2016 Agribusiness Performance Recap and 2017 OutlookWPI Bull/Bear Leanings for Agribusiness in 2017 A summary and graphical depictions of WPI’s expectations for future agribusiness performance. The U.S. Grains Industry Now, perhaps more than ever, the U.S. grain industry’s success is closely tied to political decisions. Oilseed Processing Bullish fundamental changes from USDA could be undone by market concerns over international trade issues. The U.S. Biofuels Industry Ethanol and biodiesel set record levels of production last year while maintaining positive margins, but both will have to navigate some uncertainties and overcome challenges this year in order to repeat their 2016 performance. The U.S. Livestock Industry...
What You Need to Know Today: Harvest pressure in the U.S. sent corn and soybeans lower as supplies increased and there were signs USDA’s upward revisions to yields in the October WASDE could be close to right. The conflict between Russia and Ukraine escalated over the weekend, with Ukrai...
Key Takeaways: India is excluding sugarcane juice, sugar syrup, and B-heavy molasses from its 2026/27 fuel ethanol procurement program to protect domestic sugar supplies, potentially shifting additional demand toward corn and rice. India’s corn consumption for ethanol has surged from jus...
Developer's Note 24 August 2026: WPI recently completed an exercise that updated the codebase for this app and solved some of the discrepancies between our five-year average calculation and USDA's. There are a few lingering cases where early (late) starts (finishes) to the crop cycle resu...
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.