USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue announced that his agency was “authorized” to make the second round of 2019 Market Facilitation Program (MFP) payments. The program set aside $14.5 billion to be made in three tranches. So far, $6.7 billion has been sent out under the 2019 version of MFP, with the balance to be reserved “if needed.” This second round would come in December, absent a deal with China, or even depending on the timing and terms of a deal with China, a potential third round could come in January. This is in addition to the $8.6 billion spent on MFP in 2018. Also, this week House Agriculture Committee chairman Collin Peterson (D-Minnesota) outlined in a letter to Perdue the shortcomings of MFP. Most of the iss...
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.