General Comments The markets started steady to higher in extremely light volume Sunday evening, with soybeans trading as much as 7-8 cents higher. Volume was so light that there were differences of pennies between the bid and offers even in the nearby contracts. Any buying, however, completely dried up as the night wore on, and by sunup this morning soybeans were facing double-digit losses, with corn and wheat trading lower as well.It was the last trading day of 2012, and there just wasn't any bullish news on which to finish the year. The U.S. Congress is on the precipice of the fiscal cliff, and no one really knows what it means if some sort of agreement isn't reached. Today's chatter on the news and financial networks had a somewhat...
What You Need to Know Today: Cattle futures extended their sharp selloff Friday as weakening cash cattle prices, deteriorating feedlot profitability, and reduced packer demand continued to weigh on the market. The inability of futures to sustain a rally following last week's bullish Cattle on...
As predicted, the Federal Reserve held rates steady at the last meeting before the midterm elections, likely in part because of the election (see WPI 19 October and 22 September). The decision comes at the tail end of a midterm election cycle that has been marked by the two parties campaigning...
Key Takeaways: WPI’s new EU rapeseed crushing margin models point to weaker processing returns over the next four months due to higher rapeseed procurement costs and weaker product values. Statistical forecasts call for German crushing margins to decline from €181/MT to €...
From WPI Consulting
Forecasting developments in production agriculture
On behalf of a private U.S. agricultural technology provider, WPI’s team generated an econometric model to forecast the movement of concentrated corn production north and west from the traditional U.S. Corn Belt. WPI’s model has subsequently provided quantitative support to a multi-million-dollar investment into short-season corn variety development. WPI’s methodology included a series of interviews with regional grain elevators and seed consultants. Emphasizing outreach and communication with stakeholders who possess intimate sectoral knowledge – on-the-ground insights – is a regular component of WPI’s methodologies, made possible by WPI’s ever-growing network of industry contacts.