Tuesday’s ag commodity trade featured several interesting developments, not the least of which was the bullish key reversal in KCBT wheat. All three wheat futures markets turned sharply higher after Monday’s drubbing, but the Kansas City market formed a bullish technical reversal, which could indicate a pending trend change for the market. Fundamental news for wheat was light, but traders still piled into the long side of the market. Similarly, funds were net buyers in soyoil and soybeans, with the former benefitting from a sharp rally in crude oil. Even livestock futures joined in on the bullish trade with live cattle jumping sharply higher, spot feeder cattle futures locking limit-up this afternoon, and lean hogs forging a bul...
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.