Regional Updates MEDITERRANEAN/MIDDLE EAST COMMENTS The latest FAO report on Syria forecasts an increase in the 2019 wheat crop by more than 80 percent to 2.2 MMT while barley does even better, increasing by 400 percent to 2.0 MMT. The planted area for grains was greatly increased in 2019 because of much better rainfall. However, the FAO report points out that wheat production is still well below pre-2011 levels when wheat harvest was at 4.0 MMT. Current barley production is higher than pre-2011 levels and much higher than the five-year average. The FAO estimates that total grain imports for 2019/20 will be at about 2.7 MMT, very close to the five-year average. The international grain industry is looking forward to the results of the Sau...
After spending much of the year searching for a reason to stay, the bulls suddenly have several. Grain markets have strengthened, wheat is leading the charge, outside markets are becoming more supportive, and geopolitical and weather risks are once again demanding attention. Does that mean the...
Key Takeaways: Cover crops are gaining adoption as farmers seek to improve soil health, reduce erosion, and build more resilient cropping systems. While cover crops do not provide immediate revenue, their long-term benefits include improved nutrient retention, water management, and soil produc...
The latest EIA data showed some interesting anomalies in the ethanol industry, changes that will have a material impact on the industry’s profits and corn consumption for 2025/26 and early 2026/27. The EIA reported that ethanol production fell 4.8 percent for the week ending 10 July...
From WPI Consulting
Communicating importance of value-added products
Facing increasing pressure to quantify the value of export promotion efforts to investors, a U.S. industry organization retained WPI to develop a quantitative model that better communicated the importance of exports. The resulting model concluded that value-added meat exports contributed $0.45 cents per bushel to the price of corn, increasing support for that sector’s financial support of WPI’s client. In addition to serving the red meat industry with this type of analysis, WPI has generated similar deliverables for the U.S. soybean and poultry/egg industries.