After two hours of debate on the floor, the Senate today began voting on the 73 farm bill amendments. The following is an update as of 5 p.m. ET.The Grassley amendment passed with a striking majority. As we mentioned earlier today in the Special Report, there are several amendments on means-testing farm and conservation program payments. The Grassley vote is likely to set the standard for all the other means-testing type amendments for farm payments. Payment limits have been an issue in the 2002 and 2008 Farm Bills. The Bush Administration pushed hard for them but was unsuccessful. We see the high commodity prices, strong farm balance sheets and the huge federal deficit of the past four years as the impetus to change the political environme...
Key Takeaways: President Trump announced $8 billion in additional agricultural assistance through the Harvest Fuel Relief Program, as USDA projects farm fuel and oil expenses will increase 28.8 percent in 2026. The package follows $12 billion in earlier relief, while government farm payments w...
Key Takeaways: A student group from the University of Chicago is protesting to bring back onion futures trading. Trading in onion futures was banned in 1958 following a spectacular bout of market manipulation that resulted in a corner of the physical market. The ban on onion futures led t...
Beef packer margins deteriorated to $141/head last week, down $55 from the prior week as fed cattle prices strengthened while the Choice cutout remained nearly unchanged. The cutout held near $373/cwt while fed cattle prices climbed $4/cwt to $224/cwt, narrowing processor profits. Despite the d...
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.