The bearish acreage number for soybeans in today's USDA reports wasn't helped by the 1 March quarterly stocks estimate. Meanwhile, corn and wheat markets saw their yield cushions drop.Today’s USDA reports showed farmers intend to plant even more soybeans than expected. That bearish acreage number wasn’t helped by the larger-than-expected 1 March soybean quarterly stocks estimate. Corn acres will be smaller than expected, and all U.S. wheat acres will be the smallest since records were first kept in 1919. Following is a discussion of some of the highlights.Soybean Acres Pegged At 89.5 MillionThis was a very big estimate, 1.3 million acres more than the average guess and 5.7 million acres above 2016. As expected, the bulk of the increase came...
What You Need to Know Today: Russia rejected calls for a ceasefire in the Black Sea, including a proposal to halt attacks on civilian shipping that could help restore grain flows from Ukrainian ports. Tyson Foods announced plans to permanently close its Joslin, Illinois, beef processing facili...
The big news in the cattle markets yesterday was Tyson Foods’ move to close two more beef plants. One of them, the Joslin, Illinois, plant was shuttered immediately after the announcement. The other, in Eagle Mountain, Utah, is a case-ready plant that does not slaughter cattle. Tyson also...
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released the Consumer Price Index (CPI) on Wednesday. In July, the CPI rose 0.1 percent, seasonally adjusted, and rose 3.4 percent over the last 12 months, not seasonally adjusted. The index for all items less food and energy, or the “core” infla...
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.