A tariff truce, export inspections, WASDE and crop progress. Monday was action packed and the much-anticipated USDA May WASDE report did not disappoint. In general, it was mixed for corn, bullish for soybeans, and bearish for wheat. In fact, all three major wheat contracts registered new contract lows; cattle printed new contract highs. There was good volume across most of the markets reflecting everything that had to get unpacked. More on the WASDE below but first the large macro news. The U.S. and China announced a 90-day truce in the tariff war. During the truce period, the U.S. tariff on Chinese goods will drop from 145 percent to 30 percent and the Chinese tariff on U.S. goods will be lowered to 10 percent from 125 percent. The d...
What You Need to Know Today: Wholesale inflation was flat in July, with the Producer Price Index (PPI) unchanged versus expectations for a 0.2 percent increase. Core PPI rose 0.2 percent, also below expectations. The softer inflation data has reduced the odds of a September interest rate incre...
Key Takeaways: The U.S. sheep industry is contracting. Lamb output and producer participation have declined sharply. Imports now account for most U.S. lamb consumption. Their roughly 70 percent share raises concerns about domestic capacity and resilience. USTR’s referral carries substant...
Yesterday, the USDA released its monthly World Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE), forecasting tighter beef and pork supplies and growing broiler supplies, resulting in a tighter red meat supply. Broiler production, however, continues to grow and is forecast to be up more than 3 percent. Beef...
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.