Punish the People Like consumers elsewhere in the world, Indians are now paying about double for vegetable oil what they paid a year ago. This is a bargain when one considers that Chicago July soyoil futures are up 150 percent from last year. India is the world’s largest importer of vegetable oil despite imposing import tariffs north of 30 percent. The tariffs are intended to boost domestic oilseeds production, but they have failed miserably. Ten years ago, India produced 24.1 MMT of cottonseed, palm kernel and soybeans; this year its production is 23.5 MMT. The only thing accomplished by the levy is punishment of the Indian consumer. Chump Trade Policy Trump trade policy involved imposing tariffs to create leverage for negotiating...
What You Need to Know Today: The September Cattle on Feed report was strongly bullish, with both the 1 September on-feed inventory and August placements coming in well below average expectations and below the bottom of their respective pre-report estimate ranges. China continues to buy U...
USDA’s September cattle on feed report was released Friday, with the total number of cattle in feedlots with 1,000 head or more capacity amounting to 11.2 million head, 101 percent of last year. Placements dropped in August to their lowest total for the month since records began in 1996...
Key Takeaways: The U.S. herd is stabilizing, but growth remains modest. Total goat inventory rose 1 percent in 2026, while meat-goat numbers increased 2 percent, which is not enough to materially reduce import dependence. Domestic slaughter is rising from a low base. Commercial slaughter incre...
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.