The CBOT and broader financial/macroeconomic markets reflected uncertainty and rising geopolitical risks on Tuesday with traders adopting a strong “r...

As WPI reported on 26 March (see here), HPAI was discovered as the “mystery illness” affecting dairy cows in Texas and Kansas, and then New Mex...

May 24 Corn closed at $4.265/bushel, down $0.09 from yesterday's close.  May 24 Wheat closed at $5.4525/bushel, down $0.1175 from yesterday's close.  May 2...

The global cocoa price hit $10,120/MT yesterday, triple its price last fall, and it is still unlikely to be at its apex. The cause is a sharp drop-off in p...

Regional Updates MEDITERRANEAN/MIDDLE EAST/NORTH AFRICA/AFRICA – MEA REGION Egypt’s Ministry of Supply expects to receive 3.5 MMT of local whea...

May 24 Corn closed at $4.36/bushel, up $0.005 from yesterday's close.  May 24 Wheat closed at $5.5875/bushel, up $0.0175 from yesterday's close. ...

The CBOT was mostly red on Monday with traders seeing little reason to buy the soy complex after a benign and semi-bearish Grain Stocks and acreage reports...

The attached PDF offers graphical depiction and seasonal analysis of managed money and commercial traders' net position in key agricultural commodity marke...

Trade Negotiation Calendar This week will include U.S. and EU officials gathering in Brussels for the sixth, and potentially last session of the Trade and...

Japan’s population is declining by a half percent per year and will be 2 million smaller this year than in 2020. Nearly a third of the population is...

As WPI reported last Thursday, the number of breeding sows on 1 March was 6.016 million head, down 2 percent from year ago levels. Part of that reduction i...

Regional News  Through 29 March, Ukraine has exported 35.593 MMT of grain for MY 2023/24, below the 37.382 MMT exported during the same period the pri...

Corn After a week without rain, Argentina’s corn harvest gained momentum and reached nearly 6 percent of the area. This had the consequent effect of...

Tomorrow, 29 March is a holiday for the CBOT/CME markets in observance of Good Friday. Please note that our office will also be closed. The next Ag Perspec...

USDA’s much anticipated Prospective Plantings and Quarterly Stocks reports had few shockers, but they did shuffle the board a bit. First, the top lin...

Today, USDA released its quarterly Hogs and Pigs report for the December through February quarter. The total inventory of hogs and pigs on 1 March was 74.6...

China doesn’t offer the best business environment for American companies and FDI has plummeted. But Xi Jinping told CEO’s that his country will...

May 24 Corn closed at $4.42/bushel, up $0.1525 from yesterday's close.  May 24 Wheat closed at $5.6025/bushel, up $0.1275 from yesterday's close. ...

Export Sales and Shipments for period March 15-21, 2024. Wheat:  Net sales of 339,600 metric tons (MT) for 2023/2024 were down noticeably from the pre...

May 24 Corn closed at $4.2675/bushel, down $0.0575 from yesterday's close.  May 24 Wheat closed at $5.475/bushel, up $0.04 from yesterday's close.&nbs...

Trade at the CBOT was mostly lower heading into Thursday’s Grain Stocks and Prospective Plantings reports from the USDA, but wheat futures managed to...

BRICS Grain Exchange Russia is reportedly pushing other BRICS members to use the bloc as a grain exchange in competition with the West. The assertion is th...

The USDA attache’s office in New Delhi reports that India issued revised import rules last month for premium duck meat. The tariff was reduced from 3...

Russian Grain Markets: 18–22 March 2024 The Russian domestic grain market saw depreciation of milling wheat and a slight depreciation of feed wheat,...

Reactions to news headlines dominated Tuesday’s commodity trade with markets selling off in defensive, risk-off price action. As is discussed in more...

Factless Nostalgia There is yet another crusader against the modern agrifood system. This time it is Austin Frerick, who claims authenticity due to his Iow...

May 24 Corn closed at $4.325/bushel, down $0.0525 from yesterday's close.  May 24 Wheat closed at $5.435/bushel, down $0.115 from yesterday's close.&n...

