GOOD MORNING, Prices are lower across the board on slightly better than expected crop ratings for beans. Corn crop ratings were actually 2% lower, but did not avoid a pressurized sell-off courtesy of the soy complex. Bull spreads continue to weaken on quiet nearby demand for beans particularly, and a weakening of the inverses as funds liquidate. Processor beans are steady to lower as down-times are taken as crush plants await the supply of beans from harvest. Corn inspections from yesterday showed that China loaded 25 kmt of beans out of the Gulf, in addition to 564 kmt of corn, and 52 kmt of sorghum. China took 276 kmt of corn off the PNW. Marketing-year-to date corn total is 2.472 bln bu, with U...
Illuminating the value of technical research
On behalf of a commodity producer organization, WPI evaluated the outputs from a project that featured a $5 million investment into technical research over multiple years. WPI’s team captured the results of this extensive effort and synthesized them for presentation to the organization’s governing board; among the findings uncovered and presented for the first time was the development of genomic traits proven, via rigorous testing, to provide crop yield advantages of 50 percent or more to U.S. farmers in times of drought. Capturing measurable results from long-term efforts can be challenging. Educating clients on the dynamics of success measurement when quantifiable results are not readily available requires deep client-consultant collaboration and an ability to consider both near- and long-term client aspirations with market/policy dynamics – attributes that WPI brings to every consulting engagement.