Davos Dirt Speaking to Bloomberg News this week at the World Economic Forum, Liu He, the top financial and economic adviser to President Xi Jinping, said that “China has stood firm against all forms of protectionism.” U.S. agricultural exports to China, which face countervailing duties and other barriers there, are down 17 percent for the first quarter of the new marketing year. U.S. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin told reporters, “Many countries are good at the rhetoric of free trade, but in fact actually practice extreme protectionism.” Rwandan President Paul Kagame, the current president of the African Union, meets with U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday. Fellow African officials hope to learn what Trump rea...
What You Need to Know Today: The corn and soybean markets closed slightly higher in low-volume trade. The wheat market was mixed, with HRW continuing its downward trek on improved moisture. As expected, the bearish cattle on feed report drove down cattle prices and pulled hogs down with it. Mi...
Monday, 25 May is a U.S. holiday, and both the markets and our office will be closed. Please note that the next issue of Ag Perspectives will be published on Tuesday, 26 May. The WPI staff wishes everyone a safe and enjoyable holiday weekend...
USDA’s monthly cattle on feed report was released today. The total number of cattle on feed in feedlots with 1,000 head or more capacity amounted to 11.6 million head, 102 percent of last year. Source: USDA, WPI Placements were up, but part of that is attributable to persistent drought c...
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.