There is a shortage of respirators and masks, but not food. The actual exporting of food has slowed in some cases due to restrictions on labor, but Bloomberg’s Isis Almeida and Agnieszka de Sousa assembled the following list of food export bans: • Kazakhstan has banned exports of wheat flour, carrots, sugar and potatoes. • Vietnam has stopped rice exports. • Serbia won’t export its sunflower oil and other goods. • Russia has suspended exports of certain grains such as buckwheat and rice. Global wheat, rice and chicken ending stocks are at their highest level in three years. There are more surplus soybeans and pork overhanging the market than two years ago. Coarse grains are down but remain well above req...
What You Need to Know Today: Russia rejected calls for a ceasefire in the Black Sea, including a proposal to halt attacks on civilian shipping that could help restore grain flows from Ukrainian ports. Tyson Foods announced plans to permanently close its Joslin, Illinois, beef processing facili...
The big news in the cattle markets yesterday was Tyson Foods’ move to close two more beef plants. One of them, the Joslin, Illinois, plant was shuttered immediately after the announcement. The other, in Eagle Mountain, Utah, is a case-ready plant that does not slaughter cattle. Tyson also...
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released the Consumer Price Index (CPI) on Wednesday. In July, the CPI rose 0.1 percent, seasonally adjusted, and rose 3.4 percent over the last 12 months, not seasonally adjusted. The index for all items less food and energy, or the “core” infla...
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.