As the two-year China-U.S. Phase One trade agreement nears its final months, and seasonal exports trend up, what China does for the rest of the year has become a hot topic. At a recent event in Kansas City, USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack said the U.S. will press China to meet its targets, stating the U.S. will make “… an effort to make sure China understands that it is our expectation, and it should be their expectation that they live up to the agreements that they made.” Under the agreement China made a commitment to increase its agriculture purchases; the agreement was based on the value (not volume) of exports and was subject to normal market and trade patterns. The total value of imports of ag products from...
What You Need to Know Today: The hot, dry weather forecast continues to drive strength in grain futures with corn and soybeans hitting another day of strong gains. Monday’s Crop Progress and Conditions data were in line with market expectations and showed relatively few concerns for the...
Yesterday we wrote about the Q1 GDP numbers and the June employment reports in an article entitled Real GDP for Q1 Relying on AI Buildout, Held Back by Consumer Spending. That article mentioned that consumer spending had become a drag on GDP. Nonetheless, real GDP in Q1 was revised upward to 2...
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.