The market reacted bearishly to reports of HPAI in dairy cows in Texas and Kansas, implying concerns about a demand shock. USDA advised there is no risk to...

Yesterday, there were two reports made public of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) detections in livestock. First, kid goats in Minnesota, who were...

The February Cold Storage report’s numbers reflect a significant drawdown in red meat and poultry stocks compared to one year ago. Total red meat and...

Regional Updates MEDITERRANEAN/MIDDLE EAST/NORTH AFRICA/AFRICA – MEA REGION Egypt’s Prime minister says that the prices of essential goods will...

The biggest moves in ag commodity futures are in the vegoil markets right now, with stronger Malaysian palm oil exports and drought threats pushing values...

We’ve now had a couple of months in 2024 where economic report revisions have come in, and they have been significant. This has changed the outlook o...

May 24 Corn closed at $4.3775/bushel, down $0.015 from yesterday's close.  May 24 Wheat closed at $5.55/bushel, up $0.0025 from yesterday's close.&nbs...

Regional News  Russia’s grain stocks at the end of February totaled 28 MMT, down 2.7 percent compared to the prior year. Wheat stocks of 17.5 MM...

Corn The Buenos Aires Grain Exchange lowered its forecast of Argentina’s corn harvest estimate by 2.5 MMT down to 54 MMT last week. The main reasons...

U.S. Cattle on Feed is up 1 percent in U.S. feedlots with capacity of 1,000 or more head to total 11.8 million head on March 1, 2024.  Placements in f...

May 24 Corn closed at $4.3925/bushel, down $0.015 from yesterday's close.  May 24 Wheat closed at $5.5475/bushel, up $0.08 from yesterday's close.&nbs...

The attached PDF offers graphical depiction and seasonal analysis of managed money and commercial traders' net position in key agricultural commodity marke...

The wheat market was the surprising upside leader for the day with Matif Paris futures posting large gains after sources said the EU Commission is consider...

The Market The market has been squeezed between lower export demand but rising palm oil prices, with the latter pushing soybean prices to the highest in ov...

Fixing the WTO The 13th Ministerial Conference last month in Abu Dhabi was yet another failure by the WTO. Now Singapore has proposed a retreat to discuss...

USDA released the monthly Cattle on Feed report today. As has been the case more often than not since mid-2023, actual placements have exceeded the pre-rep...

May 24 Corn closed at $4.4075/bushel, up $0.0175 from yesterday's close.  May 24 Wheat closed at $5.4675/bushel, up $0.0175 from yesterday's close.&nb...

Although it didn’t start out that way, today’s trading ended mostly in the green for grains and soybeans despite continued weak fundamentals an...

USDA will release its Cattle on Feed report tomorrow; the consensus pre-report analysts’ estimate is for the inventory of cattle on feed to be 101 pe...

Fake Meat Fight Some western state U.S. Senate Democrats are in tough reelection positions and need to show their distance from President Biden. Following...

Export Sales and Shipments for March 8-14, 2024 Wheat:  Net sales reductions of 109,600 metric tons (MT) for 2023/2024--a marketing-year low--were dow...

The CBOT largely reversed the trends of the prior two days as wheat futures pulled back while the soy complex jumped to sharp gains and the corn market saw...

India Paradox: A new report using the Modified Mixed Recall Period shows that over the past decade, India matched China’s success in the decade befor...

May 24 Corn closed at $4.39/bushel, down $0.005 from yesterday's close.  May 24 Wheat closed at $5.45/bushel, down $0.075 from yesterday's close. ...

Russian Grain Markets: 11–15 March 2024 Russian grain markets remained slightly bullish in the south and Volga valley. However, export prices did not...

The CBOT was mostly sideways on Tuesday with traders consolidating positions ahead of next week’s Grain Stocks and Planting Intentions reports. Fresh...

May 24 Corn closed at $4.395/bushel, up $0.035 from yesterday's close.  May 24 Wheat closed at $5.525/bushel, up $0.0975 from yesterday's close. ...

Trade Negotiation Calculation The WTO’s dispute settlement system and new multilateral trade negotiations fail from the perspective of Donald Trump a...

