As we reported on 12 February, the House Agriculture Committee passed its portion of the budget reconciliation bill to conform with the FY 2022 budget resolution. The measure passed on a party line vote of 24 to 23, and all amendments – save one – failed on a party line vote. That amendment, to provide targeted disaster relief to the derecho wind storm damage in Iowa was stripped from the final bill which passed the full House by a vote of 219–212 this weekend. Specifically, that amendment allowed 2020 disaster relief to be included in the $4 billion pool of funds at the Secretary’s discretion and it passed by one vote with Representative Cindy Axne (D-Iowa) joining a party line Republican vote. One other change to...
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.