The attached PDF offers graphical depiction and seasonal analysis of managed money and commercial traders' net position in key agricultural commodity marke...
Articles
Summary of Futures
May 22 Corn closed at $6.5575/bushel, down $0.345 from yesterday's close. May 22 Wheat closed at $8.5975/bushel, down $0.75 from yesterday's close.&n...
Export Sales
Export Sales for February 11-17, 2022 Wheat: Net sales of 516,900 metric tons (MT) for2021/2022 were up noticeably from the previous wee...
Russia Changed Nothing
Western leaders have chosen not to inconvenience their citizens over simple Russian aggression. Vladimir Putin has now threatened the use of nuclear weapon...
Record February Cattle on Feed
USDA released its monthly Cattle on Feed report today; the inventory of cattle and calves on feed was 12.2 million, right in line with expectations, and as...
Oilseed Highlights: Disruptions, Records, Opportunities
War Disruption Focusing first on the Bear in the Ukrainian living room, palm and soyoil prices have hit record levels on concern that sunflower seed may lo...
Market Commentary: Irrational Pricing
Markets opened big like the overnight but then, outside of wheat, it somewhat corrected itself, in part due to profit-taking. It was a volatile day with ne...
Summary of Futures
Mar 22 Corn closed at $6.95/bushel, up $0.1125 from yesterday's close. May 22 Wheat closed at $9.3475/bushel, up $0.5 from yesterday's close. M...
Livestock Round-Up: Cattle on Feed Preview
USDA will release its Cattle on Feed report tomorrow and it could be a record. Analysts’ pre-report estimates peg the total number of cattle on feed...
Getting Away with It; On Message, Out of Tune; Its Complicated
Getting Away with It The threats of sanctions did not deter Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine and there is no reason to believe their implementati...
Market Commentary: Wheat, Corn, Soybeans Score New Highs; WPI Issues Acreage Forecasts; Hogs Post Bearish Reversal
The CBOT rallied sharply again on Wednesday as tensions continue to escalate in Ukraine. Moreover, weather forecasts show little improvement for Brazil, Ar...
Summary of Futures
Mar 22 Corn closed at $6.8375/bushel, up $0.09 from yesterday's close. May 22 Wheat closed at $8.8475/bushel, up $0.3225 from yesterday's close. ...
Deforestation Policy; Antibiotic Policy; MC to Nowhere
Deforestation Policy Europe’s effort to end deforestation has focused on blocking imported products from areas that have more recently undergone defo...
End Russia Trade
Even without the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, Germany is dependent upon Russia for 50 percent of its energy supplies. This is not the case for the U.S. Although...
China In-Country Analysis
Livestock Oversupply Remains, Piglet Prices Plunge The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs' (MARA) latest data release shows the domestic live piglet...
Black Sea Regional Analysis
Russian Grain Markets: 14-18 February 2022 There was a lull in the domestic market with insignificant decreases in RUB for all grains. Russian ruble weaken...
Market Commentary: CBOT and Crude Oil Rally on Russian Invasion; Stocks Enter Correction Territory; Meat Stocks Remain Tight
The CBOT jumped higher overnight after news broke Monday afternoon that Russian President Putin announced he would recognize the independence of two separa...
January Cold Storage Report
January 2022 total red meat and poultry stocks were up from December but remained down 6.6 percent from January 2021 and at another five-year low for the m...
More to Come; Better than Hip Hop
More to Come Russian President Vladimir Putin said he would not invade Ukraine and there was a whole dialogue around the meaning of invasion versus incursi...
Senate Agriculture Committee Explores Use and Regulation of Digital Assets
The Senate Agriculture Committee held a hearing on 9 February, “Examining Digital Assets: Risks, Regulation, and Innovation.” It is easy to get...
Limits of Sanctions
The repeated threat of sanctions by the EU and U.S. were not enough to prevent Vladimir Putin from moving on Ukraine, and they likely will not be enough to...
Summary of Futures
Mar 22 Corn closed at $6.7475/bushel, up $0.205 from yesterday's close. Mar 22 Wheat closed at $8.4425/bushel, up $0.4725 from yesterday's close.&nbs...
Middle East, Mediterranean and Africa Regional Analysis
Regional Updates MEDITERRANEAN/MIDDLE EAST/NORTH AFRICA/AFRICA – MEA REGION Morocco’s soft wheat subsidies are expected to reach $410 million i...
U.S. President's Day Holiday
The CBOT/CME will be closed on Monday, 21 February 2022 for the U.S. President’s Day holiday. WPI will not issue an Ag Perspectives report on Monday...
Market Commentary: Soybeans Top $16.00; Wheat Breaks Trendline; Soymeal Sags on Slack Cash Demand; Hogs Hit New Highs
The CBOT was higher to end the week with short covering and modest fund buying occurring ahead of the three-day weekend. Trading was generally slow, and vo...
Interstate Trade War; Vanishing Asia
Interstate Trade War Georgetown University Professor Marc L. Busch notes that the trade agreement between Canada and the U.S. forced Canada to liberalize t...
Policy Round-Up
Congress will be in recess next week for the President’s Day holiday and in-district work time. They will return on 1 March, which leaves 10 days to...
CFTC COT Report Analysis
The attached PDF offers graphical depiction and seasonal analysis of managed money and commercial traders' net position in key agricultural commodity marke...
