May kicked off with Saturday’s running of the 147th Kentucky Derby, arguably the most famous horse race in history, and the Medina Spirit won with a time of 2 minutes 1.02 seconds. On Sunday night, the CBOT seemed determined to match Medina Spirit’s pace and started this week’s market race with a gap-higher opening. Corn futures posted a new contract high overnight, and soybeans and wheat followed closely behind. Most CBOT contracts ended lower for the day, despite the strong overnight markets. Today is the first day of the CBOT’s new, expanded price limits for commodities listed below. That, combined with higher margin requirements for these commodities means some funds and traders are having to reduce their...
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.