and Soyoil

In mythology or legends, the hero is obviously identified – the “good guy” standing up for justice, not compromising what is right, and displays courage or other noble and admired qualities. Standing in contrast – but not quite opposite – to the hero is the anti-he...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Export Sales

Export Sales and Shipments for September 5-11, 2025 Wheat: Net sales of 377,500 metric tons (MT) for 2025/2026 were up 24 percent from the previous week, but down 12 percent from the prior 4-week average. Export shipments of 774,800 MT were up noticeably from the previous week and up 19 percent...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Market Commentary: Looking for Demand Amidst Ample Supplies

Grain and oilseed trading was mostly in the red today, with livestock markets trading higher. Volume was higher today in soymeal, but otherwise it was modest and even relatively low in corn. Markets tend to drift when lacking any major new directional inputs.  USDA’s weekly Export Sa...

biofuel energy

How the EPA’s Anti-Decision Will Affect Biofuels and Soyoil

In mythology or legends, the hero is obviously identified – the “good guy” standing up for justice, not compromising what is right, and displays courage or other noble and admired qualities. Standing in contrast – but not quite opposite – to the hero is the anti-he...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Summary of Futures

Dec 25 Corn closed at $4.2375/bushel, down $0.03 from yesterday's close.  Dec 25 Wheat closed at $5.2425/bushel, down $0.04 from yesterday's close.  Nov 25 Soybeans closed at $10.375/bushel, down $0.0625 from yesterday's close.  Dec 25 Soymeal closed at $284.7/short ton, down $1...

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From WPI Consulting

Communicating importance of value-added products

Facing increasing pressure to quantify the value of export promotion efforts to investors, a U.S. industry organization retained WPI to develop a quantitative model that better communicated the importance of exports. The resulting model concluded that value-added meat exports contributed $0.45 cents per bushel to the price of corn, increasing support for that sector’s financial support of WPI’s client. In addition to serving the red meat industry with this type of analysis, WPI has generated similar deliverables for the U.S. soybean and poultry/egg industries.

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