La Niña events are not infrequent and should provide some level of predictability. However, there is wide variability in each event, seed genetics c...

Mar 22 Corn closed at $5.8925/bushel, down $0.04 from yesterday's close.  Mar 22 Wheat closed at $7.58/bushel, down $0.1275 from yesterday's close.&nb...

The Biden Administration announced a $1 billion program to incentivize “independent processing capacity” in the meat industry. Noting the irony...

Wheat In the last two weeks, amid drought and sunny, warm weather, Argentina’s wheat harvest moved fast and reached almost 90 percent of the planted...

Mar 22 Corn closed at $5.9325/bushel, down $0.0275 from yesterday's close.  Mar 22 Wheat closed at $7.7075/bushel, down $0.09 from yesterday's close.&...

Today’s trading went as expected with a low volume of business but that does not obviate the high interest in agricultural commodities as we move int...

GE Labeling  Starting in 2022, the U.S. will have mandatory labeling of foods with detectable amounts of genetically modified content. WPI emphasizes...

The CBOT came under pressure Thursday from a combination of end-of-year profit taking and rains that are pushing into southern Brazil. Traders were eager t...

At the end of the year, thoughts are turning to the future – not just 2022, but the longer term as well. USDA released its preliminary long-term outl...

Export Sales for December 17-23, 2021. Wheat:  Net sales of 199,500 metric tons (MT) for 2021/2022 were down 53 percent from the previous week and 43...

Mar 22 Corn closed at $5.96/bushel, down $0.095 from yesterday's close.  Mar 22 Wheat closed at $7.7975/bushel, down $0.08 from yesterday's close.&nbs...

Market volatility has risen with Covid and its latest iteration Omicron but has thus far underplayed the current security risks playing out in Eastern Euro...

Mar 22 Corn closed at $6.0475/bushel, down $0.1 from yesterday's close.  Mar 22 Wheat closed at $7.835/bushel, down $0.205 from yesterday's close.&nbs...

Today’s trading opened like a continuation of the day before. Wheat corn and soy all opened lower with just the livestock complex in a more bullish m...

House Agriculture Committee Chairman David Scott (D-Georgia) has indicated that negotiations for the farm bill will start in the very early weeks of 2022...

Mar 22 Corn closed at $6.0475/bushel, down $0.1 from yesterday's close.  Mar 22 Wheat closed at $7.835/bushel, down $0.205 from yesterday's close.&nbs...

It now looks like Omicron is manageable, which supports macros and ethanol but otherwise there are few new commodity market inputs. That led to an opportun...

Welcome back from the holiday. The latest weather reports have not brightened prospects for crops in Argentina and southern Brazil and weather premium was...

Mar 22 Corn closed at $6.1475/bushel, up $0.09 from yesterday's close.  Mar 22 Wheat closed at $8.04/bushel, down $0.1075 from yesterday's close. ...

Financial markets will be closed tomorrow, December 24, for Christmas Eve. As a result, there will be no Ag Perspectives report tomorrow. WPI wishes everyo...

The CBOT was mostly higher in pre-Christmas trade with soymeal once again leading the soy complex higher, though huge soyoil export sales supported that ma...

USDA released a trifecta of livestock reports today. First, the much-awaited quarterly hogs and pigs report. Pre-report expectations were for a bullish rep...

Mar 22 Corn closed at $6.0575/bushel, up $0.0325 from yesterday's close.  Mar 22 Wheat closed at $8.1475/bushel, up $0.0075 from yesterday's close.&nb...

President Biden and his economic team attacked the U.S. meat industry this year for being greedy. Meanwhile, he has politely asked the oil industry to plea...

Livestock Tariff on Imported Pork Set to Rise to Help Domestic Industry Even with China’s national reproductive sow inventory falling to 43 million h...

Export Sales for December 10-16, 2021. Wheat:  Net sales of 425,400 metric tons (MT) for 2021/2022 were down 35 percent from the previous week, but up...

The futures market has seemingly given U.S. farmers and commodity producers (e.g., soy crushers) a gift with another day of pre-holiday rallies. The CBOT s...

November total red meat and poultry stocks were down from October and fell 11.3 percent from November 2020. Once again, pork and chicken stocks posted five...

When the EU and the African Union meet in February, Brussels will reportedly encourage the AU to adopt Europe’s Green Deal/Farm to Fork strategy in a...

Mar 22 Corn closed at $6.025/bushel, up $0.0425 from yesterday's close.  Mar 22 Wheat closed at $8.14/bushel, up $0.15 from yesterday's close.  J...

Diabolical Plan USTR issued a blistering report regarding Russia’s increasingly protectionist trade policy. It accused Moscow of employing localizati...

Russian Grain Markets: 13-17 December 2021 Russian grain market wheat prices decreased at higher rates than during the previous week due to growing grain e...

Receding concerns about another round of economic lockdowns from the Omicron COVID-19 variant sent macro-markets and the CBOT higher on Tuesday. News broke...

