Branstad Departs Former Iowa governor and U.S. Ambassador to China Terry Branstad is departing his post in Beijing. Some call it a perilous time to leave given souring bilateral relations, others say it is only because he needs to campaign for Mr. Trump’s re-election. Alternatively, U.S.-China relations are soured but not bitter, he has already served for three years, which is a long-time in a grueling job he would likely be departing anyway, and he is protesting Beijing’s decision to block his article from appearing in the China Daily news. Either way, there has likely been no greater friend to U.S. agriculture in that diplomatic post, and unlikely to be one in the future since the rivalry has grown far more strategic in natur...
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.