Corn opened lower but managed a quarter penny higher close, and hogs tried to follow cattle higher at the open but ended lower for a third session in a row, but the rest of the pack ended the day where it started with equally small changes.Fundamentals are helping corn, wheat and cattle, and some expectation of trimmed production in this Friday’s WASDE is also providing support. A clipper system arrives this weekend in the U.S., bringing snow and milder conditions to the north while temps stay colder to the south. This is followed by another winter system next week. The focus on dry, hot conditions impacting Argentina’s crop is offset by meteorological predictions that the impact from this year’s La Niña will be “relatively weak...
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.