Which Way Chile Analysts are pondering the future of Chile now that it has elected socialist Gabriel Boric as its next president. Boric campaigned to end n...

Syria’s wheat production collapsed this year, but it was not due to the nearly decade-long civil war. The FAO cites three causes: 1) drought; 2) high...

It’s a holiday shortened week, but a big week for livestock reports from USDA. On Thursday, the quarterly Hogs and Pigs report comes out. (We’v...

Regional Updates MEDITERRANEAN/MIDDLE EAST/NORTH AFRICA  Egypt’s Agricultural Bank is putting up EGP 4 billion (about U.S. $254 million) “...

Fresh concerns about the global Omicron coronavirus variant sent energy and macro-markets sharply lower on Monday, and the “risk off” mentality...

Exports point to climate change as the cause of the plateauing in global crop production but no where is it more apparent than in coffee production. Brazil...

Mar 22 Corn closed at $5.91/bushel, down $0.0225 from yesterday's close.  Mar 22 Wheat closed at $7.7775/bushel, up $0.0275 from yesterday's close.&nb...

BBB Blowback Although word yesterday that U.S. Senator Joe Manchin’s rejection of President Biden’s Build Back Better (BBB) Act appears to be l...

Inflation is a hot topic lately; it is the reason why the Fed has signaled it will raise interest rates three times next year. Moreover, it is why Senator...

Regional News  Concerns about the frost-tolerance of the Black Sea wheat crop are growing after the EU Commission confirmed last week that a late star...

Export Quota Update Finally, the Argentine government implemented a so-called “new” system to control wheat and corn exports. The “new&rd...

The CBOT traded a mostly higher day with corn and soybeans pushing closer to major resistance at $6.00 and $13.00, respectively. Funds were net buyers and...

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

Russian Ultimatum Russian President Vladmimir Putin just provoked the transatlantic strategy on managing his country’s possible aggression in Eastern...

The November edition of the Purdue University/CME Ag Economy Barometer shows that November was the lowest index of the year to date at 116 – down 51...

Mar 22 Corn closed at $5.9325/bushel, up $0.02 from yesterday's close.  Mar 22 Wheat closed at $7.75/bushel, up $0.045 from yesterday's close.  J...

Supply While the global supply of oilseeds and products is tight, it could get tighter or looser. The least likely factor to reduce demand and thus loosen...

The market appeared to be half asleep at the start of today’s session. Corn and wheat were up relatively modestly for a while until wheat shot up to...

The quarterly Hogs and Pigs report comes out one week from today. It is a much- anticipated report. Feed costs, porcine reproductive and respiratory syndro...

Mar 22 Corn closed at $5.9125/bushel, up $0.055 from yesterday's close.  Mar 22 Wheat closed at $7.705/bushel, up $0.145 from yesterday's close. ...

Tripping Up Shipping The shelves are not bare before Christmas, but somethings remain in short supply. Political success means saving the day and some drea...

Export Sales for Dec 3-9, 2021. Wheat:  Net sales of 650,600 metric tons (MT) for 2021/2022--a marketing-year high--were up noticeably from the previo...

March 22 Corn ($/bu) $5.8575 March 22 Wheat ($/bu) $7.5600 March 22 Hard Red Winter ($/bu)     $7.8550 March Hard Red Spring ($/bu) $10.0925...

CBOT and KCBT wheat led the way lower on Wednesday with heavy “risk off” and liquidation trade pushing the markets to 25-30 cent/bushel losses...

Inflation Truth The U.S. Federal Reserve sent a strong signal today that inflation is endemic in the economy and that strong action is needed to bring it u...

In the past three years, India has switched from being the number four exporter of sugar in the world to number two. Over the past dozen years, its domesti...

Macroeconomics Food Inflation Sees First Uptick Since May After five consecutive months of declines, food prices in the aggregate rose by 1.6 percent on an...

Russian Grain Markets: 6-10 December 2021 Russian grain market wheat prices continue to decrease. Export milling wheat average offer price decreased to $33...

The CBOT largely reversed course from Monday’s trade with corn, soybeans, and soymeal all turning higher while wheat settled lower and soyoil extende...

Food Better Than Healthcare While the healthcare sector has been called a miracle for the way it has handled the pandemic, the food industry has been criti...

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released the Producer Price Index (PPI) today, the primary measure of inflation for manufacturers and producers. The P...

Mar 22 Corn closed at $5.9025/bushel, up $0.0525 from yesterday's close.  Mar 22 Wheat closed at $7.87/bushel, down $0.0175 from yesterday's close.&nb...

Ukraine has become an important supplier of corn over the past decade, increasing its exports by 155 percent. However, its share of the global market has o...

Regional Updates MEDITERRANEAN/MIDDLE EAST/NORTH AFRICA  Egypt reports that current wheat reserves will cover consumption for 5.3 months. Egypt’...

