News Updates MEDITERRANEAN AND MIDDLE EAST COMMENTS The Iraqi Ministry of Trade has announced that the current wheat stocks on hand are sufficient to meet the country's needs for the next six months. It was indicated that there will be no shortages and a reduced need for imported grains with the local crop of wheat and barley reaching 3.8 MMT this year.Independent estimates of Iraq's 2013 grain production are actually higher than the government's projections with wheat and barley reaching 4.2 MMT. Wheat production is expected to increase from 2.1 MMT to 3.3 MMT while barley should jump from 500,000 MT to about 900,000 MT. Corn production is expected to remain about the same at 250,000 MT per year. Wheat imports are still expected...
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.