As far as markets are concerned, USDA's April WASDE is not a game changer. Some of the changes from the March WASDE exceeded expectations, and some did not meet expectations. But on balance, the April WASDE did not change market bias or market trends in any material way. The main focus of interest concerned how USDA would view U.S. 2011/12 ending stocks and how much USDA would reduce its estimates of South American soybean production.The quick answers are that USDA reduced ending U.S. wheat and soybean supplies almost exactly as expected, left ending corn supplies unchanged when the trade expected an 80 million bu reduction, and reduced South American soybean production more than trade guesses. USDA's forecasts of Brazilian and Argentine...
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.