The CBOT traded a mixed day with weekend rains in South America creating pronounced risk-off selling in soybean futures. The market will have to see how lo...

Next Trade War The EU Commission is moving forward on its goal of ensuring that constraints imposed on European producers will also be applied to imports...

Mar 22 Corn closed at $5.85/bushel, down $0.05 from yesterday's close.  Mar 22 Wheat closed at $7.8875/bushel, up $0.035 from yesterday's close. ...

As WPI covered earlier this year, the Biden Administration’s reconciliation bill proposed major changes to capital gains taxes, including an increase...

Potatoes have taken a dietary beating for being a basic starch that raises blood sugar as fast as pure glucose. By contrast, whole wheat contains complex s...

Milling Wheat  World wheat markets are under pressure from USDA’s December WASDE, which increased global 2021/22 ending stocks due to larger pro...

Wheat Argentina  Argentina’s wheat harvest is 54 percent complete after advancing 8.5 percent last week. Yields in the center and south of the a...

The CBOT ended mixed in two-sided trade on Friday with the lack of significant changes in Thursday’s WASDE leaving the markets somewhat directionless...

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

GMO Debate Over Mark Twain may have said that a lie travels around the globe while the truth is putting on its shoes and the adage is truer today than ever...

There was a lot to sort through on Tuesday’s RVO announcement. Below is a look at some key issues.  SREs: There has been a lot of media coverage...

Mar 22 Corn closed at $5.9/bushel, down $0.0175 from yesterday's close.  Mar 22 Wheat closed at $7.8525/bushel, up $0.085 from yesterday's close. ...

A summary of the bullish and bearish supply, demand and policy machinations affecting the global oilseeds sector. Supply Bullish Argentina: Soybean planted...

Export Sales for Nov 26 to Dec 2,2021.  Wheat:  Net sales of 239,900 metric tons (MT) for 2021/2022 were up noticeably from the previous week, bu...

Soyoil: USDA’s December 2021 estimate is for soyoil to average 65 cents per pound in the 2021/22 season. ...

Soymeal: USDA’s December 2021 estimate is for meal price to increased $5.00 to $330.00 per short ton...

Soybeans: USDA’s December 2021 estimate is unchanged from last month. Soybean crush is unchanged but soybean oil production is raised on a higher ext...

Corn: USDA’s December 2021 estimate is unchanged from last month. The projected season-average farm price remains at $5.45 per bushel. Global coarse...

WHEAT: USDA’s December 2021 estimate is for a small increase in U.S. ending stock because exports are lowered 20 million bushels. U.S. export prices...

USDA seems to never cease disappointing some traders’ expectations. USDA characterized its December WASDE report as containing “minor” ch...

Mar 22 Corn closed at $5.9175/bushel, up $0.045 from yesterday's close.  Mar 22 Wheat closed at $7.7675/bushel, down $0.1775 from yesterday's close.&n...

Congressional Reform The U.S. Congress is held in general low regard by the American public. Seen as petty, partisan and dysfunctional, the institution doe...

Today’s WASDE shows total red meat and poultry production finishing the year slightly below last month’s forecasts, though up 0.3 percent from...

Wheat futures sank lower the day before the December WASDE on concerns that the USDA will cut its U.S. export forecast in the coming report. Certainly, the...

The U.S./Canada and Europe have increased pesticide usage only slightly over the past two decades whereas South America’s usage has grown by almost 1...

Wishful Thinking The EU is developing a new trade policy intended to rapidly respond to “coercive measures” by third countries, such as Donald...

Mar 22 Corn closed at $5.8725/bushel, up $0.0125 from yesterday's close.  Mar 22 Wheat closed at $7.945/bushel, down $0.14 from yesterday's close.&nbs...

Livestock Muyuan’s Credit Default Sends Shockwave Through Industry Based on recent reports from the Shanghai Commercial Paper Exchange (SHCPE), more...

Russian Grain Markets: 29 November-3 December 2021 Russian grain market wheat prices decreased mainly due to downward trends on international wheat markets...

Corn and wheat turned higher on Tuesday while the soy complex sold off despite strength in palm oil futures. Rumors that the EPA will soon announce its bio...

EPA released its 2022 proposed required volume obligations (RVO) under the RFS along with the retroactive 2021 volumes and an adjustment to the 2020 volume...

Corruption Focus The Biden Administration will emphasize its Strategy on Countering Corruption at this week’s Summit for Democracy. Shell companies w...

Mar 22 Corn closed at $5.86/bushel, up $0.025 from yesterday's close.  Mar 22 Wheat closed at $8.085/bushel, up $0.0225 from yesterday's close. ...

Everyone knows China loves pork, but its new affinity is dairy. Throughout Chinese history, dairy was mostly associated with nomadic tribes, like the dread...