President Joe Biden is “bad talking” about the food industry, accusing it of greed for raising prices. While his focus was on “chips&rdqu...

While Congress is finishing the last six appropriations bills for FY 2024 (with a deadline of this Friday), President Biden submitted his FY 2025 budget pr...

Regional Updates MEDITERRANEAN/MIDDLE EAST/NORTH AFRICA/AFRICA – MEA REGION Grain information and activity in the MEA region was reduced greatly this...

When markets opened on Monday there were just nine trading sessions before the quarterly Grain Stocks and Acreage Intentions reports from USDA, which meant...

The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) will meet this week; interest rates were last raised in July 2023, and during Q4 when rates were held steady marke...

May 24 Corn closed at $4.36/bushel, down $0.0075 from yesterday's close.  May 24 Wheat closed at $5.4275/bushel, up $0.1425 from yesterday's close.&nb...

The Cahiers de doléances [or kaje for short] were the pre-French revolution (1789) lists of societal complaints. The collective disappointments of t...

Brazil has famously surpassed the U.S. as the world’s largest producer and exporter of soybeans, and it could become a more consistent top exporter o...

Corn  Intense rains have fallen over practically all of Argentina’s agricultural region in the last few days, delaying the corn harvest. The rep...

Regional News  The EU Commission is proposing new support measures for farmers after widespread protests rocked the region in recent weeks. Farmers we...

The CBOT was mixed to end the week with scant, fresh fundamental news leading to more technically-oriented trade over the past few weeks. Wheat futures wer...

The attached PDF offers graphical depiction and seasonal analysis of managed money and commercial traders' net position in key agricultural commodity marke...

The Market The May soybean contract trade above $12 several times this week intrasession but could not hold that number at the daily close. Nonetheless, th...

May 24 Corn closed at $4.3675/bushel, up $0.03 from yesterday's close.  May 24 Wheat closed at $5.285/bushel, down $0.0375 from yesterday's close.&nbs...

Today, sign-up for the Ag Risk Coverage (ARC) and Price Loss Coverage (PLC) programs closes; without a new farm bill, no changes have been made to either p...

Export Sales and Shipments for March 1-7, 2024. Wheat:  Net sales of 83,800 metric tons (MT) for 2023/2024--a marketing-year low--were down 69 percent...

May 24 Corn closed at $4.3375/bushel, down $0.075 from yesterday's close.  May 24 Wheat closed at $5.3225/bushel, down $0.12 from yesterday's close.&n...

Equities markets reacted negatively to inflationary U.S. economic indictors and spread a risk-off mentality to commodities. The dollar rose in response to...

Tyson Foods announced this week that it was shutting its Perry, Iowa plant. Press reports indicate that the facility has a capacity of about 9,000 hogs per...

Big is Bad President Joe Biden has a popular proposal, increase taxes on less than 800 billionaires in the U.S. If some people worry about politics for sal...

For most commodities it was a lackluster day but there was higher volume trading in soyoil and cattle. Palm oil was the support behind soyoil and cattle va...

May 24 Corn closed at $4.4125/bushel, down $0.005 from yesterday's close.  May 24 Wheat closed at $5.4425/bushel, down $0.0325 from yesterday's close...

Squeaky Wheels Farmers in Europe have been on a rampage for months and it is good that EU political leaders are responding to the complaints. Squeaky wheel...

Russian Grain Markets: 4–8 March 2024 Russian grain markets remained bearish against global trends and recent tenders which traded wheat, Russia&rsqu...

Palm oil was really the star of Tuesday’s commodity trade as the market rallied on the heels of dry weather threatening Malaysia’s 2024 product...

China’s Veiled Data Some agricultural analysts in the West have noted that Chinese data reporting in the sector can go missing, fail to be consistent...

May 24 Corn closed at $4.4175/bushel, up $0 from yesterday's close.  May 24 Wheat closed at $5.475/bushel, up $0.0025 from yesterday's close.  Ma...

On 5 March, WPI reported USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) released the second of a series of three new Packers and Stockyards Adminis...

