Drought Is Inevitable, Overall Rainfall Deficiency Remains at 22 Percent "Drought is inevitable, and the situation in August may not improve," said a farmer speaking in Karnataka and Maharasthra. "Even it if does, what can a farmer do now [that the planting window] has long gone?"Rainfall data from across the country suggest that many regions -- including Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Bihar, Orissa and Jharkhand -- have had deficient rainfall. This is threatening summer sown crops, primarily pulses, coarse cereals and even rice to some extent. The secretary of agriculture has indicated that India may not be able to achieve its estimated food grain production of 257.44 MMT (as per the 4th Adva...
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.