The debate in Congress last year over Obamacare and in the GOP primary this year over Romneycare, and the Supreme Court's consideration of the federal healthcare law can provide an interesting debate for food and agricultural policy. Right now Congress is trying to draft a farm bill, which includes food and nutrition programs such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). When it comes to SNAP, House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wisconsin) has said that the social safety net is at risk of becoming a "hammock." And that is one of the arguments against the new federal healthcare law. Indeed, one of tenets in the Supreme Court oral arguments on the healthcare law is whether healthcare is so important and unique...
Key Takeaways: A student group from the University of Chicago is protesting to bring back onion futures trading. Trading in onion futures was banned in 1958 following a spectacular bout of market manipulation that resulted in a corner of the physical market. The ban on onion futures led t...
Russian Grain Markets: 12–16 October 2026 During the week in review, the Russian grain market began recovering after an extended decline driven largely by Black Sea logistics bottlenecks, a good crop and weaker global demand in traditional Russian markets. Russia is beginning to harvest c...
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.