U.S. House Ways & Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal (D-Massachusetts) took a delegation to the WTO last week and upon return encouraged the Biden White House to prioritize TTIP talks and revive trade negotiations with the EU. USTR Katherine Tai responded to the challenge by asserting that the Administration has not “sworn off” trade liberalization efforts but, and the “but” is always important: not at the cost of weakening the supply chain, harming workers, or damaging the environment. Trade liberalization inevitably helps and hurts each of those components. Under her formula, President Biden should withdraw the U.S. from the USMCA since it outsources jobs to Mexico, worsens the environment since Mexico City...
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.