WPI recently completed an expansion of our methodology for estimating and forecasting U.S. and global soybean crushing margins. The new approach incorporat...
Articles
Market Commentary: Inflation Climbs, Crude Hesitates, Grains Reset
Key Market Insights Macros: Inflation isn’t cooling — it’s moving higher again. March PCE inflation (Personal Consumption Expenditures in...
Livestock Round Up: Farm Bill Includes Prop 12 Fix
An amendment to the U.S. House farm bill, aiming to remove the Save Our Bacon Act language in Section 12006 that would have stripped language to prohibit C...
Transportation Perspectives - 30 April
WPI has officially launched Transportation Perspectives as a standalone weekly report separate from our Ag Perspectives articles and an...
Summary of Futures
Jul 26 Corn closed at $4.7475/bushel, down $0.03 from yesterday's close. Jul 26 Wheat closed at $6.3675/bushel, down $0.1625 from yesterday's close.&...
Market Commentary: Biofuel Demand and Weather Risks Support Ag Markets Despite Fed Pause
What Matters Today... Fed holds rates steady as inflation uncertainty tied to the Iran conflict pressures equities and supports broader commodity risk pre...
Summary of Futures
Jul 26 Corn closed at $4.7775/bushel, up $0.0225 from yesterday's close. Jul 26 Wheat closed at $6.53/bushel, down $0.0475 from yesterday's close.&nb...
Black Sea Regional Analysis
Russian Grain Markets: 20-24 April 2026 During the week in review, the Russian grains market remained volatile with a broadly bullish undertone. However, i...
Market Commentary: Wheat, Corn Score New Highs on Weather, Fund Buying
Weather concerns and the impacts of the war in Iran helped push wheat and corn to sharp gains Tuesday, with both markets blowing past key technical resista...
House Ag Appropriations Bill: Moving to Full Committee This Week
Congress is moving forward with its FY 2027 spending bills, while also still working to address FY 2026 funding for the Department of Homeland Security, wh...
China Market Analysis
The overarching concern for China is that the rising cost of energy will reduce global trade demand at the same time that countries are becoming more prote...
Summary of Futures
Jul 26 Corn closed at $4.755/bushel, up $0.0625 from yesterday's close. Jul 26 Wheat closed at $6.5775/bushel, up $0.28 from yesterday's close. ...
Middle East, Mediterranean, and Africa Regional Analysis
Mediterranean/Middle East/North Africa/Africa – MEA Region Tunisian researchers have been able to fully sequence the genomes of two local durum wheat...
Livestock Industry Margins
Beef packer margins improved to -$100/head last week, up $28 from the prior week as the Choice cutout stabilized following its brief post-Easter decline wh...
CFTC COT Report Analysis
Friday’s CFTC report showed funds adding to net long position across the major ag futures contracts after a two week break as deteriorating negotiati...
Summary of Futures
Jul 26 Corn closed at $4.6925/bushel, up $0.0575 from yesterday's close. Jul 26 Wheat closed at $6.2975/bushel, up $0.13 from yesterday's close. ...
Market Commentary: Grain Markets’ Two Key Factors Increasingly Bullish
The big picture for commodity markets is that imperfect weather and the lack of a peace deal in the Middle East are mandating that traders keep risk premia...
Farm Bill on Thursday
The House will vote on the farm bill this Thursday. This afternoon, the House Rules Committee is meeting to consider the rule for the House’s conside...
Anxiousness and Petulance; Calling a Spade; Trade Talk Environment; MAHAHA Farm Bill
Anxiousness and Petulance The U.S. war with Iran has come down to endurance. Washington sees Iran getting squeezed as the blockade eventually causes Iran&r...
Mercosur Regional Analysis
Argentina Corn Intermittent rains of varying intensity continue to disrupt Argentina’s corn harvest across key agricultural regions. Dry windows have...
Summary of Futures
Jul 26 Corn closed at $4.635/bushel, down $0.0025 from yesterday's close. Jul 26 Wheat closed at $6.1675/bushel, down $0.035 from yesterday's close.&...
Market Commentary: Mixed Week and a Mixed Outlook
This is the limbo period between the expectations and reality of a new crop going into the ground. Prices gyrate in a narrow range, awaiting something more...
Kevin Warsh’s Confirmation Hearings and Policy Directions
Kevin Warsh, formerly a member of the Federal Reserve Board, has been nominated by President Trump to be the Chairman of the Federal Reserve. Trump has lon...
E15: What Does It Mean?
Previous administrations—including that of President Donald Trump—have promoted domestic consumption of corn and soybeans through expanded biof...
