The market bounced off new contract lows from earlier this week and while it usually would buy on a rumor it took reports of Chinese buying interest with a wee bit of caution. JC Intelligence believes China will buy 10 MMT of soybeans and 20 MMT of corn from the U.S. as part of the Phase One trade deal and to refill strategic stocks. The soybean number is considerable, but the corn number would be historic. Still, it is not enough to offset the plunge in corn demand from ethanol makers. Feed demand in China is strong, which is notable considering continued problems in the nation’s pig herds. There is also a rumor that China wants to buy U.S. beef, though getting it through a packing plant is an increasing problem. There are mor...
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.