Beef cattle catch a lot of grief for their land and water requirements, but a recent USDA analysis shows them to be a relative energy bargain. TPP Officially Dead The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) has been dead for a long time, but U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) finally put a nail in the coffin by shifting from characterizing the chance of its consideration this fall as being slim or bleak to finally saying that it will not be acted upon this year. It is now time for statesmen to begin a public drumbeat of each and every one of the economic and geopolitical losses resulting from the errors imposed by politicians. Simply saying the TPP’s death is a victory for China is too narrow of a soundbite. Slippery Slope...
What You Need to Know Today: Grain futures fell hard overnight after the USDA’s Crop Conditions report showed better-than-expected ratings for corn and soybeans, despite difficult weather last week. The Conditions report was even more bearish in light of meaningfully beneficial rains acr...
Key Takeaways: New Mexico’s Clean Transportation Fuel Program expands demand for low-carbon fuels and creates another market for renewable feedstocks, adding incremental pressure to already limited supplies of lower-carbon inputs. Growing competition for waste-based feedstocks such as an...
As WPI reported on 17 July, the recently passed budget reconciliation bill in the House Budget Committee includes $12 billion in emergency farm assistance. This would be the seventh of the past nine years with ad hoc farm payments (FY2018, FY2019, FY2020, FY2022, FY2023, FY2024, and potentially...
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.