Dry conditions hurt HRW production in two of the last three years. It is looking more likely that this will again be the case in 2014. The only question is, to what extent?Wheat markets have staged a small recovery this week after more than $1.00 a bushel losses in futures markets over the past few months. Funds continue to hold record short positions in wheat futures. This week's rally was partly due to funds covering short positions, but that activity was not widespread or large. In fact, funds were sellers again yesterday.The market needs something to trigger short covering. Last Monday's state-by-state winter wheat crop condition ratings were the initial trigger. Key states like Texas and Oklahoma saw their crop ratings drop 25-30 perce...
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.