Regional Updates MEDITERRANEAN/MIDDLE EAST/NORTH AFRICA  Pakistan has agreed that the transportation of 50,000 MT wheat from India to Afghanistan, via...

Mar 22 Corn closed at $5.835/bushel, down $0.005 from yesterday's close.  Mar 22 Wheat closed at $8.0625/bushel, up $0.025 from yesterday's close.&nbs...

The CBOT traded mostly lower to start the week with soymeal dragging soybeans lower, despite a slight rise in soyoil futures. Corn rebounded from the day&r...

Russia is positioning to invade Ukraine if it wants, and China is seeking to put a military base on the Atlantic in Equatorial Guinea. Then there is China&...

Brazilian Minister of Agriculture, Tereza Cristina, has stated she’s hopeful Brazil will be shipping beef to China again this month. Brazil’s l...

Making beef is challenging, and making good beef is even more complicated. It requires far more resources than competing animal proteins, which is why glob...

Regional News  Russia continues to build its troop presence on the border with Ukraine and has mobilized some 170,000 troops to the region. That is 70...

Wheat Argentina’s wheat harvest continues at high speed with 12 percent harvested this week. The total has now reached 45 percent of the planted area...

Summer row crops rallied on the CBOT Friday while wheat futures turned lower on expectations that near-term Russian exports will increase substantially. Ru...

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

Mar 22 Corn closed at $5.84/bushel, up $0.0725 from yesterday's close.  Mar 22 Wheat closed at $8.0375/bushel, down $0.1125 from yesterday's close.&nb...

USDA released the October Grain Crushings report today; total corn use for fuel alcohol was up 16 percent from October 2020, and up 15 percent from Septemb...

Greens on Defense For decades the policy bible for Greens in Europe has included scriptures against GMO’s and nuclear energy. But GMO’s can aid...

There is much consternation over the fact that global stocks-to-use in wheat is down to 12.5 percent and as a result, the price of the March SRW contract i...

It was a risk off day as investors shook off earlier Omicron concerns and bought back part of what they’d given up in the past few days. With indicat...

Mar 22 Corn closed at $5.7675/bushel, up $0.0525 from yesterday's close.  Mar 22 Wheat closed at $8.15/bushel, up $0.245 from yesterday's close. ...

Energy and Food Lessons Energy and food prices are spiking at the same time policy reform advocates are seeking wholesale changes in the production of both...

The broiler production is looking strong for the new year. Chick hatching for placements in October was up 6 percent year-over-year. That’s the large...

Livestock Senior Ag Ministry Official Warns of Sustained Low Hog Prices In a recent interview, the Deputy Director of MARA’s Animal Husbandry and Vet...

Export Sales for November 19-25, 2021. Wheat:  Net sales of 79,900 metric tons (MT) for2021/2022--a marketing-year low--were down 86 percent from the...

The CBOT started the day higher with corn and the soy complex leading the way after “buy on the bounce” and “risk on” trade develop...

China Strategy The U.S., EU and Japan have agreed to collaborate on how to deal with non-market economic practices – read China. The debate over how...

As the media tracks the spread of the Omicron version of COVID, there are reports of additional outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza (H5N1) in Eu...

Mar 22 Corn closed at $5.715/bushel, up $0.04 from yesterday's close.  Mar 22 Wheat closed at $7.905/bushel, up $0.0325 from yesterday's close. ...

Russian Grain Markets: 22-26 November 2021 Russian grain market prices moved in different directions, but the changes were not dramatic. They took place ma...

“… [covid’s] always on my mind, [covid’s] always on my mind.” With apologies to Willie Nelson, that was the tune markets wer...

Anti-vaxxers Come to Ag The Green Revolution created modern agriculture, which has been called a mechanism for turning fossil fuels (inputs) into food. In...

The Senate Banking Committee held a hearing today entitled, “CARES Act Oversight of Treasury and the Federal Reserve: Building a Resilient Economy.&r...

Although Australia produces less than 5 percent of global wheat output, it is typically the world’s fourth largest exporter. Due to its tendency towa...

Mar 22 Corn closed at $5.675/bushel, down $0.1475 from yesterday's close.  Mar 22 Wheat closed at $7.8725/bushel, down $0.35 from yesterday's close.&n...

Regional Updates MEDITERRANEAN/MIDDLE EAST/NORTH AFRICA  Pakistan and India are having difficulty in agreeing on the method to move Indian wheat to Af...

The CBOT was generally weaker to start the week with heavy overnight trade pushing wheat and soybeans higher while corn was lower. Today was the last tradi...

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

Congress has a busy December ahead of it, including keeping the government open and increasing the Treasury Department’s borrowing authority. As it s...

 Dec 21 Corn closed at $5.81/bushel, down $0.0575 from yesterday's close.  Mar 22 Wheat closed at $8.2225/bushel, down $0.18 from yesterday's clo...

India’s Dangerous Reversal Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent reversal on farm policy reforms will reverberate for years to come. Ess...

