U.S. and Japanese trade negotiators reportedly met three times during Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) talks in Guam on the issue of access for American rice. Healthfulness Confusion The exploitation of consumer ignorance about agriculture and food production practices and healthfulness continues. Jelly Belly, maker of gourmet jelly beans, announced that it would switch to all organic ingredients. A serving of jelly beans is basically 24-29 grams of sugar. In addition to implying the healthfulness of the product due to being organic, it is marketed as gluten-free and vegetarian friendly.Meanwhile, Yum Brands announced that it would remove artificial flavors and colorings from Pizza Hut pizzas and Taco Bell products. The company's popular P...
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.