Moving on from the WTO Often it is what people say when they are leaving a job that has the most meaning. Departing U.S. Ambassador to the WTO Dennis Shea had his assessment of the institution. He described the WTO’s core problem as, “not a lack of trust but a lack of like-mindedness.” Under the old GATT, the G-7 economies controlled over half the world’s GDP and were all democracies. As former New Zealand trade official Tim Groser notes, the rich countries made the commitments, and the developing countries were takers, never being asked to contribute anything. Today the G-7 represents just 31 percent of the global economy and its share will continue to decline. The largest economy is state-led China, which declares...
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.