Tanzania reports that its first official GM maize field trials, which involve a white drought-resistant variety, began last week and are expected to take about three years for completion and analysis. However, the field trials in Kenya are now headed in a different direction. Regional Updates MIDDLE EAST/MIDDLE EAST COMMENTS The most recent USDA-FAS report on grains in Egypt doesn’t show any major changes for wheat and corn production, usage or imports. For wheat, local production is steady at about 8.1 MMT with imports set at 11.8 MMT, down 275,000 MT from last year. Meanwhile, total wheat consumption is up about 400,000 MT at 19.6 MMT. There are no imports of U.S. wheat and corn forecast for 2016/17, although current U.S. export prices...
The corn and soy complex closed higher, with the wheat market mixed, as winter wheat closed up but spring wheat and livestock ended lower. Part of the strength for corn and soybeans may have been a weather premium, as crop planting has started out fast but warm weather has been slow to develop...
Real GDP grew at a 2 percent annual rate in the first quarter of 2026, slightly below the consensus expectation of 2.3 percent but above the 0.5 percent growth in Q4 2025. The GDP number matches the average annualized pace of growth since the peak back in late 2007, right before the Financial P...
Reflect for a moment on what you eat. There is a lot of advice out there in the ether about what you should eat, but really, what do you currently eat and how much? The good people at the USDA have some data for you, to help you answer that question. USDA says that we eat quite a bit of meat. L...
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.