Drought Impact on Ethanol December corn continued its daily leap, heading ever closer to $8.00/bushel. Muktadir Rahman of Capital Economics says that if the weather continues to rival the drought of 1988, corn could reach $9.30 per bushel. Those are heights that definitely would choke off the ethanol appetite. Meanwhile, RBOB gasoline has slowed its descent and stabilized for the moment at $2.75/gallon. Ethanol's current $0.25/gallon discount likely begins to fade as corn rises above $8. Assuming soybeans are hurt less this growing season than corn, soybean meal could pressure DDG prices lower. HFCS Resilience Meanwhile, all the character attacks on HFCS may be having little impact on demand. Food Processing magazine says that "No HFC...
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.