IEEPA Tariffs Struck Down, Outlook for Livestock and Poultry
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural Outlook Forum is taking place this week, covering key agricultural topics, unveiling the 10-year long-term baseline forecast, and providing commodity outlook updates. Further, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the International Emergency E...
Thoughts on USDA Ag Outlook Numbers
The USDA’s annual Agricultural Outlook Forum (AOF) featured the agency’s first look at the 2026/27 balance sheet for the major U.S. crops and livestock products. For corn, wheat, and soybeans, this year’s numbers were in line with expectations and did not spark much reaction f...
Transportation and Export Report
Dry bulk ocean freight markets are once again seeing diverging trends across the Atlantic and Pacific basins. Key to this divergence is the Chinese Lunar New Year holiday, which started last weekend and will last through 3 March. That is putting much of Asia on hold for trading and vessel inqui...
Transportation and Export Report - 13 February 2026
U.S. grain transportation markets are slowly recovering from the shocks of bitter cold weather and low water levels on the Mississippi River System and from the surge in export demand. The latter is also causing strong rallies in ocean freight markets, particularly in the Atlantic basin. With g...
WASDE Wheat - Feb 2026
USDA’s outlook for 2025/26 U.S. wheat is unchanged for exports and slightly higher ending stocks to 931 million bushels - 9 percent higher than last year and the largest since 2019/20. The projected 2025/26 season-average farm price remains at $4.90 per bushel. The global outlook fo...
WASDE Soybeans - Feb 2026
USDA’s outlook for 2025/26 U.S. soybean supply and use projections are unchanged. As a result, the season-average soybean price is projected unchanged at $10.20 per bushel. Soybean meal and oil prices are unchanged at $295 per short ton and 53 cents per pound. Global 2025/26 soybean endin...
WASDE Corn - Feb 2026
USDA’s outlook for 2025/26 U.S. corn is for greater exports and lower ending stocks. Exports are increased 100 million bushels to 3.3 billion, reflecting sales and shipments to date. With no supply changes and use increasing, corn ending stocks are down 100 million bushels to 2.1 billion...
Argentina Beef Imports Outlook for 2026
At the 2026 Cattle Industry Convention, Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., urged producers to expand the beef herd in a “fireside chat” with National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) President Buck Wehrbein. Kennedy, however, acknowledged that he...
New Trade Agreements
Just as Donald Trump’s dismantling of the world order is said to have motivated Europe’s conclusion of trade agreements with Mercosur and India, his trade agreements with India and Argentina are thought to have been motivated by Europe’s trade moves. A novel question: who is f...
Mercosur Regional Analysis
After a very quiet prior week with limited activity, market conditions became significantly more active. Futures rallied early in the week after President Trump said he had spoken with Xi Jinping and that China agreed to buy up to 20 MMT of U.S. soybeans. China has already purchased around 12 M...
Volatility and Opportunity Abound in Soy Pricing
Soybean futures and the broader soy complex saw heightened volatility this week on a combination of domestic and international demand drivers. Following these moves, it is relevant to examine what seasonal pricing patterns suggest for the futures market, as well as what the implications are for...
Transportation and Export Report for 4 February 2025
U.S. grain transportation markets remain skewed by the impacts of cold weather and low water levels on the Mississippi River System, which have pushed spot CIF and FOB values sharply higher. Internationally, the recovery in ocean freight rates continues, with strong demand in the Atlantic while...
FOB Prices and Freight Rates App (Updated 4 February)
WPI Grain Prices and Freight Rate App Note: you can also visit the app directly by clicking here. Supplemental Information The section below offers a concise view of the options available in the current version of the WPI FOB Price and Freight Rate app, along with a short “How To”...
Mercosur Regional Analysis
South America Weather Overview Argentina received some rainfall this week, but precipitation was concentrated in the northeast and western regions, with accumulations well below crop requirements. Looking ahead, temperatures are expected to rise over the coming days, with highs between 36°C...
Transportation and Export Report - 28 January 2026
Grain transportation was thrown into confusion this week as ice and low water levels on the Mississippi River System snarled barge traffic and caused a surge in CIF grain values. On the ocean freight markets, rising bunker prices and improved demand in the Atlantic drove dry-bulk markets higher...
Thailand Soy Tariffs Update
Thailand’s market is now officially reopened to soybean and soymeal imports as the government has resolved a lapse in tariff policy that caused import duties to default to prohibitively high levels earlier this month. On 27 January, the Thai Cabinet approved the continuation of its market...