Bullish Tendencies
It has been another week of solid gains in the oilseeds world. More analysts are tantalizing farmers with the prospect of record soybean prices. Beans in t...
Summary of Futures
Mar 22 Corn closed at $6.5425/bushel, up $0.0425 from yesterday's close. Mar 22 Wheat closed at $7.97/bushel, down $0.01 from yesterday's close. ...
Summary of Futures
Mar 22 Corn closed at $6.5/bushel, up $0.03 from yesterday's close. Mar 22 Wheat closed at $7.98/bushel, up $0.175 from yesterday's close. Mar...
Market Commentary: Stable Sputtering Uncertainty
The markets are relatively stable, but the trade is sputtering as they assess current valuations amidst such uncertainty. The stability and uncertainty res...
Livestock Round-Up: HPAI “High Alert” and USDA 10 Year Baseline Release
Last week, we noted an outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in a turkey flock in Indiana. Approximately 29,000 birds were euthanized. Poult...
Trade Policy Confusion; Energy Confusion
Trade Policy Confusion In its annual report to Congress yesterday on trade relations with China, USTR asserted that, “China has a poor record when it...
China In-Country Analysis
Macroeconomics Food Prices Fall Year-on-Year in January by Nearly 4 Percent In another sign that China’s domestic economy is seeing further contracti...
Export Sales
Export Sales for February 4-10, 2022. Wheat: Net sales of 118,100 metric tons (MT) for 2021/2022 were up 39 percent from the previous week, but...
Market Commentary: Soy Complex Rallies on Weather, China Buying; Hogs Rally on Cash Market Move
After yesterday’s news that Russia moved as many as 10,000 troops away from the Ukrainian border in Belarus, NATO commanders refuted it, saying they...
Summary of Futures
Mar 22 Corn closed at $6.47/bushel, up $0.09 from yesterday's close. Mar 22 Wheat closed at $7.805/bushel, up $0.0075 from yesterday's close. M...
Black Sea Regional Analysis
Russian Grain Markets: 7-11 February 2022 Wheat prices on the Russian domestic market continued to decrease (except for Siberia), while feed barley and cor...
Money Talks; Cultural Animal Welfare; GMO’s are Safer
Money Talks The Conference Board notes that it has been a record year for shareholder proposals involving environmental and social initiatives. However, th...
Corn Price Volatility and Inflation
Inflation is hitting agriculture hard. The cost of inputs like seed, fertilizer, and chemicals are rising much faster than core inflation. Because corn is...
Market Commentary: Russia’s Troop Reduction Pressures CBOT; Cattle, Hog Futures Move to Retest Highs
Russia’s announcement that it will move 10,000 troops from Belarus back to Russia was viewed as a positive development in the Black Sea standoff. Mar...
Beef: Paying for Quality
According to beef grading data released by USDA, the percent of beef grading Choice and Prime hit record highs in the first weeks of 2022. Specifically, fo...
Irking Beijing, African Opportunity; Don’t Blame Big Ag; Keystone Politics
Irking Beijing Taiwan is working hard to beat China to membership in the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP)...
Clueless Leaders
The U.S. government shut down avocado imports from Mexico’s Michoacán state after a federal inspector received presumably a threatening phone...
Summary of Futures
Mar 22 Corn closed at $6.38/bushel, down $0.1775 from yesterday's close. Mar 22 Wheat closed at $7.7975/bushel, down $0.195 from yesterday's close.&n...
Middle East, Mediterranean and Africa Regional Analysis
Regional Updates MEDITERRANEAN/MIDDLE EAST/NORTH AFRICA/AFRICA – MEA REGION MEA region grain importers are very concerned over shipments of grain/oil...
Market Commentary: CBOT Mixed to Start the Week; Bird Flu in KY and IN; Bayer Declares Glyphosate Force Majure
The CBOT traded mostly lower for the day in low-volume, but corn and wheat rallied at the day’s end to post small gains. The soy complex remained und...
E15 versus EVs
As we wrote just over one year ago, on 1 February 2021, … the general trend of fuel policy is clearly shifting the struggle from how much of the tan...
Relative HPAI Threat
The announcement of an HPAI outbreak in a flock of turkeys in Indiana raised fears amongst the U.S. poultry industry. Still fresh in mind is the outbreak d...
Summary of Futures
Mar 22 Corn closed at $6.5575/bushel, up $0.0475 from yesterday's close. Mar 22 Wheat closed at $7.9925/bushel, up $0.015 from yesterday's close.&nbs...
Black Sea Ruse; Maize Pre-emption; Nothing Burger
Black Sea Ruse Global grain markets are said to be spiking higher on the prospect of a Russian invasion of Ukraine. After all, these two countries supply a...
Mercosur Regional Analysis
Corn Argentina’s corn planting is finally concluded with a total of 7.3 Mha planted. The Buenos Aires Grain Exchange, which had been estimating an ex...
European Market Analysis
Regional News French traders continue to express concern about losing wheat market share with Algeria and now China increasingly relying on Russian w...
Market Commentary: Wheat, Oil, Soyoil Rise on Russia Tensions; Cattle and Hogs Follow Reversals
The CBOT was heavily influenced by outside markets on Friday, especially the crude oil rally stemming from Biden administration comments about a looming Ru...
CFTC COT Report Analysis
The attached PDF offers graphical depiction and seasonal analysis of managed money and commercial traders' net position in key agricultural commodity marke...
