Climate Smokescreen: Germans are said to treasure their privacy, and they are none too pleased with the recent revelation that the U.S. has been spying on phone and Internet traffic. In fact, the crowd in Germany for President Obama's speech today was reportedly 97 percent smaller than the last time he made a major speech there. The president consequently changed the message and talked about his latest hot topic: climate change. The White House is slated next month to announce new restrictions on greenhouse gas emissions.Proving that flattery begets friends (and truth begets hatred), the president told his audience at Brandenburg Gate, "The effort to slow climate change requires bold action. And on this, Germany and Europe have led." But...
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.