Milling Wheat The weather in Russia remains one of the main concerns in the Black Sea region. Most operators are now evaluating the Russian wheat crop at or below 50 MMT. Based on the production estimate of 50 MMT, the Russian wheat balance for 2012/13 would not exceed 13 MMT of exportable surplus, 8 MMT less than the country's exports in 2011/12.The Ukrainian wheat is estimated at 13 MMT, 6 MMT less than last year's crop. Considering the high level of carryover stocks this year, Ukraine should be able to export 3 MMT of wheat in 2012/13 (versus 5 MMT in the current campaign).As a result of beneficial weather in the past month, the EU wheat crop has been revised up by about 1.5 MMT. Strategie Grains now estimates the crop 124.5 MMT, abou...
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.