World Perspectives

Recent Ag Perspectives Analysis

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Market Commentary: Bulls Gain Upper Hand for Now

Grain, oilseed, and livestock futures were all higher at the CBOT on Wednesday with various combinations of end-user buying, short covering, and improved technical conditions helped lift markets. The day’s trade was largely a continuation of this week’s early strength in futures, wh...

Agriculture Front and Center; Confounding Farmers; Miscellaneous Fun; Farm Bill Fight; Feeding Gaza

Agriculture Front and Center It is notable that all the examples provided by White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt of high foreign tariffs involved agricultural products. Her specific examples included, “50 percent from the European Union on American dairy, you have a 700 percent t...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Black Sea Regional Analysis

Russian Grain Markets: 26 – 30 May 2025 The grain market was more similar to an end of June market rather than end of May. A new season seems to have started a month earlier. Wheat and barley prices in the south near the ports plummeted to new level. Usually transition from old crop to ne...

FOB Prices and Freight Rates App (Updated 4 June)

WPI Grain Prices and Freight Rate App  **** Note: After our recent website update, we're having difficulty correctly linking the app to this page. Until we get this fixed, please visit the app directly via the link below. ***  https://worldperspectives.shinyapps.io/Combined_FOB_Price_...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Market Commentary: Role Reversals on Turnaround Tuesday

The CBOT saw a role reversal on Tuesday with the previously bearish-led corn and soybean markets finding technical and some fundamental support, while wheat futures drifted lower. Too, live cattle futures and July lean hogs both posted Turnaround Tuesdays as bulls became cautious with prices ne...

Getting Tough; Abundance Debate

Getting Tough  It isn’t just the U.S. judicial system offering up hurdles to President Trump’s trade war. It has been noted that different countries have taken different approaches in responding to the tariff war. Smaller southwest and southeast Asian countries have generally b...

livestock

Feeder Cattle Outlook

Feeder steer prices remain at historic highs across all major regions, averaging 22.9 percent higher year-over- year, and 58 percent higher than the five-year average. Some of the biggest gains have been in the Southern Plains, most affected by the imports of Mexican feeder cattle which are pro...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Middle East, Mediterranean, and Africa Regional Analysis

Mediterranean/Middle East/North Africa/Africa – MEA Region Pakistan has said that it could buy additional U.S. soybeans in order to eliminate the small trade surplus that the country has with the U.S. in order to avoid any tariffs now being set by the U.S. government. Pakistan’s Nat...

livestock

Livestock Industry Margins

Strong meat demand for the first weekend of the unofficial summer grilling season helped both beef and pork packer margins improve last week. Beef packer margins jumped $10 higher and hit their most profitable level in four weeks, which isn’t much to celebrate given margins were previousl...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Market Commentary: Bears Control Corn, Soybeans; Wheat Rally Struggles

The major development at the CBOT on Monday was that bears finally gained full control of the corn and soybean markets with multiple bearish headlines allowing them to do so. Trade tensions between the U.S. and China and slow political progress on Capitol Hill pressured the soy complex overnigh...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

WPI Crop Progress and Conditions App (Updated 2 June)

Update for 28 April 2025: Last year, users pointed out differences between the 5-year averages reported in this app and what USDA estimates in its weekly report. The difference exists because WPI calculates average based on the last 5 years of observations for the current week. In cases where o...

TACO or Not; U.S. – Japan Relations; Reciprocal Trade Momentum; Nutritional Police State

TACO or Not Financial markets have again steadied following the renewed war of words between Beijing and Washington. The two competitors cannot agree on much and signals that Xi and Trump will talk this week may or may not be true. Meanwhile, more U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum kick in this...

Tariff Threats Escalation Again: China and EU

In May, the U.S. and China agreed to reduce import tariffs by a combined 115 percentage points, down to 10 percent. The agreement was intended to cool years of tariffs and trade conflict that came to a head on 2 April with the announcement of new U.S. tariffs. At the time, both sides indicated...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Mercosur Regional Analysis

Corn  Argentina  Argentina’s corn harvest continues to progress slowly, with only 40 percent of the total area harvested so far. The delay is no longer primarily due to the soybean harvest but is now driven by persistent high grain moisture and excess water in many fields. The m...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

European Market Analysis

Regional News  The UK, most of northern/central Europe, parts of eastern Europe and the eastern Black Sea all received beneficial rainfall last week, with volumes concentrated in the UK, Germany, and along the Black Sea. These rains have revived hopes for the 2025 crops, though areas of co...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