Input Costs and Planting Intentions
As of early February, U.S. farmers are facing decade high fertilizer prices going into the spring planting season. Moreover, the overall fertilizer price i...
Summary of Futures
Mar 22 Corn closed at $6.51/bushel, up $0.0925 from yesterday's close. Mar 22 Wheat closed at $7.9775/bushel, up $0.2625 from yesterday's close. ...
Meat of the Matter; Political Missteps; All Environment
Meat of the Matter China’s five-year plan calls for an 11.5 percent increase in meat production by 2025. Others wonder why bother? The current HPAI o...
Oilseeds at 30,000 Feet
South America While USDA cakewalked its estimates this week for South American soybean production, Conab made the deep cut, predicting that Brazil’s...
Special China Analysis: 2021 Markets
Livestock Hog Futures from May Onward Trend Upwards as Market Reopens Prior to the start of the Lunar New Year holiday, live hog futures on the Dalian Comm...
Market Commentary: Topsy Turvy
In one of the more bizarre trading sessions of late, new contract highs were scored in corn, soybeans, soymeal, cattle, and hogs, and yet only soyoil ended...
Label Confusion
The effort in Europe to label food for multiple societal purposes will eventually find its way to U.S. so policymakers in Washington should pay attention.&...
Summary of Futures
Mar 22 Corn closed at $6.4175/bushel, down $0.05 from yesterday's close. Mar 22 Wheat closed at $7.715/bushel, down $0.135 from yesterday's close.&nb...
Livestock Round-Up: WASDE, Red Meat Export Records, and HPAI
The beef production forecast was up over last month based on the large number of cattle on feed. Specifically, December placements were the highest on reco...
Export Sales
Wheat: Net sales of 84,800 metric tons (MT) for 2021/2022 were up 48 percent from the previous week, but down 75 percent from the prior 4-week averag...
WASDE Soyoil: Feb 2022
Soyoil: Soybean oil price forecast is raised 1 cent to 66.0 cents per pound...
WASDE Soymeal: Feb 2022
Soymeal: increased U.S. soybean crush is forecast at 2.215 billion bushels, up 25 million from last month on favorable crush margins and improving prospect...
WASDE Soybeans: Feb 2022
Soybeans: USDA forecast domestic crush up 25 million bushels and soybean exports unchanged. The result is domestic ending stocks are reduced 25 milli...
WASDE Corn: Feb 2022
Corn: 2021/22 U.S. corn supply and use are unchanged relative to last month. The season-average farm price remains at $5.45 per bushel. USDA re...
WASDE Wheat: Feb 2022
Wheat: USDA reduced the forecast for U.S. exports by 15 million bushels to 810 million. Projected U.S. wheat ending stocks are raised 20 million bush...
Market Commentary: WASDE was Bearish but Futures Remain Bullish; Wheat Exporter Stocks Hit Decade Lows
The CBOT surged higher on Wednesday with corn and soybeans scoring new contract highs while wheat continued its technical rally – and that was all be...
Eggsactly
China readily out-consumes the rest of the world in poultry eggs and Taiwan is reportedly having problems affordably sourcing all the eggs being sought. Gl...
First Meat, Now Beer; Cynical China Action
First Meat, Now Beer The Biden Administration has found its bogey men when it comes to inflation, and it is Big Ag. As stated earlier by White House spokes...
China In-Country Analysis
Cultural China Heads Into the Year of Tiger with Lots of Questions With the country in the midst of a nearly three week long holiday, much of the current n...
Summary of Futures
Mar 22 Corn closed at $6.4675/bushel, up $0.145 from yesterday's close. Mar 22 Wheat closed at $7.85/bushel, up $0.0625 from yesterday's close. ...
Black Sea Regional Analysis
Russian Grain Markets: 31 January-4 February 2022 Wheat prices on the Russian domestic market decreased (due to active demand for wheat from Kazakhstan whe...
Market Commentary: Stats Canada Surprises; Pre-WASDE Moves; Hog High
Tuesday’s CBOT trade was all about positioning for Wednesday’s WASDE report. Corn and soybeans pulled back as funds pared bullish bets while wh...
CCC Cart Before the Authorization Horse
A growing debate in ag policy is USDA’s use of the broader authorities of the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) to implement and carry out ag policy...
Coffee Flip
Food commodities are rising in price and that includes coffee, but the coffee bean market is also changing. Out of 100 species of coffee, just two dominate...
Artisanal Meat; Selective Study
Artisanal Meat The Biden Administration puts the taxpayers’ money where its heart is but it doesn’t always add up to real dollars and cents. It...
Summary of Futures
Mar 22 Corn closed at $6.3225/bushel, down $0.03 from yesterday's close. Mar 22 Wheat closed at $7.7875/bushel, up $0.1 from yesterday's close. ...
Middle East, Mediterranean and Africa Regional Analysis
Regional Updates MEDITERRANEAN/MIDDLE EAST/NORTH AFRICA Egypt is very concerned that the problems between Russia and Ukraine will push up world wheat...
Market Commentary: South American Weather Sends Soybeans, Soymeal to Contract Highs; Traders Position for Bullish WASDE
Dry weather this past weekend across northern Argentina and southern Brazil put ag futures markets in a bullish mood heading into the WASDE. Soybean and so...
2023 Farm Bill Process Underway with CRP Discussion
The House Agriculture Committee has kicked off the process of crafting the 2023 farm bill. Last week, the Subcommittee on Conservation and Forestry h...
