As Washington -- and the U.S. economy -- has been looking out over the fiscal cliff, some perspective has been lost on the economic landscape traversed in the past few years. Indeed, across the spectrum of news reports, political speeches and commentary, there are perhaps two areas of agreement: that political gridlock in Washington is a bad thing, and that U.S. economic growth is perilously weak and poised for a double-dip recession.However, there is some empirical evidence that these opinions miss the mark, at least to some extent, when considering the direction of deficit reduction.First, let's consider gridlock. According to The Washington Times' "Futility Index," the 112th Congress which adjourned on 1 January was the least "producti...
What You Need to Know Today: U.S. weather is getting more attention this week as conditions vary greatly across the western, central, and eastern corn belts, with the different regions battling dryness and too much rain simultaneously. The ProFarmer Crop Tour began today in Indiana and Nebrask...
Unlike the 2022 fertilizer shock, today’s disruption is rooted less in rerouted trade flows and more in damaged production capacity, raw material constraints and uncertain recovery timelines. That makes this a longer-duration risk for U.S. agricultural producers and retailers who must sec...
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.