It is a waiting game. Agricultural interests of nearly every variety hope that this afternoon’s meeting between Chinese Vice-Premier Liu and President Trump will end with an announcement of a trade deal. Such an announcement would likely also include word of a meeting between Trump and Chinese President Xi to sign the agreement. To some extent, an agreement is already being priced into the soybean and corn markets, but they will still likely react positively to word that one has been reached. However, signs that the two parties are still far apart on important issues would send market prices reeling. Corn soybean and wheat futures prices traded a few cents higher in good volume overnight on optimism that a trade agreement would soon...
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.