Course 12 of 20 · Agricultural Commodities Desk Academy

Corn & Wheat Specialisation

Stage C, Merchandising and grain risk. Level 6 of 10.

The corn and wheat complexes: wheat class and protein differentials, milling and feed demand, exchange delivery points and load out, and inter-market and inter-class wheat spreads.

121 chapters · 11 modules · every chapter one 8 to 10 minute explainer · builds on: Course 03, Course 10, Course 11

Enrol or enquire See the 121 chapters
How a chapter is delivered

One chapter is one idea taken to the point of use

Each chapter covers one idea to the point where you can use it, and comes two ways: a narrated explainer, and a deep dive audio discussion of around thirty minutes that works the same material at depth.

Self-paced throughout, and the same chapters can be taught as a cohort. Chapters run in order: each one assumes only what the chapters before it taught, and capability belonging to a later course is named and deferred rather than half-covered.

Curriculum

11 modules · 121 chapters

Open any module for its full chapter list, in teaching order.

M0 Two Grains and Many Wheats Ch 1-10
  1. Why Wheat Resists Being Priced as One Commodity
  2. Corn as One Complex Against Wheat as Several
  3. The Merchant Seat This Material Is Written From
  4. Ratio, Roll and Margin Taken as Already Competent
  5. Basis and Carry Arrive Already Defined
  6. The Crop Balance Used Here Without Being Rebuilt
  7. A First Look at Protein as a Priced Attribute
  8. The Delivery Mechanism Previewed as Something Merchants Trade
  9. The Crush Margin and the Ration Sheet Built Elsewhere
  10. From Class Definition to Spread Position: The Route Taken
M1 The Named Wheat Classes and Their Origins Ch 11-22
  1. Why the Grain Trade Built a Class System at All
  2. Hard Red Winter From the United States Southern Plains
  3. Hard Red Spring From the Northern Plains and Western Canada
  4. Soft Red Winter From the Eastern United States
  5. Soft White and the Pacific Northwest Export Channel
  6. Hard White Wheat and a Class That Struggled to Establish Itself
  7. Durum Wheat as a Separate Commodity With Its Own Buyers
  8. Canada Western Red Spring and the Canadian Grain Commission Framework
  9. Australian Wheat Classes and the Grades Quoted Out of Each Port
  10. European Union Milling Wheat and the French Export Description
  11. Black Sea Wheat and the Classes Named in Russian Standards
  12. Reading a Class Name Off a Bid Sheet Without Guessing
M2 Protein and Specification as Priced Attributes Ch 23-34
  1. Protein as the Number a Flour Mill Pays For
  2. Which Moisture Basis a Quoted Protein Figure Refers To
  3. Building a Protein Differential Schedule From Market Quotes
  4. Sliding Scale Premiums and Discounts Inside a Milling Contract
  5. The Protein Plateau Argument and Its Assumptions
  6. Falling Number, Sprout Damage and a Second Priced Attribute
  7. Gluten Strength Beyond the Protein Percentage
  8. Ash, Extraction and the Flour a Tonne of Wheat Actually Yields
  9. Blending Two Parcels to a Contract Protein Target
  10. The Blend That Hits Protein and Fails Falling Number
  11. Quoting an Offer Against a Multi-Attribute Specification
  12. Do Protein Premiums Mean Revert? The Competing Cases
M3 The Miller as a Buyer Ch 35-45
  1. Inside a Flour Mill: The Grist and Why It Is Mixed
  2. The Bread Baker's Specification Working Backwards to Wheat
  3. Biscuit, Cake and Pastry Flour and the Soft Wheat Behind Them
  4. Noodle Wheat and the Asian Milling Demand It Serves
  5. Semolina, Pasta and the Durum Buyer's Narrow Tolerance
  6. Cost per Tonne of Flour Rather Than per Tonne of Wheat
  7. Hand to Mouth Against Covered Buying in a Milling Programme
  8. State Import Tenders and the Specifications They Publish
  9. The Tender That Excludes a Class Without Naming It
  10. How Far a Grist Can Be Reformulated: The Substitution Argument
  11. What a Milling Demand View Gives a Grain Merchant
M4 Feed Demand and the Wheat That Will Not Mill Ch 46-54
  1. Feed Wheat as a Destination Rather Than a Class
  2. The Discount a Milling Rejection Costs
  3. Mycotoxin Limits and the Parcel That Can Only Go to Feed
  4. Compound Feed Mills as Buyers Indifferent to Class Within Limits
  5. Wheat Against Corn in the Energy Column of a Feed Formulation
  6. The Feed Substitution Boundary Is Not a Fixed Ratio
  7. Feed Wheat Export Demand and the Buyers Who Specify It
  8. Reselling a Milling Parcel Into Feed and Recovering What Is Left
  9. Feed Grain Demand as the Input a Ration Sheet Starts From
M5 Corn on Its Own Terms Ch 55-66
  1. Yellow Corn as One Dominant Description and Where That Holds
