Often before the release of major USDA reports we have warned that traders should not allow themselves to become too complacent about their pre-report analyses of what USDA will report. Surprising results are always possible. Monday’s report of quarterly U.S. grain and soybean stocks was a case in point. USDA’s report showed 1 September stocks of corn and soybeans were significantly lower than market expectations. The 1 September corn and soybean stocks also are ending stocks for the 2018/19 crop year that are carried over into 2019/20. USDA reported that soybean stocks are 913 million bu, about 70 million bu or 7 percent less than the average trade prediction. Corn stocks are counted as 2.114 billion bu com...
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
Illuminating the value of technical research
On behalf of a commodity producer organization, WPI evaluated the outputs from a project that featured a $5 million investment into technical research over multiple years. WPI’s team captured the results of this extensive effort and synthesized them for presentation to the organization’s governing board; among the findings uncovered and presented for the first time was the development of genomic traits proven, via rigorous testing, to provide crop yield advantages of 50 percent or more to U.S. farmers in times of drought. Capturing measurable results from long-term efforts can be challenging. Educating clients on the dynamics of success measurement when quantifiable results are not readily available requires deep client-consultant collaboration and an ability to consider both near- and long-term client aspirations with market/policy dynamics – attributes that WPI brings to every consulting engagement.