The Senate passed the farm bill last night by a vote of 66-27. Seven Senators did not vote. Only two Democrats, Senators Jake Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse (both of Rhode Island), voted against the bill; the other 25 "no" votes were Republicans, including Agriculture Committee members Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky), Pat Roberts (R-Kansas) and John Thune (R-South Dakota). The 2012 version passed last year by a vote of 64-35, with one missing vote from Senator Mark Kirk (R-Illinois). Last year five Democrats and 30 Republicans -- including Kirk -- voted "no."Now the action moves to the House of Representatives during the week of 17 June. Tomorrow the House Leadership intends to conduct a whip count, which is a survey of how many lawmakers i...
What You Need to Know Today: U.S. weather is getting more attention this week as conditions vary greatly across the western, central, and eastern corn belts, with the different regions battling dryness and too much rain simultaneously. The ProFarmer Crop Tour began today in Indiana and Nebrask...
Unlike the 2022 fertilizer shock, today’s disruption is rooted less in rerouted trade flows and more in damaged production capacity, raw material constraints and uncertain recovery timelines. That makes this a longer-duration risk for U.S. agricultural producers and retailers who must sec...
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.