The CBOT moved higher on Thursday after the weekly Export Sales report provided bullish demand-side inputs for the major commodities. Corn, wheat, soybeans, and soyoil futures all pushed higher for the day with export demand seeming to pick up and remain above expectations in the case of corn, soybeans, and soyoil. The Export Sales data offered hope that USDA will increase its export forecast for corn and possibly soybeans or wheat as well. This allowed funds to emerge as net buyers again, though their long risk-on efforts were most pronounced in wheat and corn with soybeans still stuck in their sideways trading range. The speculative activity in wheat was also notable given the recent contract lows and it seemed a good bit of “bargain buyi...
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.