There was another blow to the cellulosic mandate this week as well as a new study challenging the notion that advanced biofuels reduce greenhouse gas emissions, specifically cellulosic ethanol made from corn stover.Cellulosic biofuels are facing some bad press this week. First, there was another blow to the cellulosic mandate as cellulosic fuel production did not meet its lowered required volumes in 2013. As a result, they were waived retroactively by EPA. In an order signed by EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy this past Tuesday, the agency will reduce the original cellulosic mandate of 6 million gallons per year to 800,000 gallons in order to meet the production level. Previously under the statute, refiners and blenders had to buy credits fr...
What You Need to Know Today: Chinese purchases of U.S. soybeans continued to accelerate, with USDA reporting another 558 KMT sold to China and 236 KMT to unknown destinations. Combined with sales announced Wednesday and Thursday, the latest purchases bring the three-day total to approximately...
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.