News Updates MEDITERRANEAN and MIDDLE EAST COMMENTS The Syrian government grain purchasing department (Hoboob) has reported that it purchased 550,000 MT of domestic wheat for flour production. The local harvest will continue for another two months, so no new wheat import tenders are expected in the short run. However, Syria has also announced a tender for the importation of 200,000 MT of wheat flour that will be paid for with funds frozen in banks in Europe. The purchase of food items is allowed for Syria, so the use of frozen funds should be possible. Some trade sources have said that this method of payment could be very complicated and may not be possible. According to the FAO, Syrian wheat production has dropped from 3.6 MMT down to 2...
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.