Corn Argentina’s corn harvest continued at full speed and reached 90 percent of the expected harvested area. Despite rains that fell last week, the weekly progress was still near 9 percent. At the same time, farmers remain strong sellers and the market has been dynamic. In July alone, producers sold near 2.5 MMT. With exporters having already purchased 33 MMT (versus 32.5 MMT of export declarations), it will be important for the government to increase the exportable balance (currently set at 36 MMT) so that sales do not lose speed and local prices are not depressed. Sooner or later, it is likely the government will increase the permit volume, but they are equally likely to do so by releasing small-volume quotas to maintain con...
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.