Zhang Hongzhou at Nanyang Technical University in Singapore says that geopolitical tensions, war, and climate change have refocused China on food self-sufficiency. Not that it had lost importance, but it is now receiving greater attention. He quotes Chinese President Xi Jinping stating, "Historical experience has taught us that money is useless in the event of a famine. To solve the problem of feeding 1.3 billion people, we must rely on domestic food production." USDA/FAS has increased its estimate for China’s corn production this season by 1 percent to 280 MMT. It accomplished this feat by adding 300,000 hectares to the production area. If true, this means China achieved the equivalent of 148 bushels/acre, which isn’t bad cons...
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...
Key Takeaways: The Middle East and North Africa's arid climate and limited water resources have created a structural dependence on imported wheat. Government wheat tenders in major importing countries serve as important benchmarks for global trade, providing insight into exporter competitivene...
Mediterranean/Middle East/North Africa/Africa – MEA Region Bangladesh is reported to have finalized the purchase of 270,000 MT of wheat, including 220,000 MT of U.S. wheat. The U.S. wheat is priced at $322/MT, with an additional 50,000 MT of wheat at $297.90/MT through an international te...
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Illuminating the value of technical research
On behalf of a commodity producer organization, WPI evaluated the outputs from a project that featured a $5 million investment into technical research over multiple years. WPI’s team captured the results of this extensive effort and synthesized them for presentation to the organization’s governing board; among the findings uncovered and presented for the first time was the development of genomic traits proven, via rigorous testing, to provide crop yield advantages of 50 percent or more to U.S. farmers in times of drought. Capturing measurable results from long-term efforts can be challenging. Educating clients on the dynamics of success measurement when quantifiable results are not readily available requires deep client-consultant collaboration and an ability to consider both near- and long-term client aspirations with market/policy dynamics – attributes that WPI brings to every consulting engagement.