The U.S. trade deficit is growing worse as the U.S. dollar stays strong and the economy stands out from many others. This trend will eventually feed back into presidential campaign politics and the anti-Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) rhetoric. Fixing U.S. Trade Policy The U.S. trade deficit is growing worse (see graph below) as the U.S. dollar stays strong and the economy stands out from many others. This trend will eventually feed back into presidential campaign politics and the anti-Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) rhetoric. Janan Ganesh of the Financial Times resigns himself that the new two-tiered economy will keep a third of the populace cranky with complaints over income inequality and, consequently, immigration. He says government...
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.