  2. The Reference Corn Description Quoted in United States Trade
  3. Corn's Demand Split Across Feed, Processing, Export and Food
  4. Corn as the Energy Denominator Other Feed Grains Price Against
  5. White Corn and the Food Markets That Pay Separately for It
  6. Waxy, High Oil and Food Grade Corn as Contracted Specialities
  7. Corn Out of Brazil's Second Crop and the Supply Window It Opens
  8. Black Sea and Argentine Corn Competing for One Import Slot
  9. Corn Processing Demand as a Floor Under Price: The Argument
  10. The Corn Discount Schedule a Buyer Applies and What It Prices
  11. Why Corn and Wheat Do Not Compete for Every Buyer
  12. Corn Demand as the Starting Point for Processing and Feeding
M6 Delivery Points and the Deliverable Grain Ch 67-78
  1. A Futures Contract Is Only as Good as Where It Delivers
  2. Par Delivery Territory and the Regular Firms Inside It
  3. The Chicago Switching District and the Illinois River Reach
  4. Kansas City and the Hard Red Winter Delivery Locations
  5. Duluth and the Northern Spring Wheat Delivery System
  6. Euronext Milling Wheat Delivery in Silo at Named French Ports
  7. Delivery Differentials Are Administered, Not Negotiated
  8. A Protein Discount Written Into a Delivery Specification
  9. When Your Wheat Is Deliverable Against No Contract At All
  10. Deliverable Supply, Registered Stocks and a Tight Near Month
  11. What a Delivery Specification Reveals About a Class Definition
  12. Exchange Specifications Change and a Delivery Assumption Ages
M7 Shipping Certificates, Load Out and the Delivery-Point Basis Ch 79-88
  1. The Shipping Certificate as the Thing Actually Delivered
  2. Registered Warehouse Receipts and the Grain They Point At
  3. Who Holds the Load-Out Demand Right and Who Granted It
  4. Premium Charges Accruing While a Certificate Sits Unloaded
  5. Taking Delivery and Discovering What You Have Bought
  6. Tendering Grain From an Approved House Rather Than Selling It
  7. Load-Out Rate, Queue and the Days Before Grain Moves
  8. The Mechanism Behind an Approved Location's Basis
  9. The Delivery-Point Anchoring Argument and What It Assumes
  10. Non-Convergence and the Dispute Over What Causes It
M8 Inter-Market Wheat Spreads Ch 89-100
  1. An Inter-Market Wheat Spread Is a Position, Not Cover
  2. Chicago Against Kansas City as a Soft and Hard Relationship
  3. Kansas City Against Minneapolis as a Winter and Spring Relationship
  4. Chicago Against Minneapolis and the Two Steps Between Them
  5. Reading an Inter-Market Spread as a Protein View
  6. Reading the Same Spread as a Delivery Territory View
  7. Euronext Against Chicago Across a Currency Boundary
  8. Black Sea Cash Against Euronext Futures as an Origin Spread
  9. Why Two Wheat Markets Need Not Come Back Together
  10. Expressing a Class View in a Stated Quantity of Wheat
  11. A Spread Expiring Into Two Unrelated Delivery Systems
  12. The Inter-Market Spread That Was Really a Local Basis Bet
M9 Inter-Class and Cross-Grain Positions Ch 101-111
  1. The Cash Protein Spread Between Two Parcels of One Class
  2. Hard Against Soft Wheat at the Mill Door
  3. Durum Against Bread Wheat and a Buyer Who Cannot Switch
  4. Feed Wheat Against Milling Wheat as a Quality Spread
  5. Feed Wheat Against Corn as a Substitution Spread
  6. Corn Against Chicago Wheat Through a Feeding Season
  7. Is Class Substitution Reliable? Both Cases Put Fairly
  8. Pricing a Contractual Right to Switch Class at Delivery
  9. The Inter-Class Position Hiding Inside an Ordinary Physical Book
  10. Reporting Class and Protein Exposure on One Page
  11. Limits on Class and Market Spread Exposure a Committee Can Set
M10 A Corn and Wheat Book Worked Through Ch 112-121
  1. The Worked Book, Part One: Classes, Proteins and Tonnes Held
  2. The Worked Book, Part Two: Which Parcel Can Mill and Which Cannot
  3. The Worked Book, Part Three: Pricing Three Buyers for One Parcel
  4. The Worked Book, Part Four: Delivery Against the Contract Compared
  5. The Worked Book, Part Five: The Spread Positions the Book Carries
  6. The Worked Book, Part Six: The Statement and the Defended Choice
  7. The Simplifications Held Fixed While Classes Were Taught
  8. What Class and Protein Analysis Cannot Settle
  9. The Parcel Fully Described and Not Yet Moved
  10. The Class and Protein Description a Merchant Book Travels With

The brochure gives each of these 121 chapters a paragraph on what it covers and what you can do once you have worked through it.

This is course 12 of twenty

It stands alone, and it is also the entry point to the Agricultural Commodities Desk Academy pathway.

Enrol or enquire See the whole pathway