The CBOT was mostly higher to start the week with markets reacting to Friday’s CFTC data as well as news that will impact the Ukraine-Russia war. First, the CFTC data showed managed money traders engaged in a surprise, massive buying spree in corn last week, a move that sparked support in futures Monday. Secondly, and this impacted commodity markets more broadly, President Biden gave permission for Ukraine to use U.S.-supplied missile systems to strike targets deep inside Russia. That news sparked “war risk” buying across the broad commodity complex and triggered noted short covering in wheat. The Ukraine-Russia developments highlight how exposed global commodity markets are to political whims, a fact made more potent apropos the recent lea...
From WPI Consulting
Forecasting developments in production agriculture
On behalf of a private U.S. agricultural technology provider, WPI’s team generated an econometric model to forecast the movement of concentrated corn production north and west from the traditional U.S. Corn Belt. WPI’s model has subsequently provided quantitative support to a multi-million-dollar investment into short-season corn variety development. WPI’s methodology included a series of interviews with regional grain elevators and seed consultants. Emphasizing outreach and communication with stakeholders who possess intimate sectoral knowledge – on-the-ground insights – is a regular component of WPI’s methodologies, made possible by WPI’s ever-growing network of industry contacts.