Key Market Developments Today’s theme was geopolitics and economics. Tension between the United States and Iran escalated despite reports of an “understanding” reached during Tuesday’s nuclear discussions. Iran temporarily shut parts of the Strait of Hormuz during milita...
Tariff Impacts Calculating the impacts of President Trump’s tariffs is heavy fodder for economists. Many made predictions about their impacts long before the rubber even met the road. Predictions of a tariff-caused recession have been debunked, and there is little impact on inflation. Now...
Russian Grain Markets: 9–13 February 2026 The feature of the second week of February was appreciation of prices on the export platform, meaning regions in close proximity to seaports showed higher prices across all grains, including wheat, barley, corn and even peas. This is somewhat para...
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.