Wrong Problem, Wrong People WTO director General Pascal Lamy announced the creation of a "WTO Panel on Defining the Future of Trade." Lamy lamented that "y...

WPI provides a summary of the week's futures price activity and the gains/losses experiences by grain, oilseed, and livestock markets. Additionally, today'...

Milling Wheat The market in the Black Sea is under pressure in sympathy with the U.S. wheat market. Last week, the Egyptian GASC purchased 115,000 MT of U...

This week's USDA supply/demand report was bearish because, contrary to widespread belief, USDA made no changes to the ending stocks number. That erroneous...

General Comments The InterContinental Exchange (ICE) announced that subject to CFTC approval it plans to launch new futures contracts for corn, wheat, soyb...

Food Aid Fight: Farmers are debating between four different commodity support options for the 2012 Farm Bill, but the largest expenditure category by USDA...

Wheat ARGENTINA The Argentine government apparently will not release any additional export licenses for wheat in the present campaign. Although there was n...

Darden Restaurants announced its plans to build a spiny lobster farm in eastern Borneo. The Orlando-based company operates several restaurant chains, inclu...

As we have commented before, the market has had a chance to study the April WASDE, and the focus has now shifted to weather, new crop prospects, the Chines...

Today's closing prices for the first six listed futures contracts for major grain, oilseed, and livestock contracts are shown along with their price change...

FDA Issues Guidance on Antibiotics A number of environmental groups last year filed a lawsuit requiring that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) withdra...

General Comments After yesterday's financial market doom and gloom, things did not look quite as bad today. Interest rates on Spanish debt dropped below 5...

Today's closing prices for the first six listed futures contracts for major grain, oilseed, and livestock contracts are shown along with their price change...

Russian Grain Market: 2-6 April 2012 GRAIN COMMODITIES AND FLOUR Planting Updates According to information received from the Ministry of Agriculture on 10...

General Comments USDA's April WASDE basically told the market what it already knew or already assumed. It provided nothing new for markets to trade on, unl...

Today's closing prices for the first six listed futures contracts for major grain, oilseed, and livestock contracts are shown along with their price change...

Representative Tim Huelskamp (R-Kansas) wants to add a regulatory title to the farm bill. The congressman last fall introduced legislation called "Freeing...

As far as markets are concerned, USDA's April WASDE is not a game changer. Some of the changes from the March WASDE exceeded expectations, and some did not...

No Big Surprises for Soy in WASDE Report Today's USDA world supply and demand estimates report contained no big surprises for soybeans and soybean products...

News Updates IMF AND EGYPT: CHAPTER 14 The IMF saga in Egypt continues. A loan advance seems to be impossible with the current situation in the North Afric...

General Comments Markets started the Sunday evening session very strong, with soybeans posting double-digit gains and wheat and corn 4-6 cents higher. Thos...

The 30 March USDA quarterly stocks reports indicated that we should see reductions in the ending supply estimates for corn, soybeans and wheat in tomorrow'...

Today's closing prices for the first six listed futures contracts for major grain, oilseed, and livestock contracts are shown along with their price change...

India's Pulse Imports to Reach 3.5 MMT India, the world's biggest buyer of pulses (lentils), in 2010/11 reduced its imports to 2.7 MMT because farmers, enc...

Information Markets and Politics Information providers are generally keen on anything that contributes to understanding. Thus, there is disappointment that...

If the Senate had taken up the farm bill as it had originally planned, then the farm bill would be marked up in Ag Committee by now. Indeed, the plan was t...

Large Soybean and Soymeal Sales Reported by USDA Today's USDA export sales reported indicated U.S. exporters recorded large sales of soybeans and soymeal i...

It is axiomatic that when freely traded market prices move up or down -- no matter for what -- some people will always be made unhappy. We have often said...

Purported Solutions: Members of Congress are reportedly getting an earful from constituents over the price of gasoline. Republicans are saying the solution...

FX and Brazilian Pork Currency fluctuations are impacting the Brazilian pork sector -- for the better. The average price of pork in Brazil in March was $2...

General Comments Note: Grain and soy futures markets will be closed tomorrow, Friday, 6 April, for the Easter holiday as will most financial markets (and W...

Today's closing prices for the first six listed futures contracts for major grain, oilseed, and livestock contracts are shown along with their price change...

Russian Grain Market: 26-30 March 2012 GRAIN COMMODITIES AND FLOUR As of 3 April, Russia began planting early grains and leguminous crops -- barley, oats a...

Today's closing prices for the first six listed futures contracts for major grain, oilseed, and livestock contracts are shown along with their price change...

General Comments Even though the Spanish government yesterday put forward a package of tight budget and spending reforms, today's Spanish bond auction rece...

Farm Policy CAP: EU Commission proposals to impose payment limitations on direct payments is running into resistance as some suggest that farmers will mere...

Wheat ARGENTINA The old crop wheat market showed some movement once again. Demand came from African countries, with North Africa taking 11.5 percent protei...

For some months now, the fertilizer industry has been full of anticipation for the U.S. 2012 spring planting season. The considerations were pretty simple,...

General Comments Other than another round of South American crop estimates, there has not been much in the way of fresh input for grain and soy markets. Ch...

The Clean Air Act and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations require that gasoline and diesel fuels as well as fuel additives for use in highway...

World Bank Money Train Outgoing World Bank President Robert Zoellick said he was OK with the BRICS countries seeking to form their own international develo...

News Updates EGYPT AND FUEL Much like the recent fuel crisis in the UK, Egypt's fuel shortage continues to create complications. The Egyptian government ha...

Echoes of USDA's report on 1 March planting intentions and quarterly stocks estimates are still reverberating, and no doubt they will continue to do so. We...

Love, Food and Deception More rants on the lies that are told about the agrifood system, and those who seek to deceive us. A Wheat Market Surplus The era o...

South American Soy Crop Forecasts Reduced Further The drought in South America continues to take its toll, according to crop analysts. Yesterday the Brazil...

Today's closing prices for the first six listed futures contracts for major grain, oilseed, and livestock contracts are shown along with their price change...

General Comments Soybean futures continued to roll higher today, with gains exceeding 30 cents a bushel at one point during the session. Corn didn't punch...

Expansion in Dry Milling Sector Adds to Grain Prices Until recently, potable alcohol for blending in whiskey and pharmaceuticals was derived from molasses...

As we've noted many times, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has waived the statutory cellulosic biofuel mandate for three straight years, but has...

If ever there were evidence of the shortage of science degrees in America, consumers' anxiety over the content delivered by the food system would be exhib...

Last Friday's USDA reports threw another major curve ball at the markets just when the market bears were getting comfortable in with their bearish frame of...

Today's closing prices for the first six listed futures contracts for major grain, oilseed, and livestock contracts are shown along with their price change...

Today's USDA reports offered something for everyone, but there were some very significant surprises. The first and most bearish surprise was that U.S. farm...

Another step toward making E15 a reality has been made. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has approved the model misfueling mitigation plan (MMP) s...

General Comments Funds (and others) have been major sellers of grain and oilseed futures ahead of today's USDA acreage and quarterly stocks reports. The ma...

