USDA's report released last Friday included its first forecasts for U.S. and global supply and demand for oilseeds and products for the 2013/14 marketing year. Each year the May forecasts are eagerly awaited by the trade because they provide the furthest future view of what global supply and demand may be. However, the report also is the most likely to be incorrect because it does look so far into the future. A lot can and likely will change between now and the fall of 2014.The USDA report indicates the department's analysts are fairly bullish on global soy demand growth in 2013/14. The report forecasts global soybean usage to grow by 11.44 MMT (4.4 percent) in 2013/14. Global soybean imports are forecast to increase by 10.7 MMT, with Chi...
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...
Illuminating the value of technical research
On behalf of a commodity producer organization, WPI evaluated the outputs from a project that featured a $5 million investment into technical research over multiple years. WPI’s team captured the results of this extensive effort and synthesized them for presentation to the organization’s governing board; among the findings uncovered and presented for the first time was the development of genomic traits proven, via rigorous testing, to provide crop yield advantages of 50 percent or more to U.S. farmers in times of drought. Capturing measurable results from long-term efforts can be challenging. Educating clients on the dynamics of success measurement when quantifiable results are not readily available requires deep client-consultant collaboration and an ability to consider both near- and long-term client aspirations with market/policy dynamics – attributes that WPI brings to every consulting engagement.