Last week was a short one for trading with Monday having been an Argentine holiday and Thursday marking the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday. Markets were, of cou...

Inflation is worrisome to the public and so politicians feel compelled to deflect any blame from themselves. Thus, President Biden called for an FTC invest...

Regional News  France has detected the highly pathogenic bird flu virus on a farm in the northern part of the country, officials said on Saturday. The...

Dec 21 Corn closed at $5.8675/bushel, up $0.07 from yesterday's close.  Mar 22 Wheat closed at $8.4025/bushel, down $0.1 from yesterday's close. ...

Once again, coronavirus dominated the market’s psychology and action after the WHO identified the new southern Africa strain as a “variant of c...

Cancellation of Convenience The WTO’s 12th ministerial conference scheduled to begin next week has reportedly been postponed due to news of a new COV...

Wheat:  Net sales of 567,500 metric tons (MT) for 2021/2022 were up 42 percent from the previous week and 70 percent from the prior4-week average. Cor...

Recently, WPI reported on the Subcommittee on Commodity Exchanges, Energy, and Credit hearing about the timeline for the required volume obligations (...

U.S. markets, including the CBOT and CME, are closed for the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday on Thursday, 25 November. Consequently, WPI’s offices will be...

Dec 21 Corn closed at $5.7975/bushel, down $0.0075 from yesterday's close.  Mar 22 Wheat closed at $8.5025/bushel, down $0.1725 from yesterday's close...

The CBOT was higher overnight with continued worries about world wheat supplies and weather driving the markets. Wheat futures continued their upside run i...

Tomorrow is “turkey-day” in the U.S. but today the story is beef. Prices are up nearly 30 percent and while the cattle cycle is part of the sto...

Slippery Liability Slope A federal jury in Ohio opined that since the pharmacies at major corporations filled prescriptions for opioids, they are therefore...

Livestock Feed Demand Slows in Q4  Data from the surveys of China’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (MARA) Affairs and the China Feed...

Russian Grain Markets: 15-19 November 2021 Russian grain market prices moved in different directions. Export duties continued to increase. Export milling w...

CBOT futures were mixed on Tuesday with wheat once again leading the way higher with new contract highs, corn following, and the soy complex ending mixed...

Farm Bill Outlook Former Congressional staffer turned University of Illinois professor Jonathon Coppess correctly opines that negotiation on the 2023 farm...

  Two major U.S. sugar processors, U.S. Sugar and Imperial Sugar planned a merger, but the Justice Department is saying no. It warns that the duopoly...

Dec 21 Corn closed at $5.805/bushel, up $0.0375 from yesterday's close.  Mar 22 Wheat closed at $8.675/bushel, up $0.1 from yesterday's close.  J...

President Biden ordered the release of 50 million barrels of crude oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserves (SPR) to ease gas prices. The release will be...

Regional Updates MEDITERRANEAN/MIDDLE EAST/NORTH AFRICA  Bangladesh reports that the lowest offer under its 50,000 MT wheat tender is $409.77 MT CNF L...

CBOT futures were higher to start the week with wheat leading the rally. Drought in the U.S. Plains, too much rain in eastern Australia, and geopolitical c...

The House passed the scaled back version of the President’s Build Back Better reconciliation bill; the original package was $3.5 trillion, what got t...

Inflation Blame-Shifting President Joe Biden has asked the Federal Trade Commission to investigate the major oil companies for raising the cost of the fuel...

Eggplant (Brinjal) is one of the more important vegetables consumed in South Asia. It is low in nutrients but provides bulk and fiber while also being high...

Dec 21 Corn closed at $5.7675/bushel, up $0.06 from yesterday's close.  Dec 21 Wheat closed at $8.4575/bushel, up $0.2275 from yesterday's close. ...

Argentina’s government has already started playing games with the export declarations allowances. They reopened the export registry for additional qu...

U.S. Cattle on Feed, in feedlots with capacity of 1,000 or more head, totaled 11.9 million head on November 1, 2021. The inventory was slightly below Novem...

Continued declines in energy markets pressured the CBOT on Friday and reduced fund buying interest. Soyoil futures fell lower and to near trading range sup...

True Conclusion Art Cullen, publisher of Iowa’s The Storm Lake Times, correctly opines that most farmers want to protect the soil and the environment...

USDA released its monthly cattle on feed report today showing a total inventory of cattle and calves in feed yards of 11.9 million head on 1 November, whic...

Dec 21 Corn closed at $5.7075/bushel, down $0.0225 from yesterday's close.  Dec 21 Wheat closed at $8.23/bushel, up $0.03 from yesterday's close. ...

Russia has exploded as a wheat exporter, tripling its sales in just a decade. By contrast, domestic consumption grew some but has been relatively stagnant...

It was a strange trading day with twists and turns that were at a minimum, unusual: Grains and oilseeds all closed higher overnight and then continued th...

