The Jewish Passover seder rite begins with the youngest person, the one least familiar with history, to ask the question, "Why is this night different from all the others?" And so begins the ritual explanation of the history of the Jewish people. Recently, Jason Henderson, a vice president at the Omaha branch of the Kansas City Federal Reserve, posed the economic equivalent question for agriculture: "Why is this farm land boom different from all the others?" He went on to explain the cycle of U.S. agriculture over the past 100 years. The following are some highlights.U.S. agriculture enjoyed two golden eras in the 20th century: the 1910s and the 1970s. Both were led by strong global demand and rising exports; both boosted agricultural com...
What You Need to Know Today: Declining crop conditions ratings and shaky results from the Pro Farmer crop tour sent grains sharply higher on Tuesday. The Pro Farmer tour in Ohio pegged the state yield at 180.18 BPA, about 5.5 BPA below the tour’s 2025 estimate. Similarly, the Pro Farmer...
Mediterranean/Middle East/North Africa/Africa – MEA Region Egypt is the largest importer of Brazilian maize in the first six months of 2026. Egypt imported about 28.4 percent of maize exports, or about 1.7 million MT. Iran was the third-largest importer at 14.5 percent, or 900,000 MT, fol...
Based on a Depression-era statute, President Trump imposed 50 percent tariffs on $20 billion of exports to the U.S., or about 5.2 percent of the $383 billion worth of goods the U.S. imported from Canada in 2025, according to U.S. Census Bureau data. Of that total, about $39.3 billion was agricu...
From WPI Consulting
Infrastructure investment due diligence
On behalf of a Canadian oilseed processer WPI's team provided market analysis, econometric modeling and financial due diligence in support of a $24 million-dollar investment in a Ukrainian crush plant. Consistent with WPI's findings, local production to supply the plant and the facility's output have expanded exponentially since the investment. WPI has conducted parallel work on behalf of U.S., South American and European clients, both private and public, in the agri-food space.