Bear markets always spur more mergers and acquisitions as firms scramble to find savings and survive. Several are currently underway, and members of Congress tend to take a more political view of such matters than do career regulators. Bear M&A Bear markets always spur more mergers and acquisitions as firms scramble to find savings and survive. There are several currently underway, including Dow-Dupont and ChemChina-Syngenta. The Justice Department is evaluating any antitrust concerns with the former while the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) examines the latter. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Grassley is calling for interagency coordination on the two reviews. It should be noted that Justice and the FTC already cooperate,...
What You Need to Know Today: Commodities were mostly lower across the board today after yesterday’s Federal Reserve meeting hinted at a potential interest rate hike later in 2026. The dollar index reached its highest level in over a year, and a strong dollar makes U.S. agricultural expor...
Tomorrow is the Juneteenth federal holiday, and the USDA, along with the rest of the federal government and the CME, will be closed, so the monthly Cattle on Feed report was released a day early. The total number of cattle on feed in feedlots with 1,000 head or more capacity on 1 June amounted...
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.