Dec 21 Corn closed at $5.73/bushel, down $0.0225 from yesterday's close.  Dec 21 Wheat closed at $8.2/bushel, down $0.0225 from yesterday's close.&nbs...

State-led Chips Governments around the world spend billions of dollars in pursuit of food security and now the focus has expanded to computer security. Chi...

The cattle marketing bill we reported was being developed (9 November) was introduced yesterday in both the House and Senate. It is a mash-up of two cash m...

Soy Export Sales Highlights Today’s USDA/FAS export sales report indicated exporters of U.S. soybeans and soymeal had fair success making export sale...

Exports for November 5-11, 2021 Wheat:  Net sales of 399,100 metric tons (MT) for 2021/2022 were up 40 percent from the previous week and 21 percent f...

Bulls won the day Wednesday as the CBOT was higher across the board. The soy complex led the way higher on strong export news and soybeans posted a technic...

Selective Application The EU proposed a new regulation requiring due diligence on the part of companies marketing specific products (soybeans, beef, palm o...

Dec 21 Corn closed at $5.7525/bushel, up $0.0425 from yesterday's close.  Dec 21 Wheat closed at $8.2225/bushel, up $0.12 from yesterday's close. ...

Macroeconomics Food Prices Fall Again But Pace Slows With the average prices for fresh vegetables climbing by 15.9 percent year-on-year in October, the cos...

There were plenty of critics of the food system before the pandemic and the disruptions it caused prompted even more over-the-top accusations of total fail...

Russian Grain Markets: 8-12 November 2021 Russian grain market prices moved in different directions and changed insignificantly. Export duties continued to...

The CBOT was mostly lower in consolidation and profit-taking trade with wheat futures leading the way in weakening technical trade. Fresh news was light am...

The House Agriculture Committee’s Subcommittee on Commodity Exchanges, Energy, and Credit held a hearing today on the “Renewable Economy in Rur...

Dec 21 Corn closed at $5.71/bushel, down $0.055 from yesterday's close.  Dec 21 Wheat closed at $8.1025/bushel, down $0.16 from yesterday's close.&nbs...

Activist Math In the latest analytical miss by the activist group Food & Water Watch, “The Economic Cost of Food Monopolies: The Grocery Cartels,...

Now that the new infrastructure bill has been signed into law, we almost know what is in it. While it is called an infrastructure bill, a little over a qua...

Regional Updates MEDITERRANEAN/MIDDLE EAST/NORTH AFRICA  Iraq says it intends to tender for 500,000 MT of wheat in December 2021 or early 2022. The te...

CORN December 2021 ($/bu)                      &nb...

Soymeal and Chicago wheat were the upside leaders at the CBOT on Monday. Soymeal saw a round of active short-covering and technical buying while the wheat...

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

Wheat Brazil Last week Brazil became the first country to authorize the use of wheat flour made with genetically modified (GM) wheat (specifically, the HB4...

Last week’s WASDE raised the outlook for corn used in ethanol production by 50 million bushels based on September data from USDA’s Grain Crushi...

In the spring of 2020 as COVID-19 was spreading, U.S. consumption of orange juice increased as consumers sought to inoculate themselves with vitamin C. How...

COP26 Informs MC12 COP26 has ended and MC12 is about to begin and while the substance is vastly different, both share the goal of reaching global agreement...

The CBOT ended sharply higher for the day with soymeal – surprisingly enough – leading the way higher. Soymeal futures posted a massive bullish...

Dec 21 Corn closed at $5.7725/bushel, up $0.0775 from yesterday's close.  Dec 21 Wheat closed at $8.17/bushel, up $0.045 from yesterday's close. ...

Exports for October 29 to November 4, 2021 Wheat:  Net sales of 285,900 metric tons (MT) for 2021/2022 were down 29 percent from the previous week and...

Key agricultural commodity prices have risen sharply over the past two years, some reaching their highest level in a decade (see graph below). Now the UN s...

High crop prices and generally tight stocks are bullish for fertilizer prices, from a demand-pull side. But fertilizer prices are also up on supply-push fa...

The USDA Export Sales report is delayed until tomorrow due to today’s Veterans Day holiday and so it is not definitive whether China has been in the...

This week’s WASDE forecast showed total meat and broiler production increased slightly over last month’s projections. Beef is up on increased s...

Dec 21 Corn closed at $5.695/bushel, up $0.0025 from yesterday's close.  Dec 21 Wheat closed at $8.125/bushel, up $0.095 from yesterday's close. ...

Inflation is Good The news yesterday about the surprising rise in U.S. inflation spooked markets and has President Biden’s team scrambling to avoid p...

China’s Soybean Crush Increasing as Power Rationing Ends For the last several weeks many Chinese soybean processors were forced to shut down because...

Traders adopted a “risk-on” mentality the day after the November WASDE with wheat playing the role of the upside leader. While soybeans receive...

