The CBOT opened with a defensive tone as position liquidation/short selling continued in the soybean pit and as traders exited largely profitable wheat positions. Some buy corn/sell soybeans or wheat trade existed early in the day, but corn eventually fell lower under widespread selling and position liquidation. The coronavirus is rapidly spreading in China and is heightening market nerves around the world. Markets hate uncertainty, and the CBOT ag markets are particularly sensitive to this outbreak due to the still-uncertain effects of the U.S.-China Phase One trade deal. The weekly Export Sales report from USDA held a friendly tone for ag commodities – including an impressive (for MY 2019/20, at least) sales volume for corn...
From WPI Consulting
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.