The new $16 billion Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP) direct payments from USDA will be unveiled tomorrow. Payments are targeted to be made in late May or early June. Late last week USDA held webinars about the program; it was targeted for producers who do not deal with local FSA offices frequently, which is a sign of the scope of the program’s coverage for ranchers and specialty crop producers. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) completed its review and signed off on the program on Friday. The big question is what the per recipient payment limit will be? Based on the guidelines of the 2018 farm bill, the trade related MFP payments had a limit of $125,000 per commodity and $250,000 per recipient. There is a 50/50 chan...
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.