The period between the March WASDE and 31 March stock/acreage reports often finds markets struggling to find anything approaching excitement. One might reasonably ask if those upcoming reports are likely to bring an increase in futures market action this year.The next 10 days might be a good time for market watchers to take a vacation. Grain and soy futures markets are unlikely to find anything that will move prices or that otherwise attracts attention during that time. On 31 March, USDA will report its 1 March quarterly stocks and first planted acreage estimates for spring seeded crops in 2017, which are based on its initial farmer survey. Until those reports, markets will struggle to find anything to trade on. It promises to be a market “...
What You Need to Know Today: Commodities were mostly lower across the board today after yesterday’s Federal Reserve meeting hinted at a potential interest rate hike later in 2026. The dollar index reached its highest level in over a year, and a strong dollar makes U.S. agricultural expor...
Tomorrow is the Juneteenth federal holiday, and the USDA, along with the rest of the federal government and the CME, will be closed, so the monthly Cattle on Feed report was released a day early. The total number of cattle on feed in feedlots with 1,000 head or more capacity on 1 June amounted...
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.