As interesting and important as export sales and export inspection data from USDA/FAS and FGIS may be, they are not the last word on the volume of corn, wheat and soybean exports. That comes from the monthly data compiled by the U.S. Census Bureau.With exports a key component in any analysis of U.S. grain and soybean supply/demand fundamentals, market participants and analysts focus intently on the USDA/FAS daily and weekly export sales reports in order to keep track of total export commitments (shipments plus open sales). They also follow the FGIS weekly reports on the volumes of grain and soybeans inspected for export to see how well actual shipments are matching those commitments, and futures market prices are often moved by perceptions...
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.