WPI is not alone in pegging corn as the potential “sleeper” crop in MY 2018/19. World corn ending supplies have been edging lower in the past few years, and that decline will gain speed with the sharp drop in Argentine production, a smaller crop in Brazil and increased consumption in China. USDA will release its first estimate of 2018 U.S. corn plantings at the end of this month. WPI believes the planted area could be down 1.7 million acres from last year. That is based on more soybean and spring wheat acres because of price relationships as well as the high cost of planting and producing a corn crop. We are also doubtful that the string of record corn yields can extend another year. The western Corn Belt will enter the spring...
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.