USDA's quarterly stocks report was bearish for corn and soybeans and slightly friendly for wheat. The table below shows the report numbers compared to a year ago and trade expectations: Corn The trade just can't seem to reach any consensus with USDA's corn stocks numbers. Today's USDA 1 September number was 136 million bushels above the average of the trade estimates, but, more importantly, was also well above even the highest of the estimates. As we wrote last Friday, this stocks number should have been clean because of the small stocks, plus there were few 2013 crop bushels in the bin as of 1 September. One client referred to the corn quarterly stocks reports as the "Wheel of Fortune". The corn stocks estimate isn't a huge deal for th...
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 €...
Key Takeaways: The tariff burden rose sharply in 2025 and 2026: the effective rate on imports in HTS Chapters 1–24 increased from 1.53 percent in 2024 to 6.11 percent in 2025, before averaging 5.68 percent in January–August 2026. Headline rates tell only part of the story: exemptio...
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.