There is no question that the tone of today’s USDA reports is at least mildly bullish, and markets have reacted accordingly. However, it is worth asking what has really changed.USDA’s final corn and soybean production estimates were both lower than expected. Most observers anticipated slight increases based on the trend for big crops to get bigger. However, the national average yield and planted area for both crops were reduced. The corn yield was put at 174.6 bushels/acre, down .7 bushels/acre, and harvested acres were lowered by about 100,000. The soybean yield was lowered .4 bushels/acre to 52.1 bushels/acre, and harvested acres were down 300,000. Although yields were down from USDA’s November estimates, they still represent new records...
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.