Global hedge funds and large speculators have built one of their most aggressive bullish bets in recent history on the price of soybeans, signaling an expectation that the staple commodity will see a significant price increase in the coming months. According to recent data from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), a body that tracks market positioning in futures, non-commercial traders held 216,046 long contracts—bets that prices will rise—against only 38,183 short contracts, resulting in a net-long position of 177,863 contracts. This level of extreme positioning on the buy side, which accounts for over a quarter of the total open interest of 649,027 contracts, means "managed money" is heavily committed to the view that global supply will tighten just as demand holds strong.