Mercosur Regional Analysis
CORN As of today, 93 percent of the expected area has been planted, representing a year-on-year delay of more than five percentage points. Some late-planted fields may remain unseeded due to a lack of soil moisture. Rainfall remains absent, while persistently high temperatures are increasing cr...
Water Wars: 2026 Edition
Water is the world’s most important commodity, but also its most underappreciated—until scarcity starts. Water scarcity runs in cycles, and reports of shortages, debates on policy, and conflicts about ownership and usage pop up every few years with the reliability and sameness of Fa...
2026 Outlook: Market Home Runs Unlikely, Use Risk Management to Stay at Bat This Year
With the spring planting effort just around the corner, producers and traders are starting to get a handle on the outlook for the coming marketing year. That outlook suffered a bit of a shock following the January WASDE report, as USDA reiterated the large-supply narrative for U.S. and world gr...
Transportation and Export Report - January 22, 2026
WPI is pleased to release the third week of the Transportation and Export Report, a weekly industry publication previously produced by ocean freight specialist Jay O’Neil. This report, which WPI recently acquired, will strengthen WPI’s coverage of global ocean freight markets by bui...
GI Chimera; Catch Bees with Honey; AI My Eye
GI Chimera The EU-Mercosur trade agreement has hit another stumbling block after the European Parliament asked the EU’s high court to first assess the text for its legality. Once that exercise is complete, Europe’s politicians promise plenty more hurdles to stymie agricultural impor...
Transportation and Export Report - January 15, 2026
WPI is pleased to the second week of the Transportation and Export Report, a weekly industry publication previously produced by ocean freight specialist Jay O’Neil. This report, which WPI recently acquired, will strengthen WPI’s coverage of global ocean freight markets by building o...
Market Commentary: Strong Grain Demand, Technical Factors Stabilize CBOT
The CBOT finally saw bulls emerge after the past two days of selling as technical factors and strong corn and soybean demand supported positive sentiments. Futures were oversold based on short-term technical factors and, consequently, were ripe for a little bounce. The day’s news confirme...
Trump’s Rhetoric; Ag Fear; Ag Trade Future
Trump’s Rhetoric The timing for release of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision on President Trump’s tariffs has been speculated by the media rather than preordained by the Court itself. Today came and went without such an announcement. The fundamental issue for the Court is whet...
IEEPA Tariffs Struck Down, Outlook for Livestock and Poultry
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural Outlook Forum is taking place this week, covering key agricultural topics, unveiling the 10-year long-term baseline forecast, and providing commodity outlook updates. Further, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the International Emergency E...
Thoughts on USDA Ag Outlook Numbers
The USDA’s annual Agricultural Outlook Forum (AOF) featured the agency’s first look at the 2026/27 balance sheet for the major U.S. crops and livestock products. For corn, wheat, and soybeans, this year’s numbers were in line with expectations and did not spark much reaction f...
Transportation and Export Report
Dry bulk ocean freight markets are once again seeing diverging trends across the Atlantic and Pacific basins. Key to this divergence is the Chinese Lunar New Year holiday, which started last weekend and will last through 3 March. That is putting much of Asia on hold for trading and vessel inqui...
Transportation and Export Report - 13 February 2026
U.S. grain transportation markets are slowly recovering from the shocks of bitter cold weather and low water levels on the Mississippi River System and from the surge in export demand. The latter is also causing strong rallies in ocean freight markets, particularly in the Atlantic basin. With g...
WASDE Wheat - Feb 2026
USDA’s outlook for 2025/26 U.S. wheat is unchanged for exports and slightly higher ending stocks to 931 million bushels - 9 percent higher than last year and the largest since 2019/20. The projected 2025/26 season-average farm price remains at $4.90 per bushel. The global outlook fo...
WASDE Soybeans - Feb 2026
USDA’s outlook for 2025/26 U.S. soybean supply and use projections are unchanged. As a result, the season-average soybean price is projected unchanged at $10.20 per bushel. Soybean meal and oil prices are unchanged at $295 per short ton and 53 cents per pound. Global 2025/26 soybean endin...
WASDE Corn - Feb 2026
USDA’s outlook for 2025/26 U.S. corn is for greater exports and lower ending stocks. Exports are increased 100 million bushels to 3.3 billion, reflecting sales and shipments to date. With no supply changes and use increasing, corn ending stocks are down 100 million bushels to 2.1 billion...
Argentina Beef Imports Outlook for 2026
At the 2026 Cattle Industry Convention, Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., urged producers to expand the beef herd in a “fireside chat” with National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) President Buck Wehrbein. Kennedy, however, acknowledged that he...
