Given the current state of China’s economy and its slowdown, the food inflation spike in January to the highest level since May 2014 plus the notable increases in pork/fresh produce prices raise several interesting issues. Cultural Note and the Market Chinese Holidays Impact Crushing Facilities The annual Lantern Festival, also known as the First Night Festival, occurs today and marks the end of the Chinese New Year (Spring Festival) celebrations. The holiday has been celebrated for more than 2,000 years and signals the coming Chinese Lunar Year. With these back-to-back holidays (Spring and Lantern) taking place, the market has been slow as many of the soybean crushing facilities either sharply reduced operations or shut down completely...
What You Need to Know Today: Chinese purchases of U.S. soybeans continued to accelerate, with USDA reporting another 558 KMT sold to China and 236 KMT to unknown destinations. Combined with sales announced Wednesday and Thursday, the latest purchases bring the three-day total to approximately...
As fall begins, wild migratory birds are starting their seasonal migration. That has the industry and government officials worried about the potential spread, again, of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI). Some members of Congress have called for the United States to be prepared for a pote...
From WPI Consulting
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.