U.S. Ag Office Lowers Forecast for China’s Soybean Imports The USDA/FAS office in Beijing this week forecasted China’s soybean imports in 2018/19 at 82 MMT and 80 MMT in 2019/20. That compares to current USDA forecasts for imports of 83 MMT in 2018/19 and 85 MMT in 2019/20. That would be the lowest soybean imports in five years and down from an estimated 94.045 MMT in 2017/18. The reduction in the forecasts for China’s soybean imports mostly is a result of sharply lower swine production because of African Swine Fever (ASF) that has reduced the swine herds by over 100 million head. It also is partly a result of China’s soybean production in 2019 forecasted at 17.1 MMT, up from 15.2 MMT in 2017 and 15.9 MMT in...
What You Need to Know Today: Commodities were mostly lower across the board today after yesterday’s Federal Reserve meeting hinted at a potential interest rate hike later in 2026. The dollar index reached its highest level in over a year, and a strong dollar makes U.S. agricultural expor...
Tomorrow is the Juneteenth federal holiday, and the USDA, along with the rest of the federal government and the CME, will be closed, so the monthly Cattle on Feed report was released a day early. The total number of cattle on feed in feedlots with 1,000 head or more capacity on 1 June amounted...
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.