Standard commodity analysts may soon adjust their stories to proclaim, "Production will be large but demand is even larger!" Similar market dialog occurred soon after a bumper crop in 1994. General Comments Today's trading was the normal activity of lining up positions according to expectations prior to a major USDA report. It is those report expectations, particularly for corn, that should be addressed prior to Monday's reports. The average of analysts' estimates seems to be for an increase in U.S. corn acreage that is slightly larger than was specified in the 31 March Prospective Plantings Report. Such assumptions may be influenced by the fact that while the planting pace of U.S. corn started off slower than normal for a few weeks, it e...
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.