While the price of Brent crude is up 12 percent since Friday, fertilizer has increased 33 percent. Fertilizer values are priced to energy but now seem to be outpacing it. Crop nutrients have been hit by a trifecta of higher energy input costs, soaring demand and low supplies. Agricultural commodity futures were limit up again today and Canada’s Nutrien sees a prolonged disruption due to the war. Together, Russia and Belarus produce nearly 33 percent of global potash, Russia is the world’s top exporter of nitrogen, and it exports 12.7 percent of all phosphates. Moscow could short the market further if it so chooses. Because fertilizer represents 15 percent of production costs, U.S. fertilizer use per acre has declined as farmers...
Beef packer margins improved to -$130/head last week, up $44 from the prior week as sharply lower fed cattle prices more than offset continued seasonal weakness in the Choice cutout. The cutout declined to $373/cwt while fed cattle prices fell to $238/cwt, allowing packer spreads to recover for...
What You Need to Know Today: The conflict between the U.S. and Iran continues to escalate with the two sides exchanging attacks over the weekend. President Trump said Iran “will pay” for recent attacks that claimed the lives of U.S. troops stationed in Jordan. There are some signs...
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.