With the Senate's passage of its farm bill on Thursday, attention has been turned to the House. House Ag Committee Chairman Frank Lucas (R-Oklahoma) expressed hope that the Senate's example would encourage his colleagues when they meet on 11 July to consider the House version of the legislation.Ag Committee Ranking Member Collin Peterson (D-Minnesota) urged House members to complete the farm bill before the current one expires in September. "Waiting until the mess that will occur during the lame duck session will not only make it more difficult, but could also result in several unintended consequences," he said. "If the House Ag Committee passes a bipartisan bill in early July, House leadership will then have little choice but to bring th...
Key Takeaways: President Trump announced $8 billion in additional agricultural assistance through the Harvest Fuel Relief Program, as USDA projects farm fuel and oil expenses will increase 28.8 percent in 2026. The package follows $12 billion in earlier relief, while government farm payments w...
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...
Beef packer margins deteriorated to $141/head last week, down $55 from the prior week as fed cattle prices strengthened while the Choice cutout remained nearly unchanged. The cutout held near $373/cwt while fed cattle prices climbed $4/cwt to $224/cwt, narrowing processor profits. Despite the d...
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.