Milling Wheat The milling wheat market was quiet this week in anticipation of the important USDA report. The rising temperatures and rain in Russia and Ukr...

WPI provides a summary of the week's futures price activity and the gains/losses experiences by grain, oilseed, and livestock markets. Additionally, today'...

As we and the markets wait for tomorrow's stocks and acreage reports, it seems like a good time to get rid of a few other things that have occurred to us b...

Today's closing prices for the first six listed futures contracts for major grain, oilseed, and livestock contracts are shown along with their price change...

U.S. to Appeal COOL Case in WTO The U.S. Trade Representative has announced that the U.S. will appeal the WTO's November 2011 ruling against country of ori...

Who Takes the Long Side? It is too often unclear whether commentary from politicians is based on the required expediency of their craft, or reflects actual...

Argentina's Soybean Crop Likely Fewer Than 44 MMT The most recent reports, including one from a large soybean processor, from Argentina indicate that the c...

General Comments It was more of the same for commodity and financial markets today as investor/speculators again scrambled to liquidate long positions. Sto...

Today's closing prices for the first six listed futures contracts for major grain, oilseed, and livestock contracts are shown along with their price change...

Background Here in WPI's hometown of Washington, D.C., the end of March is a busy time. There are cherry blossoms, warm sunshine and of course college bask...

Russian Grain Market: 19-23 March 2012 GRAIN COMMODITIES AND FLOUR The Russian domestic grain market showed continued price trends from the previous week,...

The reputation destruction that was just quickly and definitively imposed on lean, finely textured beef (LFTB) and the company that made it is actually occ...

General Comments Today saw a major effort by traders to shed risks in a wide variety of markets. In fact, it is hard to find a commodity market, financial...

Wheat ARGENTINA These days, wheat sellers have been concentrating on North African demand. In the Egyptian tender, 11.5 percent protein Argentine wheat was...

Today's closing prices for the first six listed futures contracts for major grain, oilseed, and livestock contracts are shown along with their price change...

WTO on Exchange Rates Director General Pascal Lamy opened the WTO Seminar on Exchange Rates and Trade by warning that the subject is complex, emotional and...

Southeast Asia's palm oil industry has incurred persistent attacks from Western environmental and animal protection groups for its destruction of rainfores...

General Comments Red was the color du jour for grain and soy markets today. This was after the overnight session saw wheat and soy prices trade higher and...

The South Carolina House of Representatives is considering a bill that would ban the state from buying any ground beef for school lunch that includes lean...

News Updates SOUTH AFRICAN MAIZE DEFICIT: IS IT REAL? Recent shipments of corn from Romania to South Africa reportedly were needed to cover the latter's ex...

USDA's highly anticipated reports on 1 March U.S. quarterly grain and soybean stocks and the 1 March initial planting intentions will be released Friday mo...

General Comments The soy complex continues to trade bullish South American production estimates, and the trade continues to buy soybeans and sell everythin...

The House Budget Committee was expected to pass Chairman Paul Ryan's (R-Wisconsin) proposed budget last Wednesday, 12 March. They did. This Wednesday, 28 M...

Ten Years of GM Cotton in India: Good or Bad? Ten years ago today, GM cotton was introduced in India. Some would say that this event changed the world cott...

Not Worth Its Salt The EU has been making inroads with its effort to expand protections for geographic indicators (GI), and this has forced U.S. producers...

DRC Projects Corn Imports Could Reach 20 MMT by 2020 A researcher with the State Council Development Research Center (DRC) projects that China's corn produ...

Activity in the Chicago SRW wheat market spilled over into those for HRW and HRS wheat futures. Changes in the soybean, soyoil, and soymeal futures point t...

The value of farmland in the U.S. has been going straight since the early 1990s. A friend who bought farmland back in the early '90s told me that the value...

Livestock Decisions Antibiotics Use: A federal court has ruled that U.S. FDA must proactively determine whether antibiotic use in animals compromises their...

Because there was a lot going on in the energy world with both markets and policy in the past week, we thought it would be a good time to look at some of t...

It isn't often the WPI defers to other sources, but the subject of trend line yields can be very confusing. We have pointed out on numerous occasions the i...

Milling Wheat The Black Sea market was quiet this week as demand shifted to South America. The debate over the winterkill rate in Ukraine is attracting dif...

General Comments Markets were higher in the Thursday evening session following the late buying on Thursday. Soybeans led the comeback on news that Argentin...

In 1988 a La Nina weather pattern brought a crushing drought to the Corn Belt. This year started off with a moderate La Nina pattern, which generated some...

WPI provides a summary of the week's futures price activity and the gains/losses experiences by grain, oilseed, and livestock markets. Additionally, today'...

Oriens vs. Occido According to a 23 March Nikkei news report, Democratic Party of Japan officials say that the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations "are...

Unhealthy Meat As Gary Blumenthal highlighted last week, a recent study from Harvard indicates that any consumption of red meat increases mortality risk. T...

Activity in the Chicago SRW wheat market spilled over into those for HRW and HRS wheat futures. Changes in the soybean, soyoil, and soymeal futures point t...

India and Iran Hook Up on Soymeal Reports today indicate that Iranian firms have recently purchased about 100,000 MT of Indian soymeal for $420-435/MT FOB...

One of the greatest examples of conceit we know of comes from anyone who claims to know what grain and soy market prices will do in the next three, six or...

General Comments In overnight e-trade grain prices traded higher briefly at the opening, then sank back into the red in slow trade. This is the condition i...

Strike Update Argentine grain truckers have been striking since 19 March. They are asking for a hauling rate increase of about 30 percent, and talks betwee...

Today's closing prices for the first six listed futures contracts for major grain, oilseed, and livestock contracts are shown along with their price change...

Farm Policy Simplification It is a broad mantra that farm policy needs to be simplified. In the U.S., various proposals have been made for a single, cross-...

General Comments Long liquidation in corn continued overnight, but soybeans uncovered some support in light volume trade. This pattern was the general them...

Russian Grain Market: 12-16 March 2012 GRAIN COMMODITIES AND FLOUR Last week, prices in Russia's domestic grain market moved in different directions across...

Activity in the Chicago SRW wheat market spilled over into those for HRW and HRS wheat futures. Changes in the soybean, soyoil, and soymeal futures point t...

General Comments Most equity and commodity markets around the world today were waving scarlet flags. Investors/speculators with long positions began to agg...

House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wisconsin) today released his "Chairman's mark" budget. The House Budget Committee is scheduled to markup the...

Push Local Retail Apparently the hosts of this summer's Olympic Games in London had a clause requiring all poultry being served to originate in the UK, pur...

News Updates U.S. GSM-102 PROGRAM At the end of February, the totals booked in dollars through the U.S. GSM-102 program for Africa and the Middle East were...

We are 10 days away from USDA's 1 March quarterly stocks report and its report on initial U.S. planting intentions. These reports are always important, but...

Sunflower oil is the world's fourth most abundant vegoil after palm oil, soyoil and rapeseed oil. It long has been the vegoil of choice in countries like F...