Regional Updates MEDITERRANEAN/MIDDLE EAST/NORTH AFRICA/AFRICA – MEA REGION Egypt and the IMF have signed an agreement for $8 billion in financing, i...

The CBOT is fighting a battle between improving short run technicals and bearish long run fundamentals, which is apt to keep the market choppy heading into...

Bogus Problem Reinforcing the problem asserted by USDA’s political leadership, the Economic Research Service highlighted Census of Agriculture data s...

May 24 Corn closed at $4.4175/bushel, up $0.02 from yesterday's close.  May 24 Wheat closed at $5.4725/bushel, up $0.095 from yesterday's close. ...

In the March World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) report, USDA raised beef production by 140 million pounds based on slaughter weight and...

Corn Argentina’s early corn harvest has begun in various regions of the country with good yields, although it's too early to draw conclusions as the...

Soybeans: USDA’s March estimate is that U.S. soybean supply and use for 2023/24 is unchanged from February.  The U.S. season-average soybean pri...

Corn: USDA’s March estimate is that 2023/24 U.S. corn outlook is unchanged from February.  The season-average corn price received by producers i...

Wheat: USDA’s March estimate is that U.S. ending stocks are increased 673 million bushels and are 18 percent higher than last year.  The season-...

The CBOT posted interesting developments on Friday, even while the March WASDE report failed to offer the same intrigue. The USDA’s latest look at U...

The attached PDF offers graphical depiction and seasonal analysis of managed money and commercial traders' net position in key agricultural commodity marke...

The Market The trend remains downward for soybeans and yet this week provided a bounce off the bottom. The move reflects some belief that demand is suffici...

Biden Dictates Prices President Joe Biden tried to position himself in last night’s State of the Union address as the bulwark against the rising tide...

May 24 Corn closed at $4.3975/bushel, up $0.0175 from yesterday's close.  May 24 Wheat closed at $5.3775/bushel, up $0.0925 from yesterday's close.&nb...

In his State of the Union (SOTU) address, President Biden outlined a number of policy priorities with potential impacts on agriculture. Many of them are pr...

With the exception of SRW, markets generally closed above overnight levels as short-covering progressed ahead of tomorrow’s USDA March WASDE. There w...

May 24 Corn closed at $4.38/bushel, up $0.0925 from yesterday's close.  May 24 Wheat closed at $5.285/bushel, down $0.025 from yesterday's close. ...

SOTU Tonight is President Biden’s third State of the Union (SOTU) address. It will be interesting to watch how far he goes on food inflation. In 2022...

Food Wins Commercial food workers hate fast line speeds at meat processors because it makes them work harder and reduces the required number of workers. An...

Export Sales and Shipments for February 23-29, 2024. Wheat:  Net sales of 271,100 metric tons (MT) for 2023/2024 were down 17 percent from the previou...

The dumpster fire that is the wheat market continued to rage on Wednesday with Paris, CBOT, and KCBT markets all scoring new contract lows. The fundamental...

May 24 Corn closed at $4.2875/bushel, up $0.025 from yesterday's close.  May 24 Wheat closed at $5.31/bushel, down $0.2 from yesterday's close. ...

Katy Bar the Door Malaysia had filed a WTO dispute settlement case against the EU’s Renewable Energy Directive, arguing it is prejudicil in limiting...

As noted in today’s Black Sea report, the price of peas in Russia are rising as exports go unfettered by any export tax. Canada is by far the largest...

Russian Grain Markets: 26 February–1 March 2024 Russian grain markets remained bearish following the global trend exports are the key driver. For sev...

The CBOT turned lower on Tuesday with wheat leading the way on new contract lows in Paris wheat and aggressive competition from Ukraine and Russia on the e...

USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) released the second of a series of three new Packers and Stockyards Administration marketing rules. Offic...

White House Hypocrisy The economy, and specifically inflation, is one of four top issues dogging President Biden’s reelection campaign and the White...

At least it is in the U.S. South. While production increased last year in Pakistan and Brazil, USDA predicts that most of the increase in global production...

