Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, responding to protests over a mandate that truckers crossing the border be vaccinated against COVID, says that the requirement has not slowed trade. Indeed, that is true. In fact, the growth in cross-border trade in food over-shot trend in 2021 and is up 17-18 percent during the first two months of this fiscal year. The largest increase, over $9 billion, was in U.S. imports of Canadian forest products. The surge responds to a rapid increase in U.S. home building in the face of housing shortages. The growth in agricultural products moving northbound has been more modest, with recent increases in grain and grain products like DDG’s reflecting the shortfall in Canadian production due to drou...
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.