USDA Report Shows Predicting Soybean Yields Not Easy Last Friday's USDA NASS final crop production report indicated the U.S. soybean crop in 2012 totaled 3.01 billion bushels with an average yield of 39.6 bushels per acre. That made it the seventh largest U.S. soybean crop ever, which is amazing considering the severity of last year's drought. The final production estimate was 381 million bushels, or 14.5 percent above the September crop report, when USDA forecasted the average yield at 35.3 bushels per acre. Few would have believed in September that the final yield could be that high.Forecasting soybean yields has always been a crapshoot, but this year proved to be extremely difficult because of the late rains that feel in several key s...
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
Accountability and a comprehensive approach to export programming
WPI’s team helped construct a strategic approach to develop, implement, and track promotional activities in 8 key regions across the globe for an agricultural export association. With continued progress measurement and strategic advisory services from WPI, the association has seen its ROI from investments in promotional programming increase by 44 percent over the past 5 years. Not only does this type of holistic approach to organizational strategy provide measurable results to track and analyze, it fosters top-down and bottom-up organizational accountability.