Market Commentary: Defensive into the Holiday
With crops in short supply and weather far from perfect, traders did not want to be short corn, wheat, and soybeans going into a three-day hiatus in trading. While today’s gains were modest, July soybeans ended the week up 27 cents, while July corn is down 1.5 cents, and July SRW lost 11...
Memorial Day Holiday
Monday, 30 May is a U.S. holiday, the markets and our office will be closed. Please note that the next Ag Perspectives will be published on Tuesday, 31 May. The WPI staff hopes everyone has a good weekend...
USDA Offers Early Termination of CRP Contracts
Yesterday, USDA announced that farmers in their last year of Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) contracts can opt out early this year. About 3.4 million acres expire this year, and a little more than half, call it 1.7 million, made bids to re-enroll. Overall continuous sign up for CRP has enrol...
Middle Kingdom Approach; Friday Snippets
Middle Kingdom Approach U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken articulated the Biden Administration’s policy toward China in a highly nuanced fashion. The key point is that the U.S. does not envision a new Cold War, but rather welcomes competition and wants to mold China into following th...
Oilseeds Highlights: Troubles and Opportunities
Troubled Northern Beans There are nearly weekly reports of new U.S. soybean crushing plants being built to accommodate the policy-driven demand for renewable diesel. If not for the policy, it is unlikely that two new plants would be built in North Dakota where currently 90 percent of the beans...
Market Commentary: Truth Telling and Caution
An overly cautious market let go of the tease that Russia might negotiate the exit of Ukrainian grain. Vladimir Putin cannot abide the UN’s wishes because it would betray his contention that it is Western sanctions that are causing the food security problem. There was also some positionin...
Livestock Round Up: GIPSA Rules 2.0
USDA’s Ag Marketing Service Packers and Stockyards Division (PSD) released a draft of the first of three proposed rules today: Transparency in Poultry Grower Contracting and Tournaments, aka the “tournament pricing rule.” Two more rules, covering livestock and poultry, a...
Bark Worse than Bite; Unprotecting Plants; ESG Slowly Joining Carbon
Bark Worse than Bite The Biden Administration has proposed new rules for poultry companies to be more transparent with growers about the number of chicks they will grow including a minimum, and the feed that will be used. Moreover, USDA commits to review claims from growers. Under the tournamen...
Market Commentary: CBOT Falls Early on Russian Propaganda, Recovers to End Near Day’s High
The CBOT turned lower again on Wednesday with wheat leading the way on headlines that Russia may establish export corridors for Ukrainian grain/ag products. Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister indicated the country is talking with the UN on potential food export corridors in the Black Sea, w...
China In-Country Analysis
Public Health COVID Deaths Fall to One Per Week, Lockdown Damage Deepens Through yesterday, data from Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Center indicate the trailing seven-day averages in China at 4,897 new COVID-19 cases and one related death. This marks the lowest rate for new cases since the end of t...
IPEF Missing Link; Sac Mixte; Inflation and Reconciliation
IPEF Missing Link The Biden Administration’s Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) is a set of laudable goals, but it lacks the traditional grease by which agreements on weighty matters come to fruition. The grease is economic benefit, be it via increased access to the large American mar...
Down Under Limits
Major wheat exporters have a tremendous opportunity if they can take their advantage. India was thought to be in the catbird seat. Production was going to be up 1.6 percent but the exportabe surplus would be up 200 percent, until it wasn’t. Dry heat shrunk the crop and now there are expor...
Market Commentary: Defensive into the Holiday
With crops in short supply and weather far from perfect, traders did not want to be short corn, wheat, and soybeans going into a three-day hiatus in trading. While today’s gains were modest, July soybeans ended the week up 27 cents, while July corn is down 1.5 cents, and July SRW lost 11...
Memorial Day Holiday
Monday, 30 May is a U.S. holiday, the markets and our office will be closed. Please note that the next Ag Perspectives will be published on Tuesday, 31 May. The WPI staff hopes everyone has a good weekend...
USDA Offers Early Termination of CRP Contracts
Yesterday, USDA announced that farmers in their last year of Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) contracts can opt out early this year. About 3.4 million acres expire this year, and a little more than half, call it 1.7 million, made bids to re-enroll. Overall continuous sign up for CRP has enrol...
Middle Kingdom Approach; Friday Snippets
Middle Kingdom Approach U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken articulated the Biden Administration’s policy toward China in a highly nuanced fashion. The key point is that the U.S. does not envision a new Cold War, but rather welcomes competition and wants to mold China into following th...
Oilseeds Highlights: Troubles and Opportunities
Troubled Northern Beans There are nearly weekly reports of new U.S. soybean crushing plants being built to accommodate the policy-driven demand for renewable diesel. If not for the policy, it is unlikely that two new plants would be built in North Dakota where currently 90 percent of the beans...
Market Commentary: Truth Telling and Caution
An overly cautious market let go of the tease that Russia might negotiate the exit of Ukrainian grain. Vladimir Putin cannot abide the UN’s wishes because it would betray his contention that it is Western sanctions that are causing the food security problem. There was also some positionin...
Livestock Round Up: GIPSA Rules 2.0
USDA’s Ag Marketing Service Packers and Stockyards Division (PSD) released a draft of the first of three proposed rules today: Transparency in Poultry Grower Contracting and Tournaments, aka the “tournament pricing rule.” Two more rules, covering livestock and poultry, a...
Bark Worse than Bite; Unprotecting Plants; ESG Slowly Joining Carbon
Bark Worse than Bite The Biden Administration has proposed new rules for poultry companies to be more transparent with growers about the number of chicks they will grow including a minimum, and the feed that will be used. Moreover, USDA commits to review claims from growers. Under the tournamen...
Market Commentary: CBOT Falls Early on Russian Propaganda, Recovers to End Near Day’s High
The CBOT turned lower again on Wednesday with wheat leading the way on headlines that Russia may establish export corridors for Ukrainian grain/ag products. Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister indicated the country is talking with the UN on potential food export corridors in the Black Sea, w...
China In-Country Analysis
Public Health COVID Deaths Fall to One Per Week, Lockdown Damage Deepens Through yesterday, data from Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Center indicate the trailing seven-day averages in China at 4,897 new COVID-19 cases and one related death. This marks the lowest rate for new cases since the end of t...
IPEF Missing Link; Sac Mixte; Inflation and Reconciliation
IPEF Missing Link The Biden Administration’s Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) is a set of laudable goals, but it lacks the traditional grease by which agreements on weighty matters come to fruition. The grease is economic benefit, be it via increased access to the large American mar...
Down Under Limits
Major wheat exporters have a tremendous opportunity if they can take their advantage. India was thought to be in the catbird seat. Production was going to be up 1.6 percent but the exportabe surplus would be up 200 percent, until it wasn’t. Dry heat shrunk the crop and now there are expor...