The CBOT finished the week on a mostly higher note with corn, soybeans, and wheat all posting gains on Friday. Trade continues to be choppy and two-sided with low volume as traders pare back risk appetites amid the Russia-Ukraine war and next week’s USDA reports. The hog market, however, posted large gains to end the week with June and further deferred futures scoring new contract highs amid another $5-7 move higher in the cash market. For the day, funds were net buyers in corn and added 8,000 contracts to their position. Funds also bought some 6,000 contracts of soybeans and a modest 3,000 contracts of CBOT wheat. Managed money traders finished the week buying 7,000 contracts of soymeal while selling some 2,000 contracts of so...
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.