Business' Trade Agenda The U.S., Europe and others have shifted towards a post-Doha plurilateral approach to trade liberalization, which has developing cou...

Economic Survey 2011/12 India's latest Economic Survey estimates that the Indian economy will slow to a 6.9 percent increase in 2011/12 after having grown...

In anticipation of the House budget plan, social media sites and conventional media outlets are all atwitter. House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-...

Activity in the Chicago SRW wheat market spilled over into those for HRW and HRS wheat futures. Changes in the soybean, soyoil, and soymeal futures point t...

A Return to Tight Hog Supplies in 2012 Could Slacken China's Corn Demand Expectations for a rebound in hog inventories and reduced pork prices this year ar...

General Comments Corn, soybean and wheat futures started a bit higher in the Sunday evening session but faded by morning and finished lower. Today's sessio...

The large speculators and at least some of the large commercials have been big sellers (shorts) in the wheat markets for some time now. Large speculative s...

E15 Process EPA approved the Model Misfueling Mitigation Plan for the use of E15 in 2001 and newer vehicles. This follows last month's decision by the agen...

USDA Acting Undersecretary Michael Scuse yesterday testified on behalf of the Administration at the Senate Agriculture Committee hearing. Scuse defended th...

Milling Wheat As the snow melts, the extent of the severe winter's impact becomes clearer. Crop damage seems to be worse than expected in many parts of the...

WPI provides a summary of the week's futures price activity and the gains/losses experiences by grain, oilseed, and livestock markets. Additionally, today'...

The soybean market has defied bearish analytical gravity for the umpteenth year in a row. Each of the past several years has started with projections of bi...

General Comments The market seemed prepared for a day of profit taking today at the end of a much stronger week of trade than what most were looking for. M...

European Rapeseed Processors Crushed by Rising Seed Price Europe's rapeseed processors have seen crushing margins fall to negative levels as a result of th...

Obviously, there are many factors to consider when putting together a supply, demand and ending stocks analysis for wheat, corn and soybeans. Supply and de...

General Comments The soybean futures market is like a runaway truck. You can analyze and dissect its movements all you want, but if you stand in front of i...

Warming Weather, Cooling Markets This week cattle prices dropped, which is unusual for seasonal markets, moving into the spring and summer high-demand seas...

Activity in the Chicago SRW wheat market spilled over into those for HRW and HRS wheat futures. Changes in the soybean, soyoil, and soymeal futures point t...

GM Machinations While Europe remains bogged down policy-wise on how to handle divergent member state opinions on the planting of GM crops, the effort to de...

Soil Moisture Top soil moisture over the Pampa Humeda region has improved with the recent rainfall in the country. The weather forecast predicts abundant s...

Activity in the Chicago SRW wheat market spilled over into those for HRW and HRS wheat futures. Changes in the soybean, soyoil, and soymeal futures point t...

Russian Grain Market: 6-9 March 2012 GRAIN COMMODITIES AND FLOUR Planting SeasonAccording to the Russian ag minister, spring crops in the country will be p...

General Comments Soybeans continued to push higher overnight while the grains were mixed. That pattern continued into the day session, except that by mid-s...

Rotten Meat Study Activists and the media are the usual sources of erroneous information regarding the agrifood system. That is frustrating enough, but it...

India is now the world's largest importer of palm oil and Indonesia the world's largest exporter. Therefore, it is of some consequence that the two countri...

News Updates PAKISTANI WHEAT TO IRAN Pakistani authorities are working very hard on a plan to export 1.5 MMT of milling wheat and 1.2 MMT of rice to Iran o...

We firmly believe that taking a complete break from markets and related topics is a healthy thing -- at least for us.  That is what we did for the las...

General Comments The Federal Reserve's FOMC finished its March meeting today by issuing some guardedly optimistic comments about the U.S. economy. It noted...

3/11 Policy Effects From an American standpoint, the multiple disasters that struck Japan a year ago this week were transformative. Before calamity struck,...

In the last, but certainly not least, of the Senate Ag Committee's series of farm bill hearings, lawmakers have finally made their way to the commodity tit...

Today's closing prices for the first six listed futures contracts for major grain, oilseed, and livestock contracts are shown along with their price change...

This morning I spoke with a Central Illinois farmer who said that weekend rains were less than expected. It seems that weather talk is starting to bloom. I...

High Wheat Production and Procurement in India Indian farmers in the western states -- Gujarat, Rajasthan, Maharashtra and central India (Madhya Pradesh) -...

A number of alternative fuel amendments could come up for a vote tomorrow in the Senate as part of the highway bill now being debated. This includes an ext...

Pink, Pink You Stink The media has had a heyday with the revelation that meat scraps are used in the making of hamburger (e.g. minced meat), and has sought...

Activity in the Chicago SRW wheat market spilled over into those for HRW and HRS wheat futures. Changes in the soybean, soyoil, and soymeal futures point t...

U.S. aggies give Canada's Harper government a lot of credit for ending the Canadian Wheat Board (now officially CWB) monopoly over grain marketing, but the...

Milling Wheat The market in the Black Sea is quiet. Talks about a possible export tax from Russia are resurfacing again, but the government has not announc...

General Comments Buoyed by news that Greece's bond swap offer had almost 86 percent participation, which was much better than expected, markets were firm i...

Not many were expecting today's USDA WASDE updates to show significant changes, and that is exactly what we got. In general, pre-report expectations were l...

WPI provides a summary of the week's futures price activity and the gains/losses experiences by grain, oilseed, and livestock markets. Additionally, today'...

Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-Michigan), chairwoman of the Senate Ag Committee, this week announced that she will mark up a farm bill this spring. Stabenow is...

Activity in the Chicago SRW wheat market spilled over into those for HRW and HRS wheat futures. Changes in the soybean, soyoil, and soymeal futures point t...

General Comments If there is concern that USDA might further lower world corn production and ending stocks that are already just about the tightest in hist...

Farm Policy without Economics The policy brief "Toward Healthy Food and Farms" by the Union of Concerned Scientists uses neither science nor economics in i...

It goes without saying that USDA's monthly WASDE is a strong common thread that grain and soy markets face. Death and taxes may be inevitable, but so too a...

Inside the Numbers The tables above tell a story about the beef, poultry and pork sectors. Beef slaughter is down about 6 percent, poultry is sustaining th...

Good Week for U.S. Soy Export Sales Today's USDA export sales report showed U.S. exporters had a banner week last week selling soybeans. The report indicat...

TPP Leverage The Trans-Pacific Partnership has forced countries such as Japan to re-examine their insular approach to policies like agriculture, and now Ta...

General Comments Since gasoline prices are included in the energy sector, they do not figure into the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank's calculations of the rate...

Corn The corn spot market has been under pressure because there was a good harvest in February. This caused a drop in FOB basis levels. Cargo was traded at...

Activity in the Chicago SRW wheat market spilled over into those for HRW and HRS wheat futures. Changes in the soybean, soyoil, and soymeal futures point t...

Russian Grain Market: 29 February – 6 March 2012 GRAIN COMMODITIES AND FLOUR Different price trends took place last week in Russia's domestic grain market,...

