Political analysis indicates that China is hoping Joe Biden wins the U.S. presidential election. His campaign says fully decoupling from China, a frequent Trump threat, is unrealistic. While the Democrats fear Russian interference in the election due to that country’s support of Trump, they might welcome some Chinese measures that would greatly undermine the President’s re-election. Anti-Trumpers would consider the enemy of my enemy to be worth the intervention. Mr. Trump’s route to re-election is already fraught but his most solid base, rural America and farmers, are highly dependent on the commodity purchases that Beijing promised to President Trump. Those sales have been increasingly brisk, but sales are not ship...
What You Need to Know Today: President Trump claimed the ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran was over, as both sides accused one another of violating the terms of the agreement. Commercial vessels are increasingly steering clear of the Strait of Hormuz as security risks escalate following Iran...
Key Takeaways: The CME Group is launching new 90 percent Lean Beef and 50 percent Lean Beef futures and options contracts in July. There are five key factors that must be present in physical markets and futures contract specifications for futures contracts to become successful. The two l...
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.