Understanding USDA Corn and Soybean Production Forecasts: An Overview of Methods, Performance and Market Impacts

Agricultural Finance,

Understanding USDA Corn and Soybean Production Forecasts: Methods, Performance and Market Impacts over 1970 - 2005

The purpose of this report is to improve understanding of USDA crop forecasting methods, performance and market impact. A review of USDA’s forecasting procedures and methodology confirmed the objectivity and consistency of the forecasting process over time. Month-to-month changes in corn and soybean production forecasts from 1970 through 2005 indicated little difference in magnitude and direction of monthly changes over time. USDA production forecast errors were largest in August and smaller in subsequent forecasts. There appeared to be no trend in the size or direction of forecast errors over time. On average, USDA corn production forecasts were more accurate than private market forecasts over 1970-2005, with the exception of August forecasts since the mid-1980s. The forecasting comparisons for soybeans were somewhat sensitive to the measure of forecast accuracy considered. One measure showed that private market forecasts were more accurate than USDA forecasts for August regardless of the time period considered. Another measure showed just the opposite. As the growing season progresses the difference in the results across the two measures of forecast accuracy diminished, with USDA forecast errors in soybeans about equal to or smaller than private market errors. USDA corn production forecasts had the largest impact on corn futures prices in August and recent price reactions have been somewhat larger than historical reactions. Similar to corn, USDA soybean production forecasts had the largest impact on soybean futures prices in August with recent price reactions appearing somewhat larger than in the past. Overall, the analysis suggests that over the long-run the USDA performs reasonably well in generating crop production forecasts for corn and soybeans.Agricultural Finance,

2007 U.S CORN PRODUCTION RISKS: WHAT DOES HISTORY TEACH US?

Financial Economics, Production Economics, Risk and Uncertainty,

Market Instability in a New Era of Corn, Soybean, and Wheat Prices

grain, price, increase, trend, Demand and Price Analysis, Marketing, Q11, Q13,

The Value of USDA Situation and Outlook Information in Hog and Cattle Markets

The economic value of public situation and outlook information has long been a subject of debate. The purpose of this study is to investigate the economic value of USDA reports in hog and cattle markets. The investigation is based on event study analysis, with the "events" consisting of the release of six major USDA situation and outlook reports for hogs and cattle from 1985 through 2003. These include Cattle, Cattle on Feed, Cold Storage, Hogs and Pigs, Livestock, Dairy and Poultry Outlook (LDPO), and World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) reports. As a result of the process of modeling volatility of hog and cattle prices, a TARCH-in-mean model was specified that closely followed the distribution of these price movements. The effects of external information were evaluated within this model using dummy variables in the variance equation. The analysis revealed a statistically significant impact of all but Cattle and Cold Storage reports on live/lean hog returns and all but LDPO reports on live cattle returns. Hogs and Pigs reports had the highest impact on live/lean hog returns by increasing average conditional standard deviation by 118.6% following the release of these reports. Cattle and Hogs and Pigs reports had the highest impact on live cattle returns by increasing average conditional standard deviation in both cases 44.8%. These results suggest that the information contained in USDA situation and outlook reports provides economically valuable information to livestock market participants.Livestock Production/Industries, Marketing,

DOES THE MARKET ANTICIPATE SMOOTHING IN USDA CROP PRODUCTION FORECASTS?

This study examines whether market participants anticipate the predictable component in USDA revisions of corn and soybean production forecasts during 1970/71 through 2003/04 marketing years. The analysis revealed that markets consistently under-predicted October corn production revisions and over-predicted September soybean production revisions. These biases may be attributable to inefficient use of information about smoothing in USDA revisions. In all other cases market analysts seemed to be aware of USDA smoothing practices and generally efficiently incorporated this information into their own forecasts.Marketing,

The Value of USDA Situation and Outlook Information in Hog and Cattle Markets

This study investigates the impact of six major USDA reports in hog and cattle markets: Cattle; Cattle on Feed; Cold Storage; Hogs and Pigs; Livestock, Dairy, and Poultry Outlook (LDPO); and World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE). A TARCH-in-mean model, with dummy variables to measure the impact of USDA reports and other external factors, is used to model close-to-open live-lean hog and live cattle futures returns from January 1985 through December 2004. The analysis revealed a statistically significant impact of all but Cattle and Cold Storage reports in live/lean hog futures, and all but Cold Storage reports in live cattle futures. Hogs and Pigs reports had the highest impact on live/lean hog returns by increasing conditional standard deviation 96%. Cattle, Cattle on Feed, and Hogs and Pigs reports had the highest impact on live cattle returns by increasing conditional standard deviation between 26% and 37.5%.cattle, event study, hogs, livestock, public information, TARCH model, USDA reports, Livestock Production/Industries, Marketing,

The Performance of Chicago Board of Trade Corn, Soybean, and Wheat Futures Contracts after Recent Changes in Speculative Limits

Three attributes of futures contract behavior important for market performanceliquidity, volatility, and convergenceare investigated before and after the 2005 increase in speculative position limits for corn, soybean, and wheat contracts at the Chicago Board of Trade. The analysis of liquidity and market depth reveals a sharp increase in open interest for corn, soybeans and wheat beginning in late 2005. The increase in position limits likely accommodated the increase in speculative interest in corn, soybean and wheat futures, but some of the increase would have occurred without the increase as new market participants received hedge exemptions. The analysis of price volatility revealed no large change in measures of volatility after the change in speculative limits. For corn and soybeans, the picture that unfolds relative to convergence patterns is one of weakness, but not failure. For wheat, the picture that unfolds relative to convergence patterns is not only one of weakness, but failure to accomplish one of the fundamental tasks of a futures market. The persistence and growing magnitude of the delivery location basis in wheat suggests a problem with the contract specifications.corn, futures contract, performance, soybeans, speculation, wheat, Marketing,

SURVEYING FARMERS: A RESEARCH NOTE

Mail surveys are a very popular instrument for researchers as well as government agencies and commercial firms to obtain information about farmers. A large percentage of farmers do not respond to these mail surveys. To gain insight into why farmers do not respond and their preferences regarding mail surveys, farmers who did not respond to a mail survey were interviewed. From our field study it appears that a large proportion does not even read the questionnaire. Furthermore, the period in which the survey is sent along with the form and amount of compensation, the sender of the questionnaire, and the length of the questionnaire has a crucial impact on the willingness to participate.Research Methods/ Statistical Methods,

1999 PRICING PERFORMANCE OF MARKET ADVISORY SERVICES FOR CORN AND SOYBEANS

The purpose of this research report is to present an evaluation of advisory service pricing performance in the 1999 crop year for corn and soybeans. Specifically, the average price received by a subscriber to an advisory service is calculated for corn and soybean crops harvested in 1999. The average net advisory price across all 26 corn programs in 1999 is $2.02 per bushel, three cents below the market benchmark price. The range of net advisory prices for corn is substantial, with a minimum of$1.66 per bushel and a maximum of $2.49 per bushel. The average net advisory price across all 25 soybean programs in 1999 is$5.67 per bushel, seventeen cents above the market benchmark. As with corn, the range of net advisory prices for soybeans is substantial, with a minimum of $4.68 per bushel and a maximum of$7.10 per bushel. The average revenue achieved by following both the corn and soybean programs offered by an advisory service is $299 per acre,$2.00 more than market benchmark revenue for 1999. The spread in advisory revenue also is noteworthy, with the difference between the bottom- and top-performing advisory programs reaching more than $100 per acre.Marketing,