Market Overview It has been a hard week for the Argentina grain markets. The macroeconomic situation is becoming more complicated every day and hurting businesses. The exchange rate spread (official versus black market) is trading above 125 percent and there is also a big spread (close to 100 percent) against financial dollars. The measures the government took to avoid more loses in central bank dollars are worsening the situation. Right now, Argentine companies have very limited/no access to U.S. dollars, and imports are nearly prohibited, as is moving money out of Argentina. Despite the government doing their upmost to avoid it, it seems that the only way out is with a large currency devaluation. Such action now seems inevitable,...
What You Need to Know Today: Russia rejected calls for a ceasefire in the Black Sea, including a proposal to halt attacks on civilian shipping that could help restore grain flows from Ukrainian ports. Tyson Foods announced plans to permanently close its Joslin, Illinois, beef processing facili...
We have described the long-term investment climate in crop and livestock production, using data primarily from the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA). The data provided background on the current investment climate and outlook for agricultural capital formation. Our conclusion was that investment...
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.