Grain and soybean futures markets seem to have hit something of a vacuum. They have lost direction, at least temporarily, and they have become rather dull of late. That is, if $8.00 corn and $17.00 soybeans in the midst of an historic drought that has brought on the worst U.S. crop losses in decades can be called dull.Markets respond to emotion, and the collective emotions of market participants can remain at a peak only so long before the edge is rubbed off and they become tiresome. It seems to us that markets have reached this stage. Markets have been trading on fears that the drought accompanied by an intense heat wave might have disastrous consequences for crops since early July. As it became clear that those fears were being realized...
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...
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.