Regional Updates MEDITERRANEAN/MIDDLE EAST COMMENTS Iran has announced plans to increase the area for wheat planting by 500,000 hectares to 2.25 million hectares. The increased planting may allow the wheat crop to reach 5.2 million MT, assuming good rainfall. Iran is still expected to have to import close to 5 MMT of wheat. Barley planting will be on 1.25 million hectares. Critics in Pakistan are saying that the country is lagging far behind in the use of advanced technology, like GMO, in agriculture. GM maize trials in the country showed yield increases that range from 10 to 45 percent. The government says that it is able to support the use of GM cotton but will have to do more research before adopting GM maize as maize enters the...
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...
Key Market Insights Geopolitical Limbo: Geopolitical risk remained a key driver across global commodity markets today. President Trump stated that the Iran memorandum of understanding is not yet final and warned that military action could resume if negotiations fail. Both sides continue w...
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.