The announcement of a U.S.- Japan trade agreement over the weekend at the G7 couldn’t have come at a better time for the markets and for President Trump’s political fortunes. The politics out in farm country had been turning ugly after the most recent tariff escalation with China and the controversy over the RFS, ethanol waivers and their impact on the corn sector. To be sure, the Administration didn’t squander the opportunity to use the new agreement with Japan to leverage the negotiations with China and to do a little damage control with U.S. corn growers. As the President stated: … one of the things that Prime Minister Abe has also agreed to is we have excess corn in various parts of our countr...
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.