President Trump has twice, since 22 December, reversed course on the $1.4 trillion omnibus appropriations and $908 billion COVID relief legislation. After the two spending bills, which were rolled into one package, were passed by Congress the President stated that he would not sign the appropriations bill. That raised the specter of a government shutdown, as the government was funded by a temporary appropriations bill that lasts through midnight tonight. Then, yesterday, he signed the package – which will keep the government open and provide the next subsequent round of COVID relief, the details of which related to agriculture we covered on 21 December. The President’s late opposition to the bill was based on two issues: 1) the...
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.