The Food and Agricultural Policy Institute (FAPRI) is a well-known and widely followed agricultural research organization formed jointly by the University...

Machinery Romanticism Expanding the manufacturing sector in the U.S. has been the rallying cry of some politicians. They are calling for tax incentives on...

General Comments Commodity markets, including grain and soy markets, found plenty to worry about today. First, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao told the People's...

A group of 68 lawmakers yesterday sent a letter to the CFTC, demanding that immediate position limits be promulgated under the Dodd-Frank bill. The lawmake...

Impending Change in China China's national interest is to continue economic growth and maintain an adequate supply of food, both of which are ambitions tha...

India's Soymeal Exports Decline Sharply in February The Solvent Extractors Association of India today reported India's exports of soymeal in February this...

News Updates EGYPTIAN AND ALGERIAN AGRIBUSINESS REPORTS There were new reports out this week on the agribusiness in both Egypt and Algeria. The following a...

Activity in the Chicago SRW wheat market spilled over into those for HRW and HRS wheat futures. Changes in the soybean, soyoil, and soymeal futures point t...

Scientists Say India Needs to Adopt New Technology and Remove Constraints The 2011 Global Hunger Index ranked India 67th out of 81 countries -- even below...

The price of gasoline is one of the new themes emerging from the 2012 election (see WPI 24 February). We've seen it in the Republican presidential candidat...

General Comments Markets were generally lower in the Sunday evening session with no support from the outside markets. In fact, financial markets in Asia, E...

Selective Fueling Information The government has mandated an enhanced fuel economy sticker on all new automobiles. The fuel economy rating must provide a v...

Activity in the Chicago SRW wheat market spilled over into those for HRW and HRS wheat futures. Changes in the soybean, soyoil, and soymeal futures point t...

The markets have been absorbed with discussions about the potential for big corn acres with record or near-record yield estimates and a correspondingly lar...

Two major U.S. ethanol policy developments look bullish -- at least on paper -- for Brazilian ethanol exports. One is the 31 December 2011 expiration of th...

U.S. Ag's Skepticism of EU The joint EU-U.S. Working Group on Jobs and Growth (see WPI 24 February) is trying to calculate how best to move forward on a tr...

Farmers across the U.S. have been busy planning for the upcoming production season for months. The winter farm meeting circuit is, for all practical purpos...

WPI provides a summary of the week's futures price activity and the gains/losses experiences by grain, oilseed, and livestock markets. Additionally, today'...

General Comments Crude oil has had a rather incredible trading range since the agricultural commodity markets closed on Thursday. Rumors of an oil pipeline...

Milling Wheat The market in the Black Sea is quiet with limited activity reported this week. Confident that the total grain exports will exceed the previou...

Ag Gag The Iowa legislature has passed a bill called "ag gag" by opponents that would make it a crime for animal activists to surreptitiously gain employme...

This morning we happened to peruse the "Money & Investing" section of today's The Wall Street Journal. We do not do this every day since we do not have...

General Comments Iran has been a constant topic in the news lately. The imposition of the latest set of sanctions against the country is a stepped-up effor...

Tyson CEO Expects U.S. Protein Consumption to Continue Decline The COO of Tyson Foods, today told attendees at the Bank of America Merrill Lynch 2012 Globa...

Today's closing prices for the first six listed futures contracts for major grain, oilseed, and livestock contracts are shown along with their price change...

Fraud versus Whistleblowers The Iowa legislature passed a bill that would make it high misdemeanor to gain access to an agricultural production facility, l...

General Comments The soybean market extended its rally and closed higher for the eighth straight trading day. Corn followed to post a higher close for the...

Russian Grain Market: 20-28 February 2012 GRAIN COMMODITIES AND FLOUR Russian domestic grain market trends continued their upward trend. All crop prices in...

Soil Moisture Top soil moisture levels in the Pampa Humeda region are clearly recovering. The rainfall received last weekend and the beginning of this week...

March Wind Reports Tomorrow begins the month of March, which is apparently USTR publication month. It starts tomorrow with the agency issuing to Capitol Hi...

Activity in the Chicago SRW wheat market spilled over into those for HRW and HRS wheat futures. Changes in the soybean, soyoil, and soymeal futures point t...

Today's closing prices for the first six listed futures contracts for major grain, oilseed, and livestock contracts are shown along with their price change...

Soybeans Gaining on Corn in Battle for Acres The assumption by most analysts this winter has been that corn would gain a lot of planted area in 2012 while...

When it comes to fundamental supply and demand analyses, it can be argued that the projections presented by USDA at its annual Outlook Conference command m...

FSU to Forefront The EU is moving forward on a free trade agreement with Ukraine and announced that Serbia is now a candidate for EU membership. Meanwhile,...

News Updates GM FOOD AND TURKEY With the Turkish government's recent approval of 13 GM corn types and three GM soybean types, there has been huge anti-GMO...

General Comments After a slow start, grain and soy markets continued their impressive rally again today with most contracts posting double-digit gains. The...

President Obama's FY 2013 budget resolution includes new user fee programs that would support applying key elements of the Food Safety Modernization Act (F...

The initial (and minimum) prices for the federal crop insurance programs are established for the spring planted grains and oilseeds during the month of Feb...

The Senate Agriculture Committee tomorrow will hold a hearing on the farm bill's conservation title. Like the hearing on energy programs, we also expect to...

Conservation Battle The U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee holds a hearing on Farm Bill conservation programs tomorrow and the Environmental Working Group t...

Today's closing prices for the first six listed futures contracts for major grain, oilseed, and livestock contracts are shown along with their price change...

Poultry Sector Takes the Franchise Route India is gaining strength in its franchise business. Until recently, most businesses wanted to keep outlets and br...

General Comments Eurozone (Read: Greece) concerns were back in the markets again over the weekend, which pressured Asian and European markets overnight and...

Milling Wheat The market in the Black Sea is a little more active. The weather is improving and the movement of grains in the domestic and export markets i...

Corn and soybean markets have been torn back and forth every day this week based on the 2012/13 supply and demand projections from the USDA Outlook Confere...

General Comments The actual supply and demand tables for the 2012/13 marketing year were released early this morning at the USDA Outlook meeting and, as ex...

WPI provides a summary of the week's futures price activity and the gains/losses experiences by grain, oilseed, and livestock markets. Additionally, today'...

Ag Technology While activists maintain their war against modern agricultural technologies like biotechnology, the push back by ag and governments is just a...

Here is a market price prediction: If Newt Gingrich gets elected, gasoline will be $2.50 per gallon. That is his prediction, by the way, and not ours. And...

The USDA's Outlook Conference is underway today. As usual, there are speeches and sessions covering a multitude of wide-ranging topics. Those of the greate...

General Comments The closing prices are a pretty accurate reflection of USDA's Outlook Conference comments plus ongoing demand. USDA foresees U.S. wheat pl...

Activity in the Chicago SRW wheat market spilled over into those for HRW and HRS wheat futures. Changes in the soybean, soyoil, and soymeal futures point t...

