With the trade war officially underway, China is now assessing a 28 percent duty on imports of U.S. soybeans (the 25 percent retaliatory tariff plus the 3 percent tariff previously applied). While the U.S. normally exports a relatively slight amount there in July and August, it is only about two months before large shipments to that destination normally begin. Short of the U.S. and China settling their dispute soon, it is likely that very few U.S. soybeans will be headed to China until at least December. Therefore, the issue is where else will those soybeans be exported while the Chinese tariffs remain in place. The problem for the U.S. soybean industry, exporters and others is that no one in the trade has previously experienced a situatio...
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.