The consultancy Sovecon this week increased its estimate of the Russian wheat crop to 94.7 MMT. That is 7.6 percent more than USDA's guess at 88 MMT and if realized, it would be nearly 20 MMT larger than Russia’s 2021/22 wheat crop. An astounding level of increase. By contrast, the consultancy Agritel expects the French wheat crop to fall by 5.6 percent this year to 33.44 MMT. FranceAgriMer’s latest estimate calls for a crop of 32.9 MMT due to the adverse impacts of frost, drought and very high temperatures. Agritel also has a higher export estimate at 10.95 MMT. The company’s survey of industry indicates larger wheat exports due to less competition from Ukraine. The question is whether Russia will present increased...
Inflation is back in the driver’s seat, and agriculture is getting pulled in two directions. A stronger dollar is pressuring grains despite fresh Chinese buying, while renewed Middle East attacks lift crude oil. Higher energy prices can support commodities, but they also raise expenses an...
Regional News European grocery stores have been targeted by cybersecurity attacks this week, with major retailers in France and the Netherlands affected. In France, major grocers, including Carrefour, Intermarché, and Coopérative U, all suffered attacks in which freezer and...
Russian Grain Markets: 5–9 October 2026 During the week in review Russian grain market remained relatively stable. The market finally realized that Black Sea trade may not resume soon so most of the trade calculations were done in the direction of Baltic Sea, Caspian Sea, Barents Sea and...
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.