MIDDLE EAST/MEDITERRANEAN COMMENTS As a point of information, November 2017 marks the 70th anniversary of the establishment of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). Its purpose was to eliminate harmful trade protectionism, which had pushed global trade down 65 percent during the Great Depression. GATT reversed that trend by removing tariffs, and it restored economic health to the world after the devastation of World War II. Turkey is expected to revise its new import procedures due to the complications they will cause with needed shipments. Domestic importers are concerned about the impact on their purchases of Russian wheat and vegetable oils. As has been widely reported, the new measures were mainly a reaction to Russia&rsq...
What You Need to Know Today: USDA reports are delayed until Tuesday due to the federal holiday on Monday. Over the weekend, President Trump announced a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine. Russia warmly welcomed and confirmed this ceasefire by conducting more strikes against Ukraine. Specific...
On Saturday, 10 October, at a campaign rally in Clarksville, Tennessee, President Trump said that the U.S. and Mexico would come to terms on a new trade deal, and he said Canada does not need to be part of the deal. Trump called the coming agreement with Mexico “great” but gave no d...
Key Takeaways: The United States has steadily lost global wheat export market share since the 1970s, falling from the world's leading exporter to a projected fifth place in 2026/27. The rapid expansion of Black Sea wheat exports, driven by improved productivity and export infrastructure, has r...
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.