Markets have certainly poured over the corn, soybean and wheat 2012-13 supply and demand estimates that USDA released last Thursday. Not much has been said about the minor crops of barley, sorghum and oats. The likely reason is that these crops truly are "minor' these days – they simply don't attract much attention. Here are a few comments on these crops: Barley Northern plains farmers planted 3.3 million acres of barley this year compared to 2.6 million acres in 2011. There are two primary reasons for the renewed interest in barley. The first is that $7.00 or higher malting barley contracts were available last fall and many producers made the decision early to go with barley. The second reason is that the dry fall and spring across the...
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.