Supporters have managed to outmaneuver opponents and get reauthorization of the Export-Import Bank back on track in the U.S. Congress. Indonesian Dreaming Indonesian President Joko Widodo met with President Obama in Washington today and asserted that his country wants to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement. That development is unlikely to occur anytime soon. Jakarta imposes a slew of trade barriers from discriminatory licensing requirements to local content demands and direct restrictions. Its anti-trade policies consume 14 pages in the 2014 National Trade Estimates report of barriers imposed by foreign countries, which total 15 percent more than trading giant China and represent 75 percent more documented issues tha...
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.