World Perspectives
feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

The Fading Cuban Embargo

The purpose of the Cuban embargo was to enable the Eisenhower and Kennedy administrations to showcase their stance against evil communism, while the advertised reason was to pressure  the government there to allow democratization and stop human rights abuses. Measured by that stated objective, it has failed.During his historic visit to Cuba this week, President Obama has called upon Congress to lift the U.S. embargo against trade with that country. He has already re-established diplomatic relations as well as approved a resumption of direct airline flights and communication services, including the Internet. Public support for the embargo has declined as recent polls show that a majority of Americans favor lifting it with approval wanin...

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feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Summary of Futures

May 26 Corn closed at $4.535/bushel, up $0.0975 from yesterday's close.  May 26 Wheat closed at $5.8375/bushel, up $0.155 from yesterday's close.  May 26 Soybeans closed at $11.7925/bushel, up $0.0975 from yesterday's close.  May 26 Soymeal closed at $309.3/short ton, down $0.6 f...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Market Commentary: Middle East Turmoil Keeps Commodities Higher

War-related upward pressure in petroleum prices continues to provide support to grain prices. Brent crude oil hit $85/barrel and WTI crude rose 8.5 percent, its biggest jump since July 2024 and the first time above $80/barrel in over a year. HRW hit its highest price in a year, corn broke throu...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Export Sales

Export Sales and Shipments for February 20-26, 2026. Wheat: Net sales of 203,100 metric tons (MT) for 2025/2026 were down 16 percent from the previous week and 42 percent from the prior 4-week average. Export shipments of 348,900 MT were down 35 percent from the previous week and 24 percent fro...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Summary of Futures

May 26 Corn closed at $4.535/bushel, up $0.0975 from yesterday's close.  May 26 Wheat closed at $5.8375/bushel, up $0.155 from yesterday's close.  May 26 Soybeans closed at $11.7925/bushel, up $0.0975 from yesterday's close.  May 26 Soymeal closed at $309.3/short ton, down $0.6 f...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Market Commentary: Middle East Turmoil Keeps Commodities Higher

War-related upward pressure in petroleum prices continues to provide support to grain prices. Brent crude oil hit $85/barrel and WTI crude rose 8.5 percent, its biggest jump since July 2024 and the first time above $80/barrel in over a year. HRW hit its highest price in a year, corn broke throu...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Export Sales

Export Sales and Shipments for February 20-26, 2026. Wheat: Net sales of 203,100 metric tons (MT) for 2025/2026 were down 16 percent from the previous week and 42 percent from the prior 4-week average. Export shipments of 348,900 MT were down 35 percent from the previous week and 24 percent fro...

livestock

Livestock Round Up: Preview of Feedlot Placements and Changing Canada Dynamics

Feeder cattle sales were up over a year ago in February, but much of that was due to February 2025 sales being light. Still, the increase in activity bears watching, both for what it implies about feedlot placements and for herd rebuilding.  In the four weeks ending February 27, total feed...

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From WPI Consulting

Communicating importance of value-added products

Facing increasing pressure to quantify the value of export promotion efforts to investors, a U.S. industry organization retained WPI to develop a quantitative model that better communicated the importance of exports. The resulting model concluded that value-added meat exports contributed $0.45 cents per bushel to the price of corn, increasing support for that sector’s financial support of WPI’s client. In addition to serving the red meat industry with this type of analysis, WPI has generated similar deliverables for the U.S. soybean and poultry/egg industries.

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