CFTC COT Report Analysis

Friday’s CFTC report showed managed money traders became slightly more bullish the major ag markets, or at least less bearish. Funds cut their net short position across all ags by 73 percent last week and now hold an essentially neutral position of 20,000 contracts short. Most of that buy...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Market Commentary: Bears Rule Mostly; Rain and Sunshine Make Grain

Wheat and pigs were the day’s winners, with much of the rest of the contracts bleeding red. President Trump’s war of words with China added some negative energy on the day. It was similar for the week with HRS and hogs adding value, and soymeal higher by a miniscule fraction, but th...

Sorting Through Tariffs

On 2 April, President Trump announced the U.S. will impose a minimum baseline of 10 percent tariffs on all imported goods into the U.S. as well as higher reciprocal tariffs on exporting countries that impose tariffs on U.S. goods. Countries that will see tariffs higher than the baseline 10 perc...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Challenging Analogues

Drew Lerner at World Weather, Inc. makes an interesting analogy between U.S. weather this spring, and that of 1968. Both this year and 1968 involved recovery from peak solar activity (sunspots) and neutral ENSO (El Niño/Southern Oscillation) conditions.  He looked at seven previous...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Market Commentary: Volatility versus Fundamentals

Markets have been trending lower this week and while soybeans and SRW teased lower numbers this morning, both ultimately turned around and left corn and soyoil the lonely losers for the day. HRS continued to bounce on the lower crop rating early this week. In contrast to SRW and HRW, HRS is up...

livestock

Livestock Roundup: Chicken Weights Suggest Sandwich War Return

USDA updated its forecast for broiler production in 2025 and released its initial estimate for 2026. The 2025 estimate was revised lower by 260 million pounds and is now expected to be up just 1.1 percent from the previous year. At the beginning of the year, projections were for a 1.4 percent i...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Market Commentary: Crop Progress Silver Linings Pressure Corn, Soybeans

CBOT markets were mostly mixed in quiet trade overnight, but that tenor changed quickly once the day session started. The Crop Progress report initially appeared supportive for the major markets with planting slowing for corn and soybeans and corn and spring wheat conditions coming in below exp...

Trade Negotiation Hurdles; Bond Market Conflict; Companionship or Dinner

Trade Negotiation Hurdles U.S. and EU trade negotiators meet again tomorrow in a bid to reach an agreement by 9 July; there is a lot of skepticism about its relative success. Politico Europe reporter Camille Gijs notes that politicians in Brussels have no appetite to give the White House big co...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Black Sea Regional Analysis

Russian Grain Markets: 19 –23 May 2025 Grain markets finally realized that the new crop is near and bearish adjustments between the old crop and new crop started to become a reality like never before. Only Siberia is still waiting while the rest of the country is watching the export new c...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Market Commentary: Wheat Sinks on U.S. and Black Sea Rains; Hogs Rally on Pork Demand

Beneficial rains across the U.S. Southern Plains and part of the Black Sea over the weekend put wheat futures in Europe and the U.S. on the defensive to start the week. That acted like a weight on the broader grain markets and helped pull futures lower to start the holiday-shortened week. All t...

MAHA Targets Glyphosate

The seminal report on the state of America’s health, the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) report, focuses on the environmental exposure to pesticides in the food supply, which the report says is linked to developmental issues and chronic diseases. The report says that 40 percent of child...

U.S.-EU Delay Reckoning; BBB Fails Farmers; Optimal Tariffs

U.S.-EU Delay Reckoning Brussels responded quickly to President Trump’s threat to raise tariffs to 50 percent. But a renewed commitment to negotiate and finding a deal with the mercurial American leader are two different things. Some believe Mr. Trump wants specific purchasing commitments...

feed-grains wheat livestock

Middle East, Mediterranean, and Africa Regional Analysis

Mediterranean/Middle East/North Africa/Africa – MEA Region Syria’s wheat crop is expected to be down by 75 percent this year due to severe drought conditions. Syria will need to find a source for about 2.7 MMT of wheat in order to supply the population. Syria is hoping that the lift...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

CFTC COT Report Analysis

Friday’s CFTC report showed that managed money traders are becoming increasingly bearish corn and the soy complex while gradually easing short bets in the wheat market. The net effect of this dynamics, plus some mixed trade in livestock futures, was that funds’ total ag position (th...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Market Commentary: Mixed Day but a Solid Week

Pre-Holiday Trade There was higher volume trading soybeans today, but generally lower pre-holiday volume in other contracts. Despite an overall strong week, Friday brought lower prices except for soyoil, HRS, and Feeder Cattle. It was the fourth session higher this week for Minneapolis wheat. P...

