Clear weather and rolling combines in the Northern Hemisphere together with prospective showers in South America maintain pressure on commodity futures. However, volume today was relatively low except in soybeans and livestock. While soybeans closed lower, the end of Golden Week and China’s ongoing purchases of lower priced U.S. soybeans provides some degree of support. The situation is reflected in USDA’s weekly Grains Inspected and/or Weighed for Export report. It showed the volume of corn and wheat relatively steady and ahead of last year by 22 percent and 32.5 percent, respectively. The volume of soybeans inspected were higher overall and the decline relative to last marketing year has narrowed to less than a one perc...
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.