Dec 21 Corn closed at $5.6925/bushel, up $0.145 from yesterday's close.  Dec 21 Wheat closed at $8.03/bushel, up $0.245 from yesterday's close. ...

CAFTA-DR Rewrite When the CAFTA-DR FTA was finalized back in 2004, GDP in the Central American region was 30 percent smaller. Since that time, growth as be...

Macro Trends U.S. Ag Exports to China Set Record Through September For the first nine months of 2021, the U.S. has shipped a total of 37.17 MMT of agricult...

Some environmentalists were aghast at the COP26 meeting when mega-billionaire and serial do-gooder Bill Gates described nitrogen fertilizer as “magic...

Russian Grain Markets: 1-5 November 2021 The Russian grain market was very slow due to nationwide holidays. Export milling wheat average offer price grew t...

The U.S. season-average soyoil price for 2020/21 is unchanged at 65.0 cents per pound...

The U.S. season-average soymeal price for 2020/21 is unchanged at $325 per short ton...

The November WASDE projected U.S. soybean ending stocks at 340 million bushels for the 2021/22 season. That estimate is up 20 million from the October fore...

The November WASDE projected U.S. corn ending stocks at 1,493 million bushels for the 2021/22 season. This estimate is down 7 million from the October fore...

The November WASDE projected U.S. wheat ending stocks at 583 million bushels for the 2021/22 season. That estimate is up 3 million from the October forecas...

Traders and analysts were decidedly bearish soybeans heading into the WASDE, but USDA’s report was anything but bearish the U.S. market. USDA cut U.S...

Dec 21 Corn closed at $5.5475/bushel, up $0.0325 from yesterday's close.  Dec 21 Wheat closed at $7.785/bushel, up $0.105 from yesterday's close. ...

As we reported in March, Senator Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) introduced his 50/14 cash marketing plan for the fed cattle market. The proposed legislation wou...

Inflation Sparks Changes Food is one of the four essentials of life and yet politicians often tax it domestically and impose tariffs against its importatio...

Beef demand in East Asia is on a long-term trend upward. Fulfilling this demand has required increased imports, primarily from Australia, Brazil, and the U...

Regional Updates MEDITERRANEAN/MIDDLE EAST/NORTH AFRICA  Bangladesh poultry industry leaders have asked the government to help their suffering industr...

The CBOT was mixed to start WASDE week with the soy complex pushing lower under the threat of larger yield projections, which pulled corn lower too. Wheat...

Dec 21 Corn closed at $5.515/bushel, down $0.015 from yesterday's close.  Dec 21 Wheat closed at $7.68/bushel, up $0.015 from yesterday's close. ...

Blame the Golden Goose The COP26 meeting in Glasgow continues this week and developing nations are demanding that rich countries compensate them for climat...

The House of Representatives passed the bipartisan infrastructure bill late Friday; the legislation had already passed the Senate in August, so the package...

Wheat Argentine farmers have harvested 680,000 hectares of wheat, which equates to 10.5 percent of the planted area. Rains fell during the last two weeks b...

USDA issued its annual, departmental consensus, ten-year outlook for U.S. agriculture that may be viewed as the winners and losers for the decade ahead. Wi...

Regional News  Ukraine’s farmers have planted 90 percent of the 7.1 Mha of winter crops, including 6.1 Mha of wheat and 0.844 Mha of winter barl...

The CBOT ended the week on a down note with corn, wheat, and the soy complex all posting losses for the day. Corn and wheat attempted to rally early in the...

Wrong Subsidies Green groups remind us constantly that small, extensive agriculture is better for the environment than are large “corporate” fa...

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

Dec 21 Corn closed at $5.53/bushel, down $0.0625 from yesterday's close.  Dec 21 Wheat closed at $7.665/bushel, down $0.0725 from yesterday's close.&n...

There has been a plethora of economic data reports this first week of November, plus a Federal Open Market Committee (FMOC) meeting of the Federal Reserve...

Most markets opened higher but very shortly thereafter most collapsed and by the end of the session, only lean hogs eked out a net gain. The flip was influ...

As of today, week to date cattle slaughter is 99.7 percent of the same period last week. Last Thursday, we speculated that last week’s slaughter &ldq...

Dec 21 Corn closed at $5.5925/bushel, down $0.0475 from yesterday's close.  Dec 21 Wheat closed at $7.7375/bushel, down $0.0725 from yesterday's close...

COP26 Fallout The Global Alliance for the Future of Food complains that most of the Nationally Determined Contribution plans they examined for meeting COP2...

U.S. Soy Export Sales Today’s USDA export sales report indicated last week was good for exporters of U.S. soybeans and soymeal. Export sales of soybe...

Export data for October22-28, 2021.  Wheat:  Net sales of 400,100 metric tons (MT) for2021/2022 were up 49 percent from the previous week and 4 p...

The CBOT ended lower Wednesday as profit taking and risk-off trade occurred ahead of next week’s WASDE report. World ag markets were overbought after...

