Echoes of USDA's report on 1 March planting intentions and quarterly stocks estimates are still reverberating, and no doubt they will continue to do so. We all knew that old crop U.S. 2011/12 corn supplies would be tight. However, USDA's surprisingly low 1 March corn stocks (after three quarters of surprisingly high corn stocks) imply a level of tightness requiring that demand during the second half of the corn crop year somehow be constricted. Call it price rationing, if you like. The seemingly erratic series of quarterly corn stocks estimates from USDA may suggest caution about drawing hard conclusions from the latest one, but the market must play the hand it has been dealt. This explains why the spot CME May corn contract at this writi...
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
Infrastructure investment due diligence
On behalf of a Canadian oilseed processer WPI's team provided market analysis, econometric modeling and financial due diligence in support of a $24 million-dollar investment in a Ukrainian crush plant. Consistent with WPI's findings, local production to supply the plant and the facility's output have expanded exponentially since the investment. WPI has conducted parallel work on behalf of U.S., South American and European clients, both private and public, in the agri-food space.