Energy Squeeze; Copying Europe; Farmer Concerns
Energy Squeeze U.S. and European officials are meeting in Washington this week to discuss Europe’s energy security given its current situation. EU Co...
Monopoly Sweeteners
Two of the largest sugar refiners in the southeast United States are seeking a merger but the U.S. Justice Department is objecting. The Department says tha...
Summary of Futures
Mar 22 Corn closed at $6.3525/bushel, up $0.1475 from yesterday's close. Mar 22 Wheat closed at $7.6875/bushel, up $0.055 from yesterday's close.&nbs...
Mercosur Regional Analysis
Logistics Due to the second consecutive year of a La Nina-created drought, navigation along the Parana River is a major problem for cargo vessels loa...
European Market Analysis
Regional News China has ended its policy of distinguishing wheat and barley imported from Russia by region, which means all Russian wheat and barley...
Coming Interest Rate Increases and Their Effect
Tomorrow Jerome Powell’s term as chairman of the Federal Reserve official expires. President Biden has nominated him to a second term, but the Senate...
Summary of Futures
Mar 22 Corn closed at $6.205/bushel, up $0.0375 from yesterday's close. Mar 22 Wheat closed at $7.6325/bushel, up $0.115 from yesterday's close. ...
Market Commentary: Soybeans, Wheat Post Bullish Technical Formations; Traders Brace for Weekend Weather, Wednesday’s WASDE
The CBOT finished mostly higher for the day with the soyoil contract posting the only declines of the major ag products. Soybeans and soymeal both ended hi...
UnCOMPETES; Pesticide Abyss
UnCOMPETES The partisan dysfunction in Washington continues as Democrats and Republicans in the House cannot even agree on how to approach competing with C...
CFTC COT Report Analysis
The attached PDF offers graphical depiction and seasonal analysis of managed money and commercial traders' net position in key agricultural commodity marke...
Everyone Wants in on Oilseed Fun
It was a raucous week in the oilseeds market as March soybeans climbed nearly a buck higher and hit a new contract high. However, a temporary top may be fo...
Market Commentary: Two Corrections
There may have been two separate corrections occurring in the market today as prices generally slid lower. The first involved absorbing and recalibrating a...
Summary of Futures
Mar 22 Corn closed at $6.1675/bushel, down $0.0575 from yesterday's close. Mar 22 Wheat closed at $7.5175/bushel, down $0.0325 from yesterday's close...
Livestock Round-Up: Canadian Truckers’ Beef with COVID Regs Affecting Canadian Beef
Last week, we noted that the vaccine/mask regulation on trucks crossing the Canadian border (put in place in Canada on 15 January and the U.S. on 22 Januar...
Dinosaurs versus Unicorns; Pesticides and Russian Gas; Unfair to Cattlemen
Dinosaurs versus Unicorns Unlike dinosaurs, unicorns are mythical creatures, except in the world of finance. Financial unicorns are privately held startup...
Export Sales
Export Sales for January 21-27, 2022 Wheat: Net sales of 57,500 metric tons (MT) for 2021/2022 were down 92 percent from the previous week and...
Market Commentary: Corn Follows Monday’s Reversal; Soybeans Stumble but Settle Higher; Cash Hog Prices Rally $14
Trading on the CBOT was volatile once again with corn futures marking a 24-cent range while soybeans posted a 38-cent range. The market opened sharply high...
Worst Time; Microchips and Food
Worst Time The U.S. House Agriculture Committee has begun hearings in preparation for writing the 2023 version of the farm bill. This week’s hearings...
Summary of Futures
Mar 22 Corn closed at $6.225/bushel, down $0.1225 from yesterday's close. Mar 22 Wheat closed at $7.55/bushel, down $0.14 from yesterday's close.&nbs...
No Border Barrier
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, responding to protests over a mandate that truckers crossing the border be vaccinated against COVID, says that the...
Black Sea Regional Analysis
Russian Grain Markets: 24-28 January 2022 The Russian domestic market grew due to weakening of the ruble. As export duties decreased, it made it possible f...
Market Commentary: Soybeans in Panic, Demand-Rationing Mode; South American Weather Still Threatens
The CBOT saw another day of soybean-led strength with soybeans and soymeal scoring new contract highs amid a demand-rationing panic. Crops in South America...
Blockchain Food; Geopolitical Damage
Blockchain Food A few years ago, major food system originators and processors began experimenting with blockchain under a system called Food Trust. Now the...
Regulating the Ag Economy Back to Health and Funding the Government
Yesterday, Secretary Tom Vilsack testified at the House Agriculture Committee to Review the State of the Rural Economy - an annual event with only the Secr...
Summary of Futures
Mar 22 Corn closed at $6.3475/bushel, up $0.0875 from yesterday's close. Mar 22 Wheat closed at $7.69/bushel, up $0.0775 from yesterday's close. ...
Whither Thy Beef
China continues to politically bludgeon Australia’s agriculture, the latest involving the suspension of beef imports from several processing plants D...
Middle East, Mediterranean and Africa Regional Analysis
Regional Updates MEDITERRANEAN/MIDDLE EAST/NORTH AFRICA Afghanistan’s agriculture will benefit from a $65 million donation by the Asian Develop...
Market Commentary: Corn Posts Bearish Reversal; Wheat Falls; Soybeans Approach $15
The CBOT traded a volatile day to start the week, mirroring outside markets’ increased jumpiness. Apparent reductions in geopolitical tensions in the...
