World Perspectives

Sovereignty’s Trap; Sustainability’s Trap; Job Requirement

Sovereignty’s Trap Beijing, Brussels, Washington, and other capitals are using the pandemic to rationalize a rush toward national self-sufficiency, but it will not be without a price. The ultimate poster child for having very short supply chains is Argentina. Peronists have spent decades perfecting import substitution schemes with the result being very little external competition, and thus relatively unsophisticated manufacturing. Argentina is now uncompetitive in about everything except agriculture, and now this main source of foreign exchange is threatened this year by drought. The rush to reshoring could slow global productivity gains and thus real economic growth for years to come.  Sustainability’s Trap U.S. Represe...

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feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Market Commentary: Cattle Retreat on Import News; Corn Posts New Lows on Midwest Rains

With the June Acreage and Grain Stocks reports past, the CBOT resumed trading its favorite variable for the peak of summer – weather. For Tuesday’s trade, this meant a focus on five-year highs in corn ratings and an excellent outlook for the crop into mid-July at least, which were t...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Summary of Futures

Sep 25 Corn closed at $4.06/bushel, down $0.0325 from yesterday's close.  Sep 25 Wheat closed at $5.49/bushel, up $0.1075 from yesterday's close.  Nov 25 Soybeans closed at $10.2725/bushel, up $0.0025 from yesterday's close.  Dec 25 Soymeal closed at $287.6/short ton, down $1.7 f...

livestock

Feeder Cattle Import Update

As summer demand for beef is upon us, fed cattle hit $233 per cwt yesterday, having moved above $200 per cwt in April on tight supplies. The cattle herd as of 1 January was the smallest in more than 50 years, imports of feeder cattle from Mexico have been suspended due to the New World Screwwor...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Market Commentary: Cattle Retreat on Import News; Corn Posts New Lows on Midwest Rains

With the June Acreage and Grain Stocks reports past, the CBOT resumed trading its favorite variable for the peak of summer – weather. For Tuesday’s trade, this meant a focus on five-year highs in corn ratings and an excellent outlook for the crop into mid-July at least, which were t...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Summary of Futures

Sep 25 Corn closed at $4.06/bushel, down $0.0325 from yesterday's close.  Sep 25 Wheat closed at $5.49/bushel, up $0.1075 from yesterday's close.  Nov 25 Soybeans closed at $10.2725/bushel, up $0.0025 from yesterday's close.  Dec 25 Soymeal closed at $287.6/short ton, down $1.7 f...

livestock

Feeder Cattle Import Update

As summer demand for beef is upon us, fed cattle hit $233 per cwt yesterday, having moved above $200 per cwt in April on tight supplies. The cattle herd as of 1 January was the smallest in more than 50 years, imports of feeder cattle from Mexico have been suspended due to the New World Screwwor...

Prop 12 Lives, Long Live Prop 12; Power of Ag; Trump Power

Prop 12 Lives, Long Live Prop 12 Delineating the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution from the rights of the states has long been a legal fight in the U.S. Thus, it was notable last night when the U.S. Senate voted 99-1 to remove language from the Big Beautiful Bill that would have restric...

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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.

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