Rosario Grain Exchange Reduces Its Forecast for Argentine Soybeans The Rosario Grain Exchange today cut its forecast for this year's Argentine soybean crop...

USDA Livestock Report/COF USDA's Economic Research Service released its monthly Livestock Dairy and Poultry Outlook last week.U.S. beef exports in 2011 pos...

Russian Grain Market: 13-17 February 2012 GRAIN COMMODITIES AND FLOUR Russia's domestic grain market remained bullish last week with prices growing at slow...

State's Rise and Threat? The U.S. State Department hosted its first ever Global Business Conference this week. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton declared...

General Comments The overnight e-market for grains and soy saw a carryover of yesterday's price weakness. In this the grains were following a similar patte...

Activity in the Chicago SRW wheat market spilled over into those for HRW and HRS wheat futures. Changes in the soybean, soyoil, and soymeal futures point t...

Scale and TPP Today was the start of two days of working level talks between the U.S. and Japan on the latter joining the TPP. Meanwhile, Stephen Harner of...

General Comments After the long holiday weekend, the overnight e-market started out higher with support coming from the apparent agreement by eurozone fina...

As we have noted before, February is often a period in which grain and soy futures markets mostly mark time until planting season for the new spring plante...

Today's closing prices for the first six listed futures contracts for major grain, oilseed, and livestock contracts are shown along with their price change...

News Updates IRAN, THE TOPIC OF THE WEEK According to reports in the market this week, Iran has found many ways to skirt the recently imposed sanctions. A...

India's Milk Plan Approved for Action India is the world's largest milk producer. The country's production in 2010/11 was an estimated 116.5 MMT, according...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Friday, 17 February issued its evaluation of "health and emissions" data on E15 -- the next critical step...

Low Protein Content Hurting U.S. Soy Exports U.S. soybean exports and confirmed unshipped sales are down by 29.7 percent this year compared to a year ago...

The chance for fast-tracking the farm bill as an attachment to the payroll tax cut extension has been lost. Congress today will vote on a final compromise...

Milling Wheat The weather continues to be extremely cold in Central and Eastern Europe, though the temperature is expected to rise starting this weekend. S...

The world's financial markets have been embroiled in the Greek and eurozone debt issues since last summer. Markets fly higher one day based on "positive" n...

WPI provides a summary of the week's futures price activity and the gains/losses experiences by grain, oilseed, and livestock markets. Additionally, today'...

General Comments There are days when there is nothing to write about, and there are days when there is too much to write about. Today, there were all kinds...

Energy Policy Update President Obama proposed in his budget an increase in spending on renewable energy and a cut in the tax credits used by the oil indust...

India Do-Over The sarcasm was too dry to be understood in yesterday's "War on the Poor" take on India's farm mechanization effort, and also failed to fully...

Weather BETTER MOISTURE CONDITIONS IN PAMPA HUMEDA The drought seems to be passing, but most of the damage is already done. In the main agricultural areas...

General Comments The Greeks are back on again -- at least that is today's thinking. The euro bounced higher and the dollar eased, which helped support doll...

A Report from NOPA Annual Meeting I have been fortunate enough to be in warm Florida, where I attended and spoke at the annual meeting of the National Oils...

McDonald's to Phase out Gestation Crates McDonald's Corporation, which has delivered 20 percent returns on its stock for the past five years and 31 percent...

Activity in the Chicago SRW wheat market spilled over into those for HRW and HRS wheat futures. Changes in the soybean, soyoil, and soymeal futures point t...

Fifty years ago, the world wheat market used to be rather simple to follow. The U.S. accounted for more that 50 percent of world wheat exports, and the res...

Today's closing prices for the first six listed futures contracts for major grain, oilseed, and livestock contracts are shown along with their price change...

Russian Grain Market: 6-10 February 2012 GRAIN COMMODITIES AND FLOUR Russia's domestic grain market continued to show an upward trend last week, but the pr...

General Comments It was a down-and-up day for the U.S. dollar, reflecting the swing and sway of the prospects for a Greek bailout. Optimism that the bailou...

Trade Policy Shorts U.S.-China Joint Fact Sheet: The visit by Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping required a long list of commitments by the two countries. I...

Activity in the Chicago SRW wheat market spilled over into those for HRW and HRS wheat futures. Changes in the soybean, soyoil, and soymeal futures point t...

General Comments Like a never-ending soap opera, the Greek debt situation goes on and on. Every time an apparent solution is reached, something comes up to...

East Asia and TPP A Wilson Center program yesterday on the Trans-Pacific Partnership and agriculture provided some notable insights.Takashi Terada from Was...

As the saying goes, "desperate times call for desperate measures." Nowhere is that more evident than on Capitol Hill, where election year politics, budget...

The main factor impacting global demand for soymeal is the world's consumption of animal protein. This is particularly the case for pork and broiler meat...

News Updates LOWER IRAQI WHEAT CROPS Farmers in Iraq held off planting winter wheat for as long as possible due to the lack of rain, but they have had to g...

February is often a time of optimism for world agricultural producers, at least those residing in the Northern Hemisphere. When viewed in February, one to...

USDA today released its first, and very preliminary, supply and demand estimates for the 2012/13 marketing year and, as expected, the numbers were bearish...

Activity in the Chicago SRW wheat market spilled over into those for HRW and HRS wheat futures. Changes in the soybean, soyoil, and soymeal futures point t...

President Obama today unveiled his FY 2013 budget proposal. Under the plan, revenues grow by 60 percent and spending increases by 12 percent between now an...

General Comments News from Greece was bearish last Friday and at least somewhat bullish over the weekend. The Greek Parliament did approve the austerity me...

Anti-Meat Activist Wayne Pacelle of the Humane Society of the United States may have scored success getting McDonald's to oppose gestation crates for hogs,...

A Snapshot of Indian Oilseeds Production and Prices Oilseeds production is expected to be 30.53 MMT for 2011/12 against last year's 32.48 MMT. Peanut is th...

Addressing The Economist conference this week on "Feeding the World," WTO Director General Pascal Lamy queried: "First, is it safe that the world's agricul...

WPI provides a summary of the week's futures price activity and the gains/losses experiences by grain, oilseed, and livestock markets. Additionally, today'...

China's Vice President Xi Jinping will visit Washington next week, 14-15 February, to give an address on Sino-American relations. Strong friendships are de...

General Comments Markets were weak across the board today following yesterday's weak closes and because today was another one of those "risk off" days. Wit...

We previously reported on the Congressional Budget Office's (CBO) baseline budget projections (see WPI 3 February 2012), noting that the CBO report project...

I spent this past week on the road at farmer meetings that took me across much of western and northern North Dakota and as far north as Winnipeg. These wel...

WASDE and More on Cattle USDA released this morning the February WASDE. The livestock highlights are: Lower expected broiler weights, with hatchery...

Activity in the Chicago SRW wheat market spilled over into those for HRW and HRS wheat futures. Changes in the soybean, soyoil, and soymeal futures point t...

No Surprises in USDA Supply-Demand Report for Oilseeds There were no significant surprises in today's USDA supply-demand report for oilseeds. In fact, USDA...

