Congress Complicit in War The word to the wise is to watch what others do and not what they say, and that is especially true when it comes to politicians. Democrats and Republicans both say they lament the Trump trade war, but instead of stopping it, they are enabling it to continue. Without the trade mitigation payments being made to farmers, support for Mr. Trump would plummet in rural America. The payments are being made via $30 billion worth of discretionary authority in the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) Act. Congress has the power to stop it by refusing to replenish the fund. Instead, the Congress last year included language in the spending bill that gave the CCC more flexibility to keep the money flowing. Notably, when the pres...
What You Need to Know Today: After a period of limited activity, USDA reported a sizeable 613 KMT in soybean export sales, including 330 KMT to China and 283 KMT to unknown destinations, potentially also China. The purchases represent a meaningful pickup in demand and bring China closer to ful...
Key Takeaways: Consumer spending is a key driver of the U.S. economy, and the latest retail sales data indicate that spending remains robust despite inflation. In September, total retail and food service sales rose more than 6 percent year-over-year, with food service spending up 7 percent and...
The Trump import plan for 300,000 MT of beef supplies used for ground beef, i.e., lean trim, from September through November has, according to Secretary Brooke Rollins, brought some relief to beef prices. The Executive Order states that the Secretary of Agriculture will analyze and review the m...
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.