The grain and soy markets had little at stake in the Fed’s rate hike other than the potential impact it might have on the U.S. dollar. However, soyoil gained 12-16 points with the support of the Malaysian palm oil market’s strength. Meanwhile, most of the pressure on soybean prices came from a weather forecast. General Comments As was thoroughly expected, the Federal Reserve Bank raised its fed funds interest rate by a quarter-percent, between 0.50 and 0.75 percent, as it closed the last Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting of 2016. It cited improvement in jobs, inflation inching closer to its 2 percent target and a generally improving U.S. economy as the rate increase received unanimous support. The analytical focus was not on to...
What You Need to Know Today: A third U.S. border crossing (Columbus, New Mexico) has reopened to Mexican cattle imports following nearly two years of restrictions related to New World screwworm. The reopening could gradually improve feeder cattle availability, although more than 60 confi...
Yesterday, the USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) released a new report of negotiated cash purchases of cattle under the mandatory price report. The report included Colorado, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas, and Kansas. The goal of the report was to solve the confidentiality issues e...
Key Takeaways: U.S. soybean crushing began in 1911 and saw its most rapid expansion during the 1930s amid the broader agricultural and technology revolutions of the time. After peaking in the early 2000s, the soybean crushing industry went through a downturn as poor crush margins forced...
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.