New Trade Agreements
Just as Donald Trump’s dismantling of the world order is said to have motivated Europe’s conclusion of trade agreements with Mercosur and India, his trade agreements with India and Argentina are thought to have been motivated by Europe’s trade moves. A novel question: who is f...
Mercosur Regional Analysis
After a very quiet prior week with limited activity, market conditions became significantly more active. Futures rallied early in the week after President Trump said he had spoken with Xi Jinping and that China agreed to buy up to 20 MMT of U.S. soybeans. China has already purchased around 12 M...
Volatility and Opportunity Abound in Soy Pricing
Soybean futures and the broader soy complex saw heightened volatility this week on a combination of domestic and international demand drivers. Following these moves, it is relevant to examine what seasonal pricing patterns suggest for the futures market, as well as what the implications are for...
Transportation and Export Report for 4 February 2025
U.S. grain transportation markets remain skewed by the impacts of cold weather and low water levels on the Mississippi River System, which have pushed spot CIF and FOB values sharply higher. Internationally, the recovery in ocean freight rates continues, with strong demand in the Atlantic while...
FOB Prices and Freight Rates App (Updated 4 February)
WPI Grain Prices and Freight Rate App Note: you can also visit the app directly by clicking here. Supplemental Information The section below offers a concise view of the options available in the current version of the WPI FOB Price and Freight Rate app, along with a short “How To”...
Mercosur Regional Analysis
South America Weather Overview Argentina received some rainfall this week, but precipitation was concentrated in the northeast and western regions, with accumulations well below crop requirements. Looking ahead, temperatures are expected to rise over the coming days, with highs between 36°C...
Transportation and Export Report - 28 January 2026
Grain transportation was thrown into confusion this week as ice and low water levels on the Mississippi River System snarled barge traffic and caused a surge in CIF grain values. On the ocean freight markets, rising bunker prices and improved demand in the Atlantic drove dry-bulk markets higher...
Thailand Soy Tariffs Update
Thailand’s market is now officially reopened to soybean and soymeal imports as the government has resolved a lapse in tariff policy that caused import duties to default to prohibitively high levels earlier this month. On 27 January, the Thai Cabinet approved the continuation of its market...
Mercosur Regional Analysis
CORN As of today, 93 percent of the expected area has been planted, representing a year-on-year delay of more than five percentage points. Some late-planted fields may remain unseeded due to a lack of soil moisture. Rainfall remains absent, while persistently high temperatures are increasing cr...
Water Wars: 2026 Edition
Water is the world’s most important commodity, but also its most underappreciated—until scarcity starts. Water scarcity runs in cycles, and reports of shortages, debates on policy, and conflicts about ownership and usage pop up every few years with the reliability and sameness of Fa...
2026 Outlook: Market Home Runs Unlikely, Use Risk Management to Stay at Bat This Year
With the spring planting effort just around the corner, producers and traders are starting to get a handle on the outlook for the coming marketing year. That outlook suffered a bit of a shock following the January WASDE report, as USDA reiterated the large-supply narrative for U.S. and world gr...
Transportation and Export Report - January 22, 2026
WPI is pleased to release the third week of the Transportation and Export Report, a weekly industry publication previously produced by ocean freight specialist Jay O’Neil. This report, which WPI recently acquired, will strengthen WPI’s coverage of global ocean freight markets by bui...
GI Chimera; Catch Bees with Honey; AI My Eye
GI Chimera The EU-Mercosur trade agreement has hit another stumbling block after the European Parliament asked the EU’s high court to first assess the text for its legality. Once that exercise is complete, Europe’s politicians promise plenty more hurdles to stymie agricultural impor...
Transportation and Export Report - January 15, 2026
WPI is pleased to the second week of the Transportation and Export Report, a weekly industry publication previously produced by ocean freight specialist Jay O’Neil. This report, which WPI recently acquired, will strengthen WPI’s coverage of global ocean freight markets by building o...
Market Commentary: Strong Grain Demand, Technical Factors Stabilize CBOT
The CBOT finally saw bulls emerge after the past two days of selling as technical factors and strong corn and soybean demand supported positive sentiments. Futures were oversold based on short-term technical factors and, consequently, were ripe for a little bounce. The day’s news confirme...
Trump’s Rhetoric; Ag Fear; Ag Trade Future
Trump’s Rhetoric The timing for release of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision on President Trump’s tariffs has been speculated by the media rather than preordained by the Court itself. Today came and went without such an announcement. The fundamental issue for the Court is whet...