U.S. Talk Representative The Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) that grants duty free access to products from poorer countries expired almost four years ago. The African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), which provides similar nonreciprocal preferential access to the U.S. market but aimed at Sub-Saharan Africa is scheduled to expire in September 2025. There are efforts on Capitol Hill to renew GSP and extend AGOA for another 16-20 years. Those trading under both programs worry about having too many criteria for eligibility and setting the bar on rules of origin too high. However, one complaint is that the Biden Administration is not engaged in either issue. One industry representative suggested that someone needs to put Trade instead...
Key Takeaways: Soyoil consumption as a biofuel feedstock climbed to a record 1.434 billion pounds in May, setting a new all-time monthly high. Improved 45Z policy clarity in February 2026 has supported stronger soyoil demand from the biofuel sector by providing producers with greater certainty...
Agriculture generates a lot of numbers in addition to crops and livestock. As ag economists, we are continually reviewing crop production, commodity prices, farm incomes, and international trade. You don’t often see much about capital investment in the ag press, however. New mills and gra...
What You Need to Know Today: The U.S. and Iran resumed missile strikes after a brief pause in fighting, raising concerns that the five-month conflict could expand across the Middle East. Jordan intercepted Iranian missiles, Kuwait reported a fatal strike, and drone attacks damaged two natural...
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.