The CBOT opened sharply higher on Tuesday following a long, holiday weekend that saw U.S. weather forecasts deteriorate significantly. Spring wheat (Minneapolis) futures led the market higher (how many times do you actually get to say that?) as the worsening drought in the northern Plains is placing significant duress on that crop. While the CBOT traded higher, weekend news that the world’s largest meat packer – JBS – suffered an operation-suspending cyberattack sent cattle futures to limit losses at the open. Both the near-term and long-term U.S. weather forecasts are concerning for crop production. The 6-10-day and 8–14-day outlooks call for above average temperatures for the west, western Corn Belt, and Upp...
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.