General Comments NOAA's National Climatic Data Center released its report on 2012 which declares that the average U.S. temperature for 2012 was 55.3 degrees Fahrenheit, 3.2 degrees Fahrenheit higher than the 20th century average and 1.0 degrees higher than the previous average temperature average set in 1998. The year of 2012 included the warmest spring temperatures ever and the second warmest summer. These extremes were accompanied by historically low precipitation in the Central United States. As we well know, the drought, along with extreme heat, severely damaged crop production. On Friday USDA will reveal the extent of the damage when it provides its final estimates of U.S. corn and soybean production.USDA's last corn production esti...
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 €...
Illuminating the value of technical research
On behalf of a commodity producer organization, WPI evaluated the outputs from a project that featured a $5 million investment into technical research over multiple years. WPI’s team captured the results of this extensive effort and synthesized them for presentation to the organization’s governing board; among the findings uncovered and presented for the first time was the development of genomic traits proven, via rigorous testing, to provide crop yield advantages of 50 percent or more to U.S. farmers in times of drought. Capturing measurable results from long-term efforts can be challenging. Educating clients on the dynamics of success measurement when quantifiable results are not readily available requires deep client-consultant collaboration and an ability to consider both near- and long-term client aspirations with market/policy dynamics – attributes that WPI brings to every consulting engagement.