Not so Sweet; Not so Green
Not so Sweet The WTO last month sided with Australia, Brazil, and Guatemala that India’s sugar subsidies were distorting and illegal. India has appea...
Drop in Feeder Cattle Supply
USDA released its Cattle Inventory report today. The total inventory of all cattle and calves as of 1 January is 91.1 million head; that compares to 93.8 m...
Summary of Futures
Mar 22 Corn closed at $6.26/bushel, down $0.1 from yesterday's close. Mar 22 Wheat closed at $7.6125/bushel, down $0.25 from yesterday's close. ...
European Market Analysis
Regional News Russia’s possible invasion of Ukraine remains a huge focus for the markets, though political tensions thawed last week and market...
China's Food Security
Beijing proclaims the goal of food self-sufficiency at a 95-percent level on a grain basis but there is inadequate data upon which to judge this feat. Goro...
Mercosur Regional Analysis
Regional News Argentina and the IMF On Friday, the government of Argentina and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) announced an initial agreement regardi...
Market Commentary: Soybeans, Soyoil Post New Highs on Chinese Buying; Corn Rallies on Lower Argentine Yields
The CBOT rallied on Friday with soybeans and soyoil posting fresh contract highs while corn futures came within 3¾ cents of their contract high. Eve...
Cattle Inventory Report Preview
USDA will release its semi-annual Cattle Inventory report on Monday estimating the herd size for all cattle and calves as of 1 January 2022. Pre-report exp...
CFTC COT Report Analysis
The attached PDF offers graphical depiction and seasonal analysis of managed money and commercial traders' net position in key agricultural commodity marke...
Summary of Futures
Mar 22 Corn closed at $6.36/bushel, up $0.1075 from yesterday's close. Mar 22 Wheat closed at $7.8625/bushel, up $0.0925 from yesterday's close. ...
Food Inflation; Starving Europeans; Reasonable Response
Food Inflation The Biden Administration has taken issue with the farm-to-retail spread, arguing it is proof that food companies are too concentrated...
Hot Vegetable Oil
The global oilseeds situation remained on track this past week with supplies tight and prices rising. March soybeans likely added over 50 cents this week,...
Market Commentary: Wheat Whiplash; New Soy Highs
Soybeans and soyoil opened in the green and stayed that way all session, setting new contract highs in soyoil and November beans. Corn opened higher but qu...
Livestock Round-Up: Prop 12 Delay Bullish, But 2022 Outlook Still Unclear for Hogs
As Gary Blumenthal mentioned in yesterday’s report, the Sacramento County Superior Court has delayed the implementation of Proposition 12 for 180 day...
Dairy Crisis Fix; Steel and Subsidies; Turning Russia
Dairy Crisis Fix The U.S. dairy industry has spent decades myopically focused on extracting high prices for milk out of American consumers. The Federal Mil...
Summary of Futures
Mar 22 Corn closed at $6.2525/bushel, down $0.0175 from yesterday's close. Mar 22 Wheat closed at $7.77/bushel, down $0.18 from yesterday's close.&nb...
Export Sales
Export Sales for January 14-20, 2022. Wheat: Net sales of 676,700 metric tons (MT) for 2021/2022--a marketing-year high--were up 78 percent fro...
Market Commentary: Soybeans Rally on Poor Brazilian Yields; Wheat Pulls Back from Recent Gains
The CBOT reversed course from its recent grains-rally-soy-complex-declines playbook as a (minor) thaw in Russia-Ukraine/NATO political tensions sent wheat...
Out COMPETES; Pig News
Out COMPETES The U.S. House released a bill today whose proponents say will enable America to compete with China in science and technology. The biggest com...
Summary of Futures
Mar 22 Corn closed at $6.27/bushel, up $0.07 from yesterday's close. Mar 22 Wheat closed at $7.95/bushel, down $0.23 from yesterday's close. Ma...
China In-Country Analysis
Livestock Live Hog Prices Up More than 2 Percent as Holiday Approaches With the lunar holiday around the corner, most slaughterhouses closed this week, whi...
Global Feed Prices Equilibrate
Argentina has moved into the lowest price leader position for corn, but its price has started tracking higher - lest money be left on the table. Romanian a...
Black Sea Regional Analysis
Russian Grain Markets: 17-21 January 2022 The Russian domestic market fluctuated as it grew significantly in the beginning but then decreased. We see a mod...
Market Commentary: Corn Touches $6.30 and Wheat Hits Trendline; New Highs for Hogs
The CBOT saw the continued influence of fund managers and investors looking to bull spread commodities against equities, as well as the impact of (continua...
SCOTUS Takes on WOTUS
One of the biggest issues in agriculture over the past half a dozen years has been the Waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule – and more generally,...
Summary of Futures
Mar 22 Corn closed at $6.2/bushel, down $0.01 from yesterday's close. Mar 22 Wheat closed at $8.18/bushel, up $0.175 from yesterday's close. Ma...
Misleading Farm Statistics; Regulatory Loophole; Plurilateral Solution in Geneva
Misleading Farm Statistics Jonathan Kanter, the Biden Administration’s Assistant Attorney General overseeing the Antitrust Division, told the New Yor...
Unnecessary Angst
The markets are nervous over potential impacts from geopolitics, especially the potential actions by Russia in Ukraine. The past is not necessarily prologu...
