Contaminated Rice May Result in More Imports Rice in Hunan, China's largest rice-producing province, was found to contain excessive amounts of cadmium. News about the contaminated rice spread around the country, arousing strong reactions from domestic consumers. At the Lianxi Rice Market in Yiyang, one of China's largest wholesale markets for rice, sellers' stalls are empty and aisles have fallen silent. Rice wholesalers in China have stopped selling rice from Hunan and are buying from elsewhere in the country. Consequently, in May the price of rice from northeastern Heilongjiang province jumped by as much as 2.6 percent.Imports of Thai rice grains are expected to surge in the following months. Despite their hefty price tag, which is nin...
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...
Key Takeaways: Argentina is on pace for a record corn crop and record exports in the current marketing year, with abundant supplies likely to keep the country highly competitive in global export markets. Argentina’s record exportable surplus is allowing it to offer highly competitive pri...
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.