Dis-integrating Global Economy Economists warn that protectionism will slow the global recovery but both governments and companies now view the retreat from China as inevitable. For one, supply chains were already being broken via the U.S. trade war with China and now COVID-19 reveals the fragility of such extended resources. Taiwan had already retreated some of its capacity from the Mainland and now Japan is launching a subsidy program to encourage domestic manufacturers to return capacities back to the homeland. Meanwhile, Southeast Asian countries are appealing for a piece of the FDI that previously went to China. At the same time, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has suggested Washington may want greater integration with non-China t...
What You Need to Know Today: Commodities were mostly lower across the board today after yesterday’s Federal Reserve meeting hinted at a potential interest rate hike later in 2026. The dollar index reached its highest level in over a year, and a strong dollar makes U.S. agricultural expor...
Tomorrow is the Juneteenth federal holiday, and the USDA, along with the rest of the federal government and the CME, will be closed, so the monthly Cattle on Feed report was released a day early. The total number of cattle on feed in feedlots with 1,000 head or more capacity on 1 June amounted...
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.