World Perspectives

Decline in Lawmaking

Yesterday’s discussion about impeachment raised the question about its impact on the ability of Congress to simultaneously accomplish other legislative objectives. The average over the past quarter century is for 4 percent of the bills introduced into a Congress to ultimately be enacted into law. However, the success rate has been declining (see graph below). There could be several reasons for this decline: • More divisive politics; • Increased use of omnibus vehicles that package together many smaller bills; • Increased use of regulations in lieu of more Congressional acts; and • Simply running out of new things to legislate. It is somewhat unfair to say since it can take two years to move a bill through the...

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Mercosur Regional Analysis

Argentina Macroeconomic Updates Argentina saw a shortened trading week, with no markets last Thursday and Friday. It was also the first week of trading under the new exchange rate regulations, so it took the markets a few days to adjust. Regarding the official exchange rate, it opened on Monday...

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2025/2026 Trade Update

Almost none of the primary U.S. grain or oilseed offerings have made a solid start to 2025-26, as export sales for the upcoming marketing year are largely near multi-year lows. This is not yet a huge problem since the typical buying periods for the season’s supplies are mostly still in th...

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CFTC COT Report Analysis

Friday’s CFTC report was consistent with expectations in that it showed managed money traders becoming dedicated net buyers across nearly every major ag market, with the notable exception of cattle futures. The buying was most notable in soybeans where, despite the trade war, funds flippe...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

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Argentina Macroeconomic Updates Argentina saw a shortened trading week, with no markets last Thursday and Friday. It was also the first week of trading under the new exchange rate regulations, so it took the markets a few days to adjust. Regarding the official exchange rate, it opened on Monday...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds

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Almost none of the primary U.S. grain or oilseed offerings have made a solid start to 2025-26, as export sales for the upcoming marketing year are largely near multi-year lows. This is not yet a huge problem since the typical buying periods for the season’s supplies are mostly still in th...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

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Friday’s CFTC report was consistent with expectations in that it showed managed money traders becoming dedicated net buyers across nearly every major ag market, with the notable exception of cattle futures. The buying was most notable in soybeans where, despite the trade war, funds flippe...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Export Sales

Export Sales and Shipments for April 4-10, 2025.  Wheat: Net sales of 76,500 metric tons (MT) for 2024/2025 were down 29 percent from the previous week, but up 2 percent from the prior 4-week average. Export shipments of 483,500 MT were up 43 percent from the previous week and 11 percent f...

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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.

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