The 2016/17 U.S. wheat crop will clearly be small, but it appears unlikely that this will provide fundamental support for a bull wheat market. The anticipated 2015/16 carryout of near 1 billion bushels will provide a cushion, especially considering the composition as well as another factor. One of the few surprises in USDA’s reports last week came from its survey of U.S. farmers’ planting intentions for wheat. They were said to have planted 36.2 million acres of winter wheat, down roughly 600,000 from the January count. USDA put spring wheat planting intentions at 11.4 million acres, over 1.5 million less than expected and more than 1.8 million fewer acres than last year. Total acreage in 2016/17 for all U.S. wheat was reported as 49.6 mill...
What You Need to Know Today: Agricultural commodities were mostly lower on the day, with red-hot soyoil a notable exception. Export sales were a bit underwhelming, particularly for corn with export sales down 52 percent week-over-week. The weakness in ag markets tracked crude oil weakness wit...
With the war in Iran affecting fuel and fertilizer prices, higher tariffs, weak commodity prices, ag labor constraints, and other factors, farm bankruptcies are now at a 6-year high, a signal of growing stress. During the month of April, 62 Chapter 12 bankruptcies were filed, which is a 1...
Food Inflation The Open Markets Institute, which is notably funded by several “anonymous” donors and liberal foundations, obtained a guest editorial in the New York Times in which they blame agribusiness concentration for higher grocery prices. This is their schtick and it is politi...
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.