Memorial Day Holiday

Monday, 26 May is a U.S. holiday, the markets and our office will be closed. Please note that the next Ag Perspectives will be published on Tuesday, 27 May. The WPI staff hopes everyone has a good weekend...

livestock

Cattle on Feed Report

USDA released the monthly Cattle on Feed report today. The total inventory of feedlots of 1,000 head or more capacity is 11.4 million head, 98 percent of last year.   This weekend commences the summer grilling season. Placements were 1.6 million head, 97 percent of last year, compare...

livestock

Cow-Calf Profitability Improves, Indicates Herd Rebuilding

Southern Plains cow-calf producers’ financial outlook continues to improve with the recent gains in feeder cattle prices and overall weakness in feed costs so far in 2025. Returns on an inflation-adjusted basis remain below those of 2014 and 2015, but recent gains in expected profits sugg...

WPI Transportation Report

Dry-Bulk Ocean Freight Dry bulk markets remain essentially flat with cargo demand remaining “elusive”. Increased demand from China remains the key for markets going forward, but the Middle Kingdom has not seen any surge in bookings yet.  The Baltic Dry indices were mixed this w...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Market Commentary: BBB, MAHA, Fundamentals and a Holiday

Corn, soybeans, soymeal, and cattle closed higher, while wheat, soyoil, and hogs dipped. The reasons are varied but pre-holiday trading tomorrow could see lower volume and some risk-off exits given the three-day break from trading.  BBB Overnight trading and today’s trading session i...

livestock

Livestock Roundup: Cattle on Feed Preview

USDA’s monthly Cattle on Feed report will be released tomorrow. Analysts’ pre-report consensus estimates are for the total inventory on feed to be 98.5 percent of last year with the range of estimates between an incredibly tight 98.3 percent and 98.8 percent of 1 May 2024. &nbs...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Market Commentary: Bulls Gain Upper Hand for Now

Grain, oilseed, and livestock futures were all higher at the CBOT on Wednesday with various combinations of end-user buying, short covering, and improved technical conditions helped lift markets. The day’s trade was largely a continuation of this week’s early strength in futures, wh...

Agriculture Front and Center; Confounding Farmers; Miscellaneous Fun; Farm Bill Fight; Feeding Gaza

Agriculture Front and Center It is notable that all the examples provided by White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt of high foreign tariffs involved agricultural products. Her specific examples included, “50 percent from the European Union on American dairy, you have a 700 percent t...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Black Sea Regional Analysis

Russian Grain Markets: 26 – 30 May 2025 The grain market was more similar to an end of June market rather than end of May. A new season seems to have started a month earlier. Wheat and barley prices in the south near the ports plummeted to new level. Usually transition from old crop to ne...

FOB Prices and Freight Rates App (Updated 4 June)

WPI Grain Prices and Freight Rate App  **** Note: After our recent website update, we're having difficulty correctly linking the app to this page. Until we get this fixed, please visit the app directly via the link below. ***  https://worldperspectives.shinyapps.io/Combined_FOB_Price_...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Market Commentary: Role Reversals on Turnaround Tuesday

The CBOT saw a role reversal on Tuesday with the previously bearish-led corn and soybean markets finding technical and some fundamental support, while wheat futures drifted lower. Too, live cattle futures and July lean hogs both posted Turnaround Tuesdays as bulls became cautious with prices ne...

Getting Tough; Abundance Debate

Getting Tough  It isn’t just the U.S. judicial system offering up hurdles to President Trump’s trade war. It has been noted that different countries have taken different approaches in responding to the tariff war. Smaller southwest and southeast Asian countries have generally b...

livestock

Feeder Cattle Outlook

Feeder steer prices remain at historic highs across all major regions, averaging 22.9 percent higher year-over- year, and 58 percent higher than the five-year average. Some of the biggest gains have been in the Southern Plains, most affected by the imports of Mexican feeder cattle which are pro...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Middle East, Mediterranean, and Africa Regional Analysis