The market was wary of the way USDA's February WASDE would treat impact of the drought and heat that threated crops in Argentina and southern Brazil. Obvio...

General Comments USDA released its February WASDE this morning, and today's futures markets saw prices swing widely on both sides of yesterday's closes. Ma...

Pea-shooting at­ Biotech The International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA) report that biotech crop acres expanded 8 perc...

In yesterday's report (see WPI, 6 February), Dave Juday pondered whether this is a different farm land boom. Today we will explore some of the differences...

Activity in the Chicago SRW wheat market spilled over into those for HRW and HRS wheat futures. Changes in the soybean, soyoil, and soymeal futures point t...

Weather ARGENTINA RECEIVES GOOD RAINS Good rainfalls were received yesterday over core productive areas of the country. About 40 to 50 millimeters fell in...

Russian Grain Market: 31 January – 7 February 2012 GRAIN COMMODITIES AND FLOUR Last week's upward trend in the Russian domestic grain market strengthened.&...

General Comments Grain and soy prices traded both sides overnight but traded them only lightly. This directionless price pattern continued during the day s...

Activity in the Chicago SRW wheat market spilled over into those for HRW and HRS wheat futures. Changes in the soybean, soyoil, and soymeal futures point t...

Fairness and Food Knowledge, income and food all collide in a microcosm of the larger societal issues now being confronted. Macro Influences and Fundamenta...

U.S. Vegoil Trade Deficit Continues to Grow The U.S. is the world's largest oilseed producer. It is now the world's second-largest oilseed processor after...

News Updates IRANIAN GRAIN IMPORTS: STOPPED OR DELAYED Estimates vary widely on how many ships and how much cargo is sitting in Iran ports waiting to disch...

Ethanol Skids The ethanol industry's long run of policy and market support is catching headwinds from all directions. Although enactment into law will be t...

February is a good month to take stock of where we are and to speculate about trends and events that might help shape price action and direction. The title...

The Jewish Passover seder rite begins with the youngest person, the one least familiar with history, to ask the question, "Why is this night different from...

General Comments Today's grain and soy markets had a pre-report feeling about them. Volume was thin, trading ranges were narrow and price movements were ch...

A preview of the Annual Energy Outlook released late last month shows the basic projections that the Energy Information Agency (EIA) will fine tune during...

Activity in the Chicago SRW wheat market spilled over into those for HRW and HRS wheat futures. Changes in the soybean, soyoil, and soymeal futures point t...

India's Food Grain Production to Jump India may witness another record food production in 2011/12 amid favorable weather, especially in the wheat growing a...

General Comments Markets were weak the first half of the Sunday evening session but turned slightly higher when Europe went to work. Strength in French whe...

Japan and TPP U.S. and Japanese officials meet tomorrow to discuss Tokyo's desire to join the TPP negotiations. Washington fully capitulated on the use of...

This Thursday's USDA WASDE report should not hold any major surprises for the market, but we say that cautiously based on the recent history of surprises...

WPI provides a summary of the week's futures price activity and the gains/losses experiences by grain, oilseed, and livestock markets. Additionally, today'...

Baffling Trade Policy Trade policy aficionados in Washington are scratching their heads over some parts of President Obama's recent announcement. These inc...

Today was a day of several important market stories -- unusual for a Friday in early February. Some stories were routine, while others were more weather re...

President Obama will submit his FY 2013 budget proposal to Congress on 13 February, one week late. The first Monday in February is the deadline for the pre...

Milling Wheat The Black Sea milling wheat market remains firm due to very limited offers from farmers and exporters. The cold front passing through Eastern...

General Comments Markets were weak early in the evening session but crawled back to finish slightly higher. The impetus for the recovery was strong trade i...

Today's closing prices for the first six listed futures contracts for major grain, oilseed, and livestock contracts are shown along with their price change...

This week, I have been making my annual pilgrimage to Minnesota to participate in five farmers' meetings organized by the state's main farm radio network...

Yesterday the EU Commission formally rejected the proposed merger of Germany's Deutsche Borse and NYSE Euronext, the owner of the iconic New York Stock Exc...

General Comments When buying interest began to dry up during the last hour or so of Wednesday's day session, grain prices -- and to a lesser extent, soy pr...

NCBA on Animal Welfare, Dust, COOL, Estate Taxes and Farm Bill As previously reported (see WPI 5, 26 January 2012), livestock groups are lining up in oppos...

Farm Bill as Obesity Remedy While representatives of producer groups fret over achieving consensus on farm support policy in the 2012 Farm Bill and ensurin...

Today's closing prices for the first six listed futures contracts for major grain, oilseed, and livestock contracts are shown along with their price change...

Weather More Rains in the Forecast After several weeks of drought, it now seems that the weather is becoming more humid. The forecast is calling for good r...

Russian Grain Market: 24-31 January 2012 GRAIN COMMODITIES AND FLOUR Russia's domestic grain market last week showed a clear trend of increasing prices for...

General Comments Yesterday's strong rally in the grains and soy complex was extended again overnight, and it carried through into the morning session. Once...

Clever EU GMO Wording Never underestimate the wordsmithing capacity of Brussels. The new proposed procedure for member states to opt out of the planting of...

News Updates MOROCCAN AGRICULTURE A report issued last week is quite bullish Morocco's agriculture, although grain imports will have to continue at high le...

Like the farm bill reauthorization this year, Congress will be taking up the reauthorization of the highway bill. It was passed unanimously last year out o...

General Comments Beginning with the overnight session, the grain and soy markets turned higher, reversing yesterday's losses. By the opening of the day ses...

Following USDA's January reports, the soybean market has tended to focus on the threat to South American soybean production posed by the drought and, of co...

EPA Rejects Palm Oil-Based Biodiesel as Acceptable Renewable Fuel The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) last Friday ruled that biodiesel produced...

Activity in the Chicago SRW wheat market spilled over into those for HRW and HRS wheat futures. Changes in the soybean, soyoil, and soymeal futures point t...

General Comments Markets were soft in the Sunday evening session on another round of weakness in financial markets. There is still no agreement on the rest...

Foreign Investors Remain Bullish on India Reports from Reserve Bank of India (RBI) indicate that India's Foreign Exchange Reserves had declined by $14.25 b...

Last week was the first week of trading for the new Canadian ICE wheat futures contract. Here are a few details on the first week's trade. Total volume f...

The Whole Label The anti-GMO crowd is excited as they push mandatory labeling provisions at the state level. Food Safety News quotes Washington State Senat...

Today's closing prices for the first six listed futures contracts for major grain, oilseed, and livestock contracts are shown along with their price change...

Retiring Senator Kent Conrad (D-North Dakota) is a busy guy in his last year in office. He is chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, and therefore in the...

WPI provides a summary of the week's futures price activity and the gains/losses experiences by grain, oilseed, and livestock markets. Additionally, today'...

Weather is always a huge factor in commodity markets, but it's beginning to look like weather in 2012 may be even more critical than usual for a number of...

Gaming Biofuel Trade barriers affect not only food but also food used as fuel. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency  announced today that palm oil...