Middle East, Mediterranean and Africa Regional Analysis
Regional Updates MEDITERRANEAN/MIDDLE EAST/NORTH AFRICA Turkish flour miller Ulusoy Un Sanayi has received $25 million in six year debt facility from...
December Cold Storage Report
December total red meat and poultry stocks were up from November but remained down 11.2 percent from December 2020. Once again, total pork and poultry stoc...
Market Commentary: Wheat, Corn Rally After No Diplomatic Progress; Hogs Post New Highs While Cattle Falter
As expected, the weekend’s developments in the Black Sea drove market action to start the week. Over the weekend, U.S. and Russian diplomats ended di...
Fossil Fuel Foibles; Broken Mirrors; Biden on Asia; Threats on the Farm
Fossil Fuel Foibles Fossil fuels and agriculture are highly integrated, including via fuel, chemical inputs, and commodity fund valuations. Thus, it is imp...
Summary of Futures
Mar 22 Corn closed at $6.21/bushel, up $0.0475 from yesterday's close. Mar 22 Wheat closed at $8.005/bushel, up $0.205 from yesterday's close. ...
Problem Off the Farm
COVID revealed the raw underbelly of the U.S. food manufacturing industry. While politicians are blaming consolidation and greed for the disrupted supply c...
Record 2023 Crude Oil and Natural Gas Production Forecast
Thinking back a little more than a decade ago, the Obama Administration proposed the “cap and trade” energy policy to develop more alternative...
Mercosur Regional Analysis
Corn Argentina Last week’s heatwave in Argentina was as bad with temperatures above 40C (104F) and strong winds in many places. By the week’s e...
European Market Analysis
Regional News Grain markets in Europe and the Black Sea remain dominated by one factor: the looming possibility that Russia will invade Ukraine. Dipl...
Cattle on Feed
U.S. Cattle on Feed Up 1 Percent: Cattle on feed for the slaughter in the United States for feedlots with capacity of 1,000 or more head totaled 12.0 mill...
Summary of Futures
Mar 22 Corn closed at $6.1625/bushel, up $0.0525 from yesterday's close. Mar 22 Wheat closed at $7.8/bushel, down $0.1025 from yesterday's close.&nbs...
Market Commentary: Corn, Soyoil, Hogs Post Bullish Days; Soybeans, Wheat Fall on Profit Taking
The CBOT traded a mixed day to end a volatile and mostly bullish week. Corn and lean hog futures rallied with March corn posting a new seven-month high and...
COF: Record December Placements
USDA released its monthly cattle on feed report; it was on the bearish side with record placements for December that were well above pre-report expectation...
CFTC COT Report Analysis
The attached PDF offers graphical depiction and seasonal analysis of managed money and commercial traders' net position in key agricultural commodity marke...
WTF Trade Policy; Transatlanticism
WTF Trade Policy USTR Katherine Tai spoke to other leaders at the World Economic Forum this week and made the following comments: Rather than seeking a re...
Dynamic Oilseed Developments
Export Sales USDA’s Export Sales report released this morning reflected larger export sales across many commodities, including the soy complex. Net s...
Export Sales
Export Sales for Jan 7, 2022 – Jan 13, 2022 Wheat: Net sales of 380,600metric tons (MT) for 2021/2022 were up 44 percent from the previous week...
Market Commentary: Geopolitics Replaces Weather
With little new in the fundamentals to move the market it is instead being pushed by inflation and geopolitics. Funds are buying on both measures going int...
Summary of Futures
Mar 22 Corn closed at $6.11/bushel, up $0.005 from yesterday's close. Mar 22 Wheat closed at $7.9025/bushel, down $0.0625 from yesterday's close.&nbs...
Livestock Round-Up: Cattle on Feed Preview
There is still some slack in the beef processing sector, reportedly related to the Omicron variant and labor availability. Cattle slaughter today was 116,0...
Chemical Wars; Agriculture Not Industry; Meat Concession?; Western Unity; NIMBY Ag
Chemical Wars Falling in line with President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador’s order to end the use of glyphosate in 2024, Mexico’s National Counci...
China In-Country Analysis
Livestock Squeeze of Low Prices and High Feed Costs Plagues Hog Sector The latest data release from China’s Feed Industry Association indicates that...
Market Commentary: Corn, Soy, and Wheat Rally on Technical Buying and Russian Aggression
The CBOT traded sharply higher on Wednesday with Tuesday’s rallies in corn and wheat sparking follow-through fund and speculative buying. Moreover, t...
China Status Quo; Buffaloed on Beef
China Status Quo A piece in Bloomberg makes note that the White House has focused on other issues (voting rights, Build Back Better spending) but has said...
Good But #27
The Buenos Aires Grain Exchange announced that the average yield for Argentina’s 2021/22 wheat crop will be 3.44 MT/hectare. That is the highest yiel...
Summary of Futures
Mar 22 Corn closed at $6.105/bushel, up $0.11 from yesterday's close. Mar 22 Wheat closed at $7.965/bushel, up $0.275 from yesterday's close. M...
Black Sea Regional Analysis
Russian Grain Markets: 10-14 January 2022 The Russian domestic market prices changed insignificantly and mainly in southern regions that are more sensitive...
Market Commentary: Black Sea Tensions, Short-Covering Rally Wheat; Corn Rallies Last-Minute; Soyoil Crashes
The CBOT came back from its three-day holiday to find soyoil crashing lower under technical selling and position liquidation. The day’s soymeal trade...