Mediterranean/Middle East/North Africa/Africa – MEA Region Pakistan has said that it could buy additional U.S. soybeans in order to eliminate the small trade surplus that the country has with the U.S. in order to avoid any tariffs now being set by the U.S. government. Pakistan’s Nat...

livestock

Livestock Industry Margins

Strong meat demand for the first weekend of the unofficial summer grilling season helped both beef and pork packer margins improve last week. Beef packer margins jumped $10 higher and hit their most profitable level in four weeks, which isn’t much to celebrate given margins were previousl...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Market Commentary: Bears Control Corn, Soybeans; Wheat Rally Struggles

The major development at the CBOT on Monday was that bears finally gained full control of the corn and soybean markets with multiple bearish headlines allowing them to do so. Trade tensions between the U.S. and China and slow political progress on Capitol Hill pressured the soy complex overnigh...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

WPI Crop Progress and Conditions App (Updated 2 June)

Update for 28 April 2025: Last year, users pointed out differences between the 5-year averages reported in this app and what USDA estimates in its weekly report. The difference exists because WPI calculates average based on the last 5 years of observations for the current week. In cases where o...

TACO or Not; U.S. – Japan Relations; Reciprocal Trade Momentum; Nutritional Police State

TACO or Not Financial markets have again steadied following the renewed war of words between Beijing and Washington. The two competitors cannot agree on much and signals that Xi and Trump will talk this week may or may not be true. Meanwhile, more U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum kick in this...

Tariff Threats Escalation Again: China and EU

In May, the U.S. and China agreed to reduce import tariffs by a combined 115 percentage points, down to 10 percent. The agreement was intended to cool years of tariffs and trade conflict that came to a head on 2 April with the announcement of new U.S. tariffs. At the time, both sides indicated...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Mercosur Regional Analysis

Corn  Argentina  Argentina’s corn harvest continues to progress slowly, with only 40 percent of the total area harvested so far. The delay is no longer primarily due to the soybean harvest but is now driven by persistent high grain moisture and excess water in many fields. The m...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

European Market Analysis

Regional News  The UK, most of northern/central Europe, parts of eastern Europe and the eastern Black Sea all received beneficial rainfall last week, with volumes concentrated in the UK, Germany, and along the Black Sea. These rains have revived hopes for the 2025 crops, though areas of co...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

CFTC COT Report Analysis

Friday’s CFTC report showed managed money traders became slightly more bullish the major ag markets, or at least less bearish. Funds cut their net short position across all ags by 73 percent last week and now hold an essentially neutral position of 20,000 contracts short. Most of that buy...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Market Commentary: Bears Rule Mostly; Rain and Sunshine Make Grain

Wheat and pigs were the day’s winners, with much of the rest of the contracts bleeding red. President Trump’s war of words with China added some negative energy on the day. It was similar for the week with HRS and hogs adding value, and soymeal higher by a miniscule fraction, but th...

Sorting Through Tariffs

On 2 April, President Trump announced the U.S. will impose a minimum baseline of 10 percent tariffs on all imported goods into the U.S. as well as higher reciprocal tariffs on exporting countries that impose tariffs on U.S. goods. Countries that will see tariffs higher than the baseline 10 perc...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Challenging Analogues

Drew Lerner at World Weather, Inc. makes an interesting analogy between U.S. weather this spring, and that of 1968. Both this year and 1968 involved recovery from peak solar activity (sunspots) and neutral ENSO (El Niño/Southern Oscillation) conditions.  He looked at seven previous...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Market Commentary: Volatility versus Fundamentals

Markets have been trending lower this week and while soybeans and SRW teased lower numbers this morning, both ultimately turned around and left corn and soyoil the lonely losers for the day. HRS continued to bounce on the lower crop rating early this week. In contrast to SRW and HRW, HRS is up...

livestock

Livestock Roundup: Chicken Weights Suggest Sandwich War Return

USDA updated its forecast for broiler production in 2025 and released its initial estimate for 2026. The 2025 estimate was revised lower by 260 million pounds and is now expected to be up just 1.1 percent from the previous year. At the beginning of the year, projections were for a 1.4 percent i...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Market Commentary: Crop Progress Silver Linings Pressure Corn, Soybeans

CBOT markets were mostly mixed in quiet trade overnight, but that tenor changed quickly once the day session started. The Crop Progress report initially appeared supportive for the major markets with planting slowing for corn and soybeans and corn and spring wheat conditions coming in below exp...

