In terms of publicity, the biggest news coming out of the G-20 summit in Buenos Aires late last week had nothing to do with that gathering. Instead, it concerned the dinner meeting between President Trump, President Xi and groups of advisors that resulted in the announcement of a temporary truce in the U.S.-China trade war. President Trump agreed to withhold increasing tariffs on $200 billion worth of imports of Chinese goods from 10 percent to 25 percent for at least three months, and President Xi agreed to high-level negotiations during that period aimed at resolving the underlying issues. According to the U.S. side, China also agreed to remove tariffs on imports of U.S. autos and to quickly begin buying U.S. agricultural, energy and ind...
What You Need to Know Today: After a period of limited activity, USDA reported a sizeable 613 KMT in soybean export sales, including 330 KMT to China and 283 KMT to unknown destinations, potentially also China. The purchases represent a meaningful pickup in demand and bring China closer to ful...
Key Takeaways: Consumer spending is a key driver of the U.S. economy, and the latest retail sales data indicate that spending remains robust despite inflation. In September, total retail and food service sales rose more than 6 percent year-over-year, with food service spending up 7 percent and...
The Trump import plan for 300,000 MT of beef supplies used for ground beef, i.e., lean trim, from September through November has, according to Secretary Brooke Rollins, brought some relief to beef prices. The Executive Order states that the Secretary of Agriculture will analyze and review the m...
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.