Summary of Futures
Mar 22 Corn closed at $5.995/bushel, up $0.0325 from yesterday's close. Mar 22 Wheat closed at $7.69/bushel, up $0.275 from yesterday's close. ...
Farm Income Getting Squeezed by Input Costs
The House Agriculture Committee will hold a hearing on Thursday to Review the State of the Rural Economy. This is an annual hearing, and the sole witness w...
Subsidizing Poor Governance; GMO Pork; Trees for Grass
Subsidizing Poor Governance Development assistance goes to some very needy nations, but it may also enable corrupt political regimes to persevere when they...
On the Cusp of?
Nothing is more important to commodity markets than the larger economy. First, the U.S. economy was headed toward secular stagnation, then it was worrisome...
Middle East, Mediterranean and Africa Regional Analysis
Regional Updates MEDITERRANEAN/MIDDLE EAST/NORTH AFRICA Tunisian officials say the country has sufficient stocks of soft wheat, durum, and barley to...
Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday
The CBOT/CME markets will be closed Monday, 17 January 2022 in observance of the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. WPI’s offices will be closed as well...
CFTC COT Report Analysis
The attached PDF offers graphical depiction and seasonal analysis of managed money and commercial traders' net position in key agricultural commodity marke...
Market Commentary: Wheat Extends Losses; Corn, Soyoil Strengthen; Hogs Rally on ASF News
The CBOT was mostly lower in low-volume, pre-holiday trade. Monday is a holiday in the U.S. and the CBOT/CME (and WPI’s offices) will be closed. Nota...
Summary of Futures
Mar 22 Corn closed at $5.9625/bushel, up $0.0875 from yesterday's close. Mar 22 Wheat closed at $7.415/bushel, down $0.0525 from yesterday's close.&n...
RINs Rumors and Fuel Use Outlook
Ethanol RINs dropped this week on news reports that EPA might consider lowering the 15 billion gallon required volume obligation (RVO) for 2022. This came...
WFH Productivity; USMCA Rift
WFH Productivity There have been plenty of studies about the impacts on productivity of work from home (WFH) during COVID. They usually show mixed results...
Guessing La Niña
This year’s La Niña event has been categorized as historically a moderate one. The rains coming to parts of South America this weekend attest...
Oilseeds Situation Update
Most of the current changes are on the supply side of the ledger. This week’s USDA WASDE has come and gone but its effects linger. The agency’s...
Market Commentary: Definitively Lower
The market opened lower for grains and oilseeds and for most contracts that was the consistent direction of the day. The bearish tone of yesterday’s...
Livestock Round-Up: WASDE Livestock Outlook
Last week we noted the impact of Omicron on slaughter rates; as of today, cattle slaughter is up about 1 percent, hog slaughter is down about 3.5 percent,...
Inflation Whiff; Indian Scraps; Capitol Coup
Inflation Whiff Kiev is not just battling a Russian-led insurrection in the Donbas but is also trying to fight food inflation, which hit 11.3 percent in 20...
Summary of Futures
Mar 22 Corn closed at $5.875/bushel, down $0.115 from yesterday's close. Mar 22 Wheat closed at $7.4675/bushel, down $0.11 from yesterday's close.&nb...
Export Sales
Export Sales for Dec 31, 2021 – Jan 6, 2022. Wheat: Net sales of 264,400 metric tons (MT) for 2021/2022 were up noticeably from the previous we...
Market Commentary: WASDE Cuts S. American Crops, Raises U.S. Carry-Out; Report Whipsaws Soybeans
Today’s CBOT trade was all about the WASDE with markets trading quietly lower before the report’s noon ET release. The report, while mostly in-...
Workers of World United
The analytics company CultureX says that people are more likely to quit their jobs due to a toxic workplace culture than due to their salary. That may be t...
What’s in a Name; Going Industrial; New Analytical Approach
What’s in a Name Proponents of geographic indicators in Europe are upset that DG-Agri may be planning to hand over more regulatory oversight of the G...
Summary of Futures
Mar 22 Corn closed at $5.99/bushel, down $0.02 from yesterday's close. Mar 22 Wheat closed at $7.5775/bushel, down $0.125 from yesterday's close.&nbs...
WASDE Soyoil
U.S. soybean oil price forecast is unchanged at 65.0 cents per pound...
WASDE Soymeal
U.S. soybean meal price is projected at $375 per short ton, up 45 dollars...
WASDE Soybeans
U.S. soybean ending stocks for 2021/22 are raised 10 million bushels to 350 million. The U.S. season-average soybean price for 2021/22 is forecast at $12.6...
WASDE Corn
U.S. corn ending stocks for 2021/22 are raised 47 million bushels to 1,540 million. The season-average corn price received by producers is unchanged at $5...
China In-Country Analysis
Macroeconomics Food Inflation Reverses Course, Falls in December With pork prices continuing to remain well below their averages from a year ago, food cost...
WASDE Wheat
U.S. wheat ending stocks for 2021/22 are raised 30 million bushels to 628 million. The season-average farm price is raised $0.10 per bushel to $7.15...
Black Sea Regional Analysis
Russian Grain Markets: 3-7 January 2022 The first week of January was holiday season, as usual, so it was impossible to register any changes on the Russian...
Market Commentary: CBOT Firmer Heading into WASDE; Cattle Rally from Technical Support
The CBOT turned higher on the last day of pre-WASDE trading as continued short covering in wheat and a bullish response to CONAB’s new production dat...