Trade Negotiation Hurdles; Bond Market Conflict; Companionship or Dinner

Trade Negotiation Hurdles U.S. and EU trade negotiators meet again tomorrow in a bid to reach an agreement by 9 July; there is a lot of skepticism about its relative success. Politico Europe reporter Camille Gijs notes that politicians in Brussels have no appetite to give the White House big co...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Black Sea Regional Analysis

Russian Grain Markets: 19 –23 May 2025 Grain markets finally realized that the new crop is near and bearish adjustments between the old crop and new crop started to become a reality like never before. Only Siberia is still waiting while the rest of the country is watching the export new c...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Market Commentary: Wheat Sinks on U.S. and Black Sea Rains; Hogs Rally on Pork Demand

Beneficial rains across the U.S. Southern Plains and part of the Black Sea over the weekend put wheat futures in Europe and the U.S. on the defensive to start the week. That acted like a weight on the broader grain markets and helped pull futures lower to start the holiday-shortened week. All t...

MAHA Targets Glyphosate

The seminal report on the state of America’s health, the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) report, focuses on the environmental exposure to pesticides in the food supply, which the report says is linked to developmental issues and chronic diseases. The report says that 40 percent of child...

U.S.-EU Delay Reckoning; BBB Fails Farmers; Optimal Tariffs

U.S.-EU Delay Reckoning Brussels responded quickly to President Trump’s threat to raise tariffs to 50 percent. But a renewed commitment to negotiate and finding a deal with the mercurial American leader are two different things. Some believe Mr. Trump wants specific purchasing commitments...

feed-grains wheat livestock

Middle East, Mediterranean, and Africa Regional Analysis

Mediterranean/Middle East/North Africa/Africa – MEA Region Syria’s wheat crop is expected to be down by 75 percent this year due to severe drought conditions. Syria will need to find a source for about 2.7 MMT of wheat in order to supply the population. Syria is hoping that the lift...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

CFTC COT Report Analysis

Friday’s CFTC report showed that managed money traders are becoming increasingly bearish corn and the soy complex while gradually easing short bets in the wheat market. The net effect of this dynamics, plus some mixed trade in livestock futures, was that funds’ total ag position (th...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Market Commentary: Mixed Day but a Solid Week

Pre-Holiday Trade There was higher volume trading soybeans today, but generally lower pre-holiday volume in other contracts. Despite an overall strong week, Friday brought lower prices except for soyoil, HRS, and Feeder Cattle. It was the fourth session higher this week for Minneapolis wheat. P...

Memorial Day Holiday

Monday, 26 May is a U.S. holiday, the markets and our office will be closed. Please note that the next Ag Perspectives will be published on Tuesday, 27 May. The WPI staff hopes everyone has a good weekend...

livestock

Cattle on Feed Report

USDA released the monthly Cattle on Feed report today. The total inventory of feedlots of 1,000 head or more capacity is 11.4 million head, 98 percent of last year.   This weekend commences the summer grilling season. Placements were 1.6 million head, 97 percent of last year, compare...

livestock

Cow-Calf Profitability Improves, Indicates Herd Rebuilding

Southern Plains cow-calf producers’ financial outlook continues to improve with the recent gains in feeder cattle prices and overall weakness in feed costs so far in 2025. Returns on an inflation-adjusted basis remain below those of 2014 and 2015, but recent gains in expected profits sugg...

WPI Transportation Report

Dry-Bulk Ocean Freight Dry bulk markets remain essentially flat with cargo demand remaining “elusive”. Increased demand from China remains the key for markets going forward, but the Middle Kingdom has not seen any surge in bookings yet.  The Baltic Dry indices were mixed this w...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Market Commentary: BBB, MAHA, Fundamentals and a Holiday

Corn, soybeans, soymeal, and cattle closed higher, while wheat, soyoil, and hogs dipped. The reasons are varied but pre-holiday trading tomorrow could see lower volume and some risk-off exits given the three-day break from trading.  BBB Overnight trading and today’s trading session i...

livestock

Livestock Roundup: Cattle on Feed Preview

USDA’s monthly Cattle on Feed report will be released tomorrow. Analysts’ pre-report consensus estimates are for the total inventory on feed to be 98.5 percent of last year with the range of estimates between an incredibly tight 98.3 percent and 98.8 percent of 1 May 2024. &nbs...

Select Filters to Apply

  • Markets
  • World

Search World Perspectives

Sign In to World Perspectives

Don’t have an account yet? Sign Up