Regional News The weather forecast for Europe and the Black Sea remain highly varied, though mostly optimistic for grain and oilseed production. Conditions have been favorable for planting across the UK and EU to date, though Ukraine and Russia have seen unseasonably cold conditions that have slowed fieldwork. Now, the trend for the UK and northern Europe is for cooler and drier weather, which could start to cause issues for crop development. Similarly, Ukraine and Russia remain dry and oil moisture levels are below recent years in many places, which is increasing concerns for the region’s wheat crop. Ukraine’s grain exports fell 60 percent year-over-year in April and totaled 2.27 MMT, due primarily to a 61 pe...
Macro: Treasury Squeezes Yields, the Dollar Gives Way Today’s markets are offering a lesson in pressure: it rarely disappears — it simply moves. The U.S. Treasury stepped into the bond market after long-term yields surged to levels not seen in nearly two decades. By announcing plans...
Key Takeaways: Weather conditions in Europe have continued to deteriorate following both the EU MARS’ latest balance sheet update and the August WASDE, leaving “official” estimates lagging behind the reality observed on the ground. WPI’s models anticipate a 4 perc...
Russian Grain Markets: 10–14 August 2026 The Russian grain market continued to weaken sharply during the second week of August as the Black Sea logistics situation deteriorated. Russia and Ukraine continued exchanging drone and ballistic attacks on seaports, infrastructure and commercial...
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.