May 24 Corn closed at $4.2625/bushel, down $0.0375 from yesterday's close.  May 24 Wheat closed at $5.51/bushel, down $0.13 from yesterday's close.&nb...

Regional Updates MEDITERRANEAN/MIDDLE EAST/NORTH AFRICA/AFRICA – MEA REGION The Muslim holy month of Ramadan will begin in the region on 11 or 12 Mar...

The CBOT was mostly higher to start the week with unexpected hail and rain damage to India’s wheat crop lifting world wheat markets while corn and so...

USTR is spinning that progress was made at the WTO’s ministerial in Abu Dhabi that ended over the weekend, claiming progress on revitalizing the disp...

As we reported on Friday, Congress passed and the President signed a short term funding agreement. Moreover, that report advised: Expect a lot of activity...

After a decade of blistering growth, the U.S. domestic beer market declined in 2023. The reasons given include some consumers opting for a healthier, alcoh...

May 24 Corn closed at $4.3/bushel, up $0.0525 from yesterday's close.  May 24 Wheat closed at $5.64/bushel, up $0.0625 from yesterday's close.  M...

Wheat Wheat is going through a challenging time in Argentina. The decline in prices, both in the local and export markets, has been constant over the last...

The CBOT was mixed to end the week and start the month of March with livestock futures extending their rallies amid strong fundamentals. Grain trade, howev...

The attached PDF offers graphical depiction and seasonal analysis of managed money and commercial traders' net position in key agricultural commodity marke...

The Market It was a topsy turvy week from the standpoint that the trend is down, speculators are betting on lower values, increasing their net short positi...

Appropriations USDA will be open on Monday 4 March. President Biden signed a short-term, stop-gap continuing resolution (CR) appropriations bill passed by...

May 24 Corn closed at $4.2475/bushel, down $0.0475 from yesterday's close.  May 24 Wheat closed at $5.5775/bushel, down $0.185 from yesterday's close...

Most futures contracts opened even lower than their respective overnight closing lows. Things began to moderate about an hour into trading with grains and...

May 24 Corn closed at $4.295/bushel, up $0.01 from yesterday's close.  May 24 Wheat closed at $5.7625/bushel, up $0.015 from yesterday's close. ...

Cattle cycles are measured from low point to low point, which means that the current cycle started in 2014, peaked in 2019, and was ongoing in 2023. &...

Export Sales and Shipments for February 16-22, 2024. Wheat:  Net sales of 327,300 metric tons (MT) for 2023/2024 were up 40 percent from the previous...

The CBOT was mixed on Wednesday with corn futures rising and hitting their third straight daily gain while wheat futures pulled back amid weaker global mar...

May 24 Corn closed at $4.285/bushel, up $0.05 from yesterday's close.  May 24 Wheat closed at $5.7475/bushel, down $0.095 from yesterday's close. ...

Europe’s Mantel Sans Viande: In three months, France will ban the use of “meat” when referring to meat alternative products. Since profit...

Russian Grain Markets: 19–23 February 2024 As expected, the Russian grain market remained stable and slightly bearish. Export demand will do the tric...

Tuesday’s mood at the CBOT seemed to be one primarily of consolidation and mild short covering. Corn futures extended Monday’s key reversal but...

Last Friday, WPI reported on the status of the appropriations process; Congress has until Friday of this week to pass four appropriations bills, including...

Politico reports that President Biden wants to attack the U.S. food industry in his 7 March State of the Union address to Congress. He believes his Super B...

May 24 Corn closed at $4.235/bushel, up $0.02 from yesterday's close.  May 24 Wheat closed at $5.8425/bushel, up $0.095 from yesterday's close. ...

Regional Updates MEDITERRANEAN/MIDDLE EAST/NORTH AFRICA/AFRICA – MEA REGION Egypt is expected to increase its local wheat purchase price this year du...

The CBOT turned mostly higher to start the week amid some bullish fundamental developments and funds covering shorts after the market’s recent and wi...

Mar 24 Corn closed at $4.07/bushel, up $0.0725 from yesterday's close.  May 24 Wheat closed at $5.7475/bushel, up $0.0575 from yesterday's close. ...

