Technically, it is cotton lint that is no longer eligible for certain crop support programs, and cottonseed could qualify as an oilseed. Thus, the National Cotton Council has petitioned USDA to designate it as such for the 2015 crop as well as 2016 and beyond under normal farm program rules. The House Agriculture Committee recently held a hearing on the global situation for cotton. To summarize, the U.S. ranks third in production behind China and India but is the leading exporter, representing more than one-third of global trade in raw cotton. Approximately 75 percent of all U.S. cotton is exported. China, with its significant textile industry, has traditionally been the most important market for those U.S. exports. However, it has in...
Congress is moving forward with its FY 2027 spending bills, while also still working to address FY 2026 funding for the Department of Homeland Security, which is still in a shutdown. The House Agriculture-FDA Appropriations Subcommittee marked up and passed its FY 2027 bill. The House bill prov...
Mediterranean/Middle East/North Africa/Africa – MEA Region Tunisian researchers have been able to fully sequence the genomes of two local durum wheat types that have been grown in Tunisia for generations. They say that this “could be the key to developing more climate-resistant duru...
Update for 6 April 2025: Last year, users pointed out differences between the 5-year averages reported in this app and what USDA estimates in its weekly report. The difference exists because WPI calculates average based on the last 5 years of observations for the current week. In cases where ob...
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.