Trade Announcement on India and Pork Highlights What is Not Happening
Trade negotiations are a long, slow process, marked in many cases by small steps on the way to broader market access and more robust trade. A good reminder...
Fake Pork Trade; Humoring Russia
Fake Pork Trade USTR Katherine Tai announced that bilateral negotiations had resulted in India opening its market to imports of U.S. pork. This past year,...
Summary of Futures
Mar 22 Corn closed at $6.01/bushel, up $0.0125 from yesterday's close. Mar 22 Wheat closed at $7.7025/bushel, up $0.0825 from yesterday's close. ...
Middle East, Mediterranean and Africa Regional Analysis
Regional Updates MEDITERRANEAN/MIDDLE EAST/NORTH AFRICA MEA region grain importers will face lower Russian export quotas in 2022 – 8 MMT of whe...
Three-Year Rebuild
The price of palm oil has been rising since the start of 2021, reaching a local price roughly double the average of the previous dozen years. Production in...
Market Commentary: Spreads Reversed Ahead of WASDE; Livestock Futures Sharply Lower
CBTO trade on Monday was all about positioning for Wednesday’s WASDE report from USDA. Traders took out some of the weather premium that was bid into...
Beef with Oil; Carbon Trouble
Beef with Oil The Biden Administration dislikes the oil industry as much or more than Big Beef. After stating the goals of ending drilling on public lands,...
Summary of Futures
Mar 22 Corn closed at $5.9975/bushel, down $0.07 from yesterday's close. Mar 22 Wheat closed at $7.62/bushel, up $0.035 from yesterday's close. ...
Fat Cats
Investors are most interested in maximizing their return on capital. It is notable that across 97 different industries, the agrifood sector is a mixed bag...
EPA Renewable Fuels Coming Regulations and Canola Trade
On 7 December, EPA announced its proposed required volume obligations (RVO) rules which gained much attention. What gained less attention was the regulator...
Mercosur Regional Analysis
Argentina’s Wheat/Corn Trust The Argentine government is being creative in trying to control inflation rates. They are trying to control local wheat...
European Market Analysis
Regional News Ukraine’s grain exports for MY 2021/22 total 33.5 MMT, up 23 percent from the same period last year. Of that, wheat accounts for...
Market Commentary: Soybeans, Soymeal Rally on Technical and Index Fund Buying; Wheat Posts Chart Reversal
The CBOT turned higher heading into the weekend with soybeans and soymeal posting big rallies near mid-day. Soybeans and soymeal pushed above technical res...
A Different Kind of Inflation in 2021
The U.S. has not used the gold standard since 1933, when the Emergency Banking Act forced Americans to give up gold and convert their holdings to dollars...
Real Food Sovereignty; Obesity Solutions
Real Food Sovereignty Activists and their populist politicians in rich, developed countries have an answer for reforming agriculture – small farms us...
CFTC COT Report Analysis
The attached PDF offers graphical depiction and seasonal analysis of managed money and commercial traders' net position in key agricultural commodity marke...
Oilseed Situation Update
As the trading week closed out, the soy complex incurred another series of impressive gains largely driven by production uncertainties in South America. Th...
Summary of Futures
Mar 22 Corn closed at $6.0675/bushel, up $0.03 from yesterday's close. Mar 22 Wheat closed at $7.585/bushel, up $0.125 from yesterday's close. ...
Market Commentary: Topsy Turvey
Corn and cattle opened down but settled up; soyoil opened up but closed down with the rest of the complex; and wheat never saw the light of day. The ration...
Mistakes on All Sides
Russian President Vladimir Putin complains that NATO is a threat to Russia and seeks a buffer to establish states but the nations he wants to isolate from...
Livestock Round-Up: Dealing with the Omicron Effect
The increased number of cases of the Omicron variant of COVID has been weighing somewhat on the cattle markets this past week. There is general chatter abo...
Summary of Futures
Mar 22 Corn closed at $6.0375/bushel, up $0.015 from yesterday's close. Mar 22 Wheat closed at $7.46/bushel, down $0.1475 from yesterday's close.&nbs...
China In-Country Analysis
Livestock Major Live Hog Companies Target Increased Capacity in 2022 Even with live hog prices down year-on-year by 54.8 percent and the corn-hog ratio in...
Export Sales
Export Sales for December 24-30, 2021 Wheat: Net sales of 48,600 metric tons (MT) for 2021/2022--a marketing-year low—were down 76 percent from...
Market Commentary: March Soybeans Falter at $14.00; Corn, Wheat Lower Amid Fund Selling
The CBOT traded a mixed day with wheat and corn futures posting losses on moderate fund selling and buyers’ more cautious approach amid increased vol...
Summary of Futures
Mar 22 Corn closed at $6.0225/bushel, down $0.0725 from yesterday's close. Mar 22 Wheat closed at $7.6075/bushel, down $0.0925 from yesterday's close...
Dissecting Beef
The Biden Administration is charging the meat packing industry with exploitation for elevated beef prices. Beef is certainly not the only industry with ris...
Government Meat Plants; Brussels Effect; 2022 Drivers and Outcome
Government Meat Plants President Biden criticized the meat industry for what he termed “exploitation.” The term is a formal part of case law un...
Black Sea Regional Analysis
Russian Grain Markets: 27-31 December 2021 The last week of December on the Russian grain market was very calm. General trends were downward. Market player...