A major power conceding in a war usually takes many years and horrific losses. The undeclared war by the U.S. against North Vietnam lasted 20 years and took the lives of over 58,000 Americans as well as more than a million Southeast Asians. The Cold War lasted more than four decades and only ended due to the economic implosion of the Soviet Union. Trump’s trade war with China will similarly not end soon. This is in part practical since retreat means no change in China’s state-run mercantilist behaviors. Thus, the only real question is how to best mitigate the war’s cost. The Trump administration will reportedly write another check to agricultural producers, reportedly up to $20 billion, which is in addition to the $12 bil...
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.