One of the obvious facts about ethanol is that it is abundant in the Midwest Corn Belt. In fact, from the beginning of the ethanol mandate through to 2009,...

General Comments It was a very quiet and lackluster trading day following a week of significant gains in corn, soybeans and wheat. This week's gains were t...

Activity in the Chicago SRW wheat market spilled over into those for HRW and HRS wheat futures. Changes in the soybean, soyoil, and soymeal futures point t...

Packer Margins Deep Red; Beef Herd Down in 2012 Beef packer margins last week sunk to -$125.50, according to the Sterling Beef Profit Tracker, with feedyar...

Buenos Aires Grain Exchange Forecasts Soybean Crop at 46.2 MMT The Buenos Aires Grain Exchange today issued its first forecast for Argentina's 2012 corn an...

TPP to the Forefront The Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations have reignited the interests of Washington trade lobbyists. It promises to be financially l...

No one can say that for agricultural derivative markets, the year of 2011 lacked for excitement and drama -- some of which was quite painful. Some of the e...

Grounded Bulk Carrier in Parana River Navigation in the Parana River (Upriver, Argentina) has been affected since 17 January by the grounded vessel, MV Ari...

General Comments The hangover from yesterday's accommodating stance taken by the Fed extended the rally in most commodity markets. The promise of historica...

Russian Grain Market: 17-24 January 2012 GRAIN COMMODITIES AND FLOUR A major recent event in the Russian grain market was the government-held auction of gr...

General Comments Overnight trade saw prices trade both sides before finally climbing into the green. Fund buying and more talk about the hot cash grain bid...

Wrestling with Government Burden President Obama joked about regulating milk spills, but the anti-regulatory burden is an intensely emotional issue. This i...

Today's closing prices for the first six listed futures contracts for major grain, oilseed, and livestock contracts are shown along with their price change...

Activity in the Chicago SRW wheat market spilled over into those for HRW and HRS wheat futures. Changes in the soybean, soyoil, and soymeal futures point t...

General Comments The Fed FOMC two-day meeting is underway with the usual statement due Wednesday afternoon. In it, the Fed is expected to reiterate again i...

The State of the Union (SOTU) annual address is tonight, and President Barack Obama will be presenting his third SOTU to members of Congress. In anticipati...

When January 2012 comes to an end a week from today, we will have gone through the first five months of the U.S. corn and soybean statistical crop year and...

News Updates SUEZ CANAL TRAFFIC INCREASES Egyptian authorities have reported that the Suez Canal's revenue increased by just under 10 percent in 2011 to a...

Argentina Reduces Soybean and Corn Production Forecasts Argentina's Agriculture Ministry yesterday reduced its forecast for its 2012 soybean crop to 48.9 M...

General Comments Markets were firm overnight on euro strength and dollar weakness coupled with the fact that rains across Argentina were not nearly as heav...

Today's closing prices for the first six listed futures contracts for major grain, oilseed, and livestock contracts are shown along with their price change...

As we have predicted many times, we foresee a debate on the Renewable Fuel Standards (RFS) in 2013. The lack of cellulosic ethanol production is putting to...

Coffee Consumption Changing in India Starbucks, the U.S.-based coffee giant, and Tata Coffee have finally agreed to forge an alliance, and are likely to op...

You don't have to look very far to be buried in bearish market outlooks these days. This is especially true when you shift your thinking ahead to the 2012/...

General Comments The Thursday evening session traded higher the first half of the session and then shifted lower the last half of the session. There is ano...

Milling Wheat The market in the Black Sea is nearly unchanged this week with very little reported activity. The winter is not causing a particular threat t...

The Minneapolis Grain Exchange (MGEX) announced this week that the CFTC had approved changes in their hard red spring wheat delivery specifications. ...

There are arguably three top issues of 2012 that will play out in Congress and with the Administration that will dominate the agenda, help drive the electi...

WPI provides a summary of the week's futures price activity and the gains/losses experiences by grain, oilseed, and livestock markets. Additionally, today'...

Ask Mayors How to Farm The 80th Winter Meeting of the U.S. Conference of Mayors was held in Washington this week.  At least half of the Obama Administ...

Today's closing prices for the first six listed futures contracts for major grain, oilseed, and livestock contracts are shown along with their price change...

General Comments The overnight session saw grain and soy prices strengthen in moderate trading volume even though forecasts for rain over Argentina and Sou...

During the past several years we have occasionally discussed the grouping together of different commodities such as crude oil, corn, copper, softs, etc. in...

Certainly Certainty USDA and EPA signed a MOU with Minnesota this week that ensures that farmers reaching agreement with one agency on a conservation plan...

In the past two months, the spread between natural gas and crude oil continues to widen. Brent oil remains high despite cuts in the 2012 demand outlook mad...

Broiler Hatch Down; Beef Imports Down but Strong Yesterday USDA released its Broiler Hatchery Report showing Broiler-type eggs set down six percent and chi...

In terms of global exports of vegoils, sunoil exports have always been a much smaller than exports of soyoil and palm oil.  However, that seems to be...

In the past two months, the spread between natural gas and crude oil continues to widen. Brent oil remains high despite cuts in the 2012 demand outlook mad...

General Comments The overnight session for grain and soy futures began with some follow through strength, but prices turned and drifted lower as additional...

Weather Argentina is suffering a significant drought in the corn and soybean belt. Cordoba as well as Santa Fe provinces are the most affected by the weath...

Argentina Corruption Forecast First, the Argentine government tried to force a trade balance by requiring importers to export an equivalent value of goods...

Russian grain market 9-17 January 2012 Grain commodities and flour According to the decision of the Ministry of Agriculture on 12 January 2012, the Ministr...

Today's closing prices for the first six listed futures contracts for major grain, oilseed, and livestock contracts are shown along with their price change...

Today's closing prices for the first six listed futures contracts for major grain, oilseed, and livestock contracts are shown along with their price change...

As we reported on 10 January, the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) has a new farm bill proposal approved at its annual convention.  More recentl...

By now, last week's USDA's reports on production, stocks and supply/demand should be well digested. Obviously, the combined reports were bearish relative t...

NOPA's December Soybean Crush Volume a Bit Higher than Expected Today's crush report by the National Oilseed Processors Association (NOPA) indicated NOPA m...

Adulterated Milk Abounds in India A recent report from the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has sent shockwaves to every Indian parent...

NEWS UPDATES IRAQ AND JORDAN FREIGHT ROUTE The route for cargo to and from Jordan by truck through Iraq has been up in the air for the past few weeks, as p...

General Comments Lacking much in the way of fresh fundamental input, grain and soy markets allowed themselves to be influenced by a few positives from the...

We wrote about President Obama's concept of creating a singular business and trade department back on 24 March 2011, so this is part reprise. But, the plan...

The Federal Reserve on Wednesday issued the "Beige Book," the annual "Summary of Commentary on Current Economic Conditions by Federal Reserve District" tha...

Thursday's USDA reports were bearish, and corn took the brunt of the bearish action closing down the 40-cent limit. Corn stocks were larger than expected,...

Milling Wheat The market in the Black Sea is slightly weaker due to the sharp fall of the U.S. and EU markets following yesterday's bearish USDA report.Tun...