Wrong Question In the 1980 presidential campaign just before Thanksgiving, inflation was soaring, and Iran held American diplomats’ hostage. Candidat...

Dec 21 Corn closed at $5.64/bushel, down $0.09 from yesterday's close.  Dec 21 Wheat closed at $7.81/bushel, down $0.105 from yesterday's close. ...

Global supply chain issues are pressuring many industries, but beer makers face a complex set of issues. Prices have risen for malt barley, aluminum, labor...

Macroeconomics Food Prices Down Again in September The impact of cratering live hog prices in September showed up in the recent monthly data release from C...

Russian Grain Markets: 25-29 October 2021 Average prices on the Russian grain market mainly grew. Exporters had to decrease their bid prices on the domesti...

The CBOT traded to new highs overnight with funds remaining active buyers while Paris milling wheat futures hit a new all-time high for the spot contract o...

Tomorrow, the House Agriculture Committee, will hold a hearing on “The Immediate Challenges to our Nation’s Food Supply Chain” – i...

Transatlantic Agriculture’s Beating In the name of beating both China and climate change, U.S. and EU agriculture confront a diminished future. China...

Dec 21 Corn closed at $5.73/bushel, down $0.06 from yesterday's close.  Dec 21 Wheat closed at $7.915/bushel, down $0.0575 from yesterday's close.&nbs...

Over the past decade, the soybean crush in the top ten countries has increased by nearly 37 percent. Over that same period, soymeal exports amongst the top...

Regional Updates MEDITERRANEAN/MIDDLE EAST/NORTH AFRICA  Cyprus' government has set aside €9 million for the support of animal farmers who are su...

The start of the new month saw funds return to the CBOT as net buyers, chasing corn and wheat higher during today’s rally. Funds were aggressive buye...

USDA released the September Grain Crushings report today; total corn use for fuel alcohol was down 2 percent from August, but up 1 percent from September 2...

Green Tumult Going green isn’t easy because it changes the winners and losers, and that means going green isn’t happening without a fight. Euro...

The International Grains Council (IGC) announced that it will include pulses in its definition of grains and expand market information on these products. T...

Dec 21 Corn closed at $5.79/bushel, up $0.1075 from yesterday's close.  Dec 21 Wheat closed at $7.9725/bushel, up $0.245 from yesterday's close. ...

Wheat Despite drought in Argentina that came during the early phases of the wheat crop, rains appeared during the critical yield-defining periods and boost...

Regional News  The International Grains Council left its forecast of world wheat production unchanged at 781 MMT for 2021/22, but increased the world...

Corn and wheat futures were higher again on Friday, but volume was waning as funds slowed their buying pace. The soy complex saw continued but mild strengt...

Dec 21 Corn closed at $5.6825/bushel, up $0.055 from yesterday's close.  Dec 21 Wheat closed at $7.7275/bushel, up $0.0025 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...

Private R&D Leads Proponents of public sector agricultural R&D have typically touted the high rate of return on such investments and lamented that...

Global wheat bids and offers were more closely aligned at the beginning of 2021 and then splintered as Northern Hemisphere crops became available in the Ma...

We’ve covered the up-and-down, back-and-forth process of the budget reconciliation bill, and by extension the bipartisan infrastructure package that...

The market opened as called but the grains could not be held down for long. By mid-session corn and wheat were back held aloft by trusting bulls despite an...

Cattle markets have gained support of late. Foremost, this week’s slaughter, as of today, is running 6,000 head above last week.  Last week was...

The U.S. and EU attacked China’s subsidies at the WTO’s trade policy review of Beijing’s practices. Not only does China have huge state s...

Dec 21 Corn closed at $5.6275/bushel, up $0.055 from yesterday's close.  Dec 21 Wheat closed at $7.725/bushel, up $0.1275 from yesterday's close. ...

U.S. Soy Export Sales Highlights Today’s USDA/FAS export sales report indicated that in the week ending 21 October, exporters of U.S. soybeans and so...

Exporters for the period October15-21, 2021.  Wheat - Net sales of 269,300 metric tons (MT) for 2021/2022 were down 26 percent from the previous week...

The CBOT ended mostly higher for the day with ethanol production data and end-user buying supporting corn futures overnight and during Wednesday morning&rs...

Long Answer to Short WTO Deputy Director-General Angela Ellard explained the role of international trade in addressing climate change at a meeting of &ldqu...

Dec 21 Corn closed at $5.425/bushel, down $0.01 from yesterday's close.  Dec 21 Wheat closed at $7.495/bushel, down $0.0275 from yesterday's close.&nb...

The U.S. first displaced Iran as the world’s leading producer of pistachios in 2012 and for the past four years it has not even been a contest. Iran&...

Livestock New Data Show Regional Production Trends As noted last week, Q3 data show total hog inventory and reproductive sow inventories stood at 437.6 mil...