Summary of Futures
May 26 Corn closed at $4.555/bushel, up $0.0125 from yesterday's close. Jul 26 Wheat closed at $6.2025/bushel, up $0.1325 from yesterday's close.&nbs...
Market Commentary: War Sustains Wheat; Corn Up Fifth Day
The Middle East truce is a rough one and the uncertainty spiked oil prices and the dollar again for another day. The wheat market has droughty conditions i...
Rotisserie Chicken Proposed to be Allowed Under SNAP
Senators Jim Justice (D-West Virginia), John Fetterman (D-Pennsylvania), Shelley Moore Capito (R-West Virginia), and Michael Bennet (D-Colorado) introduced...
Early 2026 Projections of Cow-Calf Finances
Key Takeaways: Despite rising cost pressures — including the recent run-up in fuel and energy costs — U.S. cow-calf producers are facing anoth...
Transportation Perspectives - 23 April
WPI has officially launched Transportation Perspectives as a standalone weekly report separate from our Ag Perspectives articles and an...
Market Commentary: Plenty of Risk, Not Enough Conviction
Key Market Insights Markets aren’t trading fundamentals right now—they’re pricing risk. The Middle East remains the center of gravity, a...
Functional Dysfunction; Out of the Frying Pan
Functional Dysfunction Europe has contended that Donald Trump’s attempt to address the decades-long harm caused by Iran’s theocratic regi...
Summary of Futures
May 26 Corn closed at $4.5425/bushel, up $0.005 from yesterday's close. Jul 26 Wheat closed at $6.07/bushel, down $0.0575 from yesterday's close.&nbs...
Black Sea Regional Analysis
Russian Grain Markets: 13-17 April 2026 The Russian grains market remained relatively stable during the week, pressured by ample global wheat supply, stron...
European Market Analysis
Key Takeaways: Wheat markets are supported by U.S. weather risk, though EU fundamentals remain bearish on strong supply, weak demand, and currency pressur...
Summary of Futures
May 26 Corn closed at $4.5375/bushel, up $0.0175 from yesterday's close. Jul 26 Wheat closed at $6.1275/bushel, up $0.0675 from yesterday's close.&nb...
Market Commentary: Grains Rally on Weather, Biofuel Demand Prospects
For much of the period since the U.S.–Iran war started, commodity markets have been buoyed by macroeconomic “risk on” buying fueled by th...
China Market Analysis
Economy The National Bureau of Statistics says China’s GDP grew 5 percent year-over-year in Q1 2026. Other sources contend that the Iran war has help...
Farm Bill Amendments
House Agriculture Committee Chairman Glenn Thompson (R-Pennsylvania) has been working with Republican leadership to build momentum for a farm bill floor vo...
Middle East, Mediterranean, and Africa Regional Analysis
Mediterranean/Middle East/North Africa/Africa – MEA Region Pakistan has a Saudi Arabia-backed irrigation program that it says will increase wheat pro...
Livestock Industry Margins
Beef packer margins deteriorated further, falling to -$129/head last week, down $38 from the prior week as a continued seasonal softening in the Choice cut...
Market Commentary: SOH Confusion Persists, but Ags Focus on Weather, Exports
The situation in the Persian Gulf remains as volatile as ever since it started on 28 February with a supposed weekend peace agreement dissolving into the U...
Summary of Futures
May 26 Corn closed at $4.52/bushel, up $0.0325 from yesterday's close. Jul 26 Wheat closed at $6.06/bushel, up $0.0675 from yesterday's close. ...
Aid versus Trade; Idealism versus Competition; AI and Ag; Untethered Presidency
Aid versus Trade Development assistance has a long and unsatisfying history. The causes of poverty were long ago identified as poor governance and the lack...
Iran Peace Talks on Again, Off Again: Impacting Fertilizer
President Trump and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi announced on social media Friday that the Strait of Hormuz is now fully open to commercial vess...
Mercosur Regional Analysis
Argentina Corn Rains continued across Argentina’s core agricultural regions, with additional heavy accumulations keeping rural roads largely impassab...
CFTC COT Report Analysis
Friday’s CFTC report showed funds paring back their net long position across the major ag futures contracts for the second straight week as signs of...
Cattle on Feed - April 1 2026
U.S. cattle on feed totaled 11.6 million head on April 1, 2026, 1 percent below April 1, 2025. Placements in feedlots during March totaled 1.71 milli...
Summary of Futures
May 26 Corn closed at $4.4875/bushel, up $0.0025 from yesterday's close. May 26 Wheat closed at $5.9125/bushel, down $0.0725 from yesterday's close.&...