The CBOT traded mostly lower to start the week with soymeal dragging soybeans lower, despite a slight rise in soyoil futures. Corn rebounded from the day’s lows and settled just ½-cent lower and held to its recent trading range. Political uncertainty regarding Russia’s troop build-up along the Ukrainian border sent wheat futures slightly higher, though disappointing export sales kept the KCBT market in the red for the day. Trading volume was light across the board as traders shift their focus to positioning for the December WASDE. The report is expected to be neutral, but traders are bracing for bearish data from USDA. The December WASDE is not usually a major market-moving report and mostly minor adjustments are e...
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.