The CBOT was mixed to end a week that featured mostly bearishness with a surprise decline in Argentina’s soybean crop ratings sparking a rally in soybeans and soymeal. Corn futures traded both sides of unchanged and only posted 1-cent gains for the day, but signs of strength were evident. Wheat futures were lower again and erased most of the support signs that emerged on Thursday. The livestock contracts were all lower as well with cattle drifting lower in quiet trade while the hog market saw a sharper selloff. The Export Sales report was once again bearish the corn market with sales and exports falling below their needed target. Wheat shipments were also disappointing and were just one-quarter of last week’s volume, a su...
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.