WPI provides a summary of the week's futures price activity and the gains/losses experiences by grain, oilseed, and livestock markets. Additionally, today'...

General Comments Grain and oilseed markets traded both sides of unchanged in the Thursday evening session, with little follow-through selling noted after y...

With the plethora of fresh data that USDA's reports provide each January, the chances that they will contain something surprising is pretty high. When ther...

WASDE Today's WASDE shows a total red meat and poultry production up for 2012 over last month's projections, mostly due to pork production. USDA's Quarterl...

Direct Speak Diplomats from democratic countries returned from the climate change meetings in Durban, South Africa last month saying that they had accompli...

No Major Surprises for Soy in USDA Reports Even though the initial market reaction to today's USDA production, stocks, supply, and demand data was substant...

General Comments It is hard to come up with much in the way of insightful analysis for a market such as the one we saw today. USDA spoke, and markets react...

On 23 December, we noted that the impending influence of today's Stock report was difficult to anticipate. We asserted that there was no guarantee yields w...

Activity in the Chicago SRW wheat market spilled over into those for HRW and HRS wheat futures. Changes in the soybean, soyoil, and soymeal futures point t...

General Comments Good rains fell across many southern and central portions of Argentina overnight. Amounts varied mostly between 0.5-1.5 inches, although a...

Today's closing prices for the first six listed futures contracts for major grain, oilseed, and livestock contracts are shown along with their price change...

Russian Grain Market: 2-9 January 2012 GRAIN COMMODITIES AND FLOUR General Official Data on 2011 Harvest According to data provided by the Russian Statisti...

New SPS World Back in 1990, imports of wine from France and Italy were found to contain procymidone, a fungicide approved in Europe but not in the U.S. The...

Drought Damage Hits South American Crops The South American drought continues to be the major problem in ag commodities these days. Brazil is in the best s...

News Updates JORDAN AND TUNISIA, NEW EBRD MEMBERS Jordan and Tunisia are the newest members of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and are...

Delhi Microcosm of Doha The U.S. has now twice cancelled intended bilateral meetings with India on the reported basis that New Delhi was unlikely to grant...

The level of nutrition spending, particularly in regard to the record year for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), has driven and will co...

Brazil's CONAB Surprisingly Raises Soybean Forecast The Brazilian crop supply agency (CONAB) today raised its forecast for Brazil's 2012 soybean crop by 0...

Activity in the Chicago SRW wheat market spilled over into those for HRW and HRS wheat futures. Changes in the soybean, soyoil, and soymeal futures point t...

General Comments After blistering heat on Monday, rain finally returned to Argentina today with scattered showers due to cover 60-70 percent of the country...

Certain clients have asked if it would not be equally advantageous to hedge next season's production in more actively traded nearby contracts rather than i...

On Thursday, 12 January, USDA will release a trifecta of reports with NASS reporting its final 2011/12 corn and soybean yield and production estimates acco...

Forty percent of the U.S. annual corn production now goes directly into ethanol production. As the world is fully aware, this is a massive number that has...

Last Friday (see WPI 6 January), we wrote about the role that nutrition will play in the upcoming farm bill. Today, we take a closer look at nutrition spen...

General Comments Grain and oilseed futures were steady to higher in the Sunday evening session and gained strength as it wore on. The day session opened mu...

Today's closing prices for the first six listed futures contracts for major grain, oilseed, and livestock contracts are shown along with their price change...

Starving for Nation Change A client passed along research from the New England Complex Systems Institute in which physicists, not economists, correlated hi...

India's Potential Key to Growth: Overseas Indians India is currently hosting its 10th summit for non-resident Indians and will honor some of the leading In...

WPI provides a summary of the week's futures price activity and the gains/losses experiences by grain, oilseed, and livestock markets. Additionally, today'...

General Comments Markets of every type were somewhat subdued today. The U.S. jobs data was better than expected, with 200,000 jobs reportedly created in De...

On Thursday, 12 January, USDA will release its final production estimates for the 2011 corn and soybean crops. The last change to these production forecast...

Milling Wheat The market in the Black Sea has made an impressing rally during the last two weeks due to the slowing of farmers' selling, and the general ma...

Years and years ago (as the tale goes), food stamps were put into the farm bill to create a coalition of lawmakers willing to vote for a bill that would pr...

Sharp Increase in Indian Soymeal Exports in December India's Solvent Extractors Association (SEA) today reported that India exported 798,041 MT of soymeal...

When the old year passes into a new year, it is common to look back at the important events, trends and other features of the old year (as we did last week...

Red Meat, Dairy Weighing in on Poultry Cages A group including the American Farm Bureau Federation, National Farmers Union, American Sheep Industry Associa...

General Comments The midday GFS weather model dialed in more rain for central Argentine crop areas than previous model runs had shown. Now it is calling fo...

Today's closing prices for the first six listed futures contracts for major grain, oilseed, and livestock contracts are shown along with their price change...

Traders recognize that grain and soy complex prices are likely to remain volatile going into USDA's Prospective Plantings report that will be published on...

Options Bias CFTC Commissioner Bart Chilton blocked Nadex from launching this week its proposed binary options on political events, like the 2012 president...

Drought is Still the Main Issue in Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay As with last week, the main topic of discussion in South America is the ongoing drought...

President Hu Jintao of China told Communist Party members that hostile forces abroad are attempting to divide their country with western influences, accord...

Due to Christmas and New Year holidays, there is no Russian markets report this week. Kazakhstan's 2011 Harvest Results In 2011, there were 29.96 MMT of gr...

Today's closing prices for the first six listed futures contracts for major grain, oilseed, and livestock contracts are shown along with their price change...

General Comments The definition of drought is a lengthy period of abnormally dry weather. A drought does not mean the total absence of precipitation. The o...

Structure of Agriculture The structure of agriculture is at issue all over the world.Kenya: Officials in Nairobi are reportedly streamlining its governance...

General Comments Commodities opened 2012 trading with an impressive rally that included grains and the soy complex. The rally was sponsored by a number of...

Continued Dry Weather in Argentina and Southern Brazil If the farmers of southern Brazil and Argentina had been hoping the New Year would bring them needed...

Cotton Production Up, Prices Crash Cotton production in India is likely to be 26.1 million bales (of 170 kg each) for 2011/12, according to the new assessm...

News Updates News is a little short this week due mainly to the holidays, but there is still enough going on to make for some interesting reading. STRAITS...

Today is sort of New Year's Day for many U.S. commodity futures markets, particularly grain and soy markets. With the long weekend and without an overnight...

Trade Snowball Japan's decision to join the Trans Pacific Partnership was just a part of the strategy. The Nikkei reports that Tokyo also engaging in a tri...

Wed 01/04/2012 3:00 PM Broiler Hatchery NASS...

Activity in the Chicago SRW wheat market spilled over into those for HRW and HRS wheat futures. Changes in the soybean, soyoil, and soymeal futures point t...

With the budget battles, class warfare is emerging as a major theme for the 2012 election campaign. There is debate about raising taxes like the estate tax...