USDA released the monthly Cattle on Feed report on Friday with placements in January, the most difficult category to predict and the only category to diffe...

Soybeans  Market Overview  Following the Chinese Lunar New Year holiday, expectations for increased soybean demand from China were not met, resul...

The weekly CFTC report was unsurprising in that managed money funds were net sellers through Tuesday’s data reporting period, which obviously coincid...

U.S. cattle on feed totaled 11.8 million head on February 1, 2024 - slightly above Feb 1, 2023. Placements in feedlots during January totaled 1.79 million...

The CBOT posted a bearish day to finish a bearish week with corn, soybeans, soyoil, and soymeal all scoring new contract lows amid sustained selling pressu...

The Market Nearing two and a half months of selling by speculators, this week marked fresh lows in the soybean sector. Net shorts are approaching the recor...

Mar 24 Corn closed at $3.9975/bushel, down $0.0625 from yesterday's close.  May 24 Wheat closed at $5.69/bushel, down $0.1025 from yesterday's close.&...

Appropriations Deadline The initial deadline for avoiding a government shutdown is one week from today, 1 March.  By that time, Congress needs to pass...

Mar 24 Corn closed at $4.06/bushel, down $0.05 from yesterday's close.  May 24 Wheat closed at $5.7925/bushel, up $0.0125 from yesterday's close. ...

The CBOT was mostly lower again on Thursday with funds retaining their bearish grip on the markets and driving futures into the red. Despite adjustments to...

USDA will release its Cattle on Feed report tomorrow and the consensus pre-report analysts’ estimate is for the inventory of cattle on feed to be 100...

The CBOT resumed its downward trend on Wednesday with corn and soybeans abandoning any of the prior day’s strength while wheat futures wobbled but re...

Mar 24 Corn closed at $4.11/bushel, down $0.0775 from yesterday's close.  May 24 Wheat closed at $5.78/bushel, down $0.0125 from yesterday's close.&nb...

Russian Grain Markets: 12–16 February 2024 The global bear market was shocking but it did not have an equal effect on the Russian grain market, which...

Cost of Deception President Joe Biden like other politicians thought he made a clever calculation when he recent;ly blamed food processors for inflation in...

Much like U.S. farmers, Ukrainian producers prefer to plant the most profitable crops. This is especially true when considering Ukraine’s farmers are...

The CBOT turned sharply higher after the three-day weekend with wheat leading the way on a surge in buying interest. Paris wheat started the rally with con...

Mar 24 Corn closed at $4.1875/bushel, up $0.0225 from yesterday's close.  Mar 24 Wheat closed at $5.8275/bushel, up $0.2225 from yesterday's close.&nb...

At the end of this year the existing biofuel tax credit expires and will be replaced with the new Clean Fuel Production Credit (CFPC) included in the Infla...

German Broken Window Theory At this past weekend’s Munich Security Conference, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said U.S. defense contractors...

Global honey production fell 6.3 percent between 2017 and 2019. Culprits for the decline included Colony Collapse Disorder and the use of pesticides such a...

Regional Updates MEDITERRANEAN/MIDDLE EAST/NORTH AFRICA/AFRICA – MEA REGION Pakistan’s Economic Coordination Committee approved the importation...

The weekly CFTC report featured a few surprises, most notably the 11,000-contract net buying in the Chicago wheat market. Heading into the report, expectat...

Monday, 19 February is a U.S. holiday. The CME/CBOT will be closed as will our offices in observance of the President’s Day holiday. The next Ag Pers...

Long’s rush to the exit in CBOT futures continued Friday with the USDA’s Ag Outlook Forum (AOF) balance sheet projections weighing heavily on m...

Mar 24 Corn closed at $4.165/bushel, down $0.0125 from yesterday's close.  Mar 24 Wheat closed at $5.605/bushel, down $0.065 from yesterday's close.&n...

The Market The oilseeds market remains bearish as South American crops progress more favorably and Chicago futures face a large American crop that is over-...

International Agency Capture Regulatory capture occurs when a policymaker or regulator is co-opted to serve the interests of a minor constituency. That cap...