As Congress returns from the 4th of July recess next week, the House will be in session for three weeks prior to the August break. However, the Senate is (at this time) still scheduled to be in session through August. Below are some of the top issues facing agriculture. Pruitt Resignation As Gary Blumenthal wrote yesterday (click here),President Trump accepted the resignation of EPA Administrator and former Oklahoma Attorney General Pruitt. He will be succeeded by his deputy, Andrew Wheeler, in at least an acting administrator capacity. There is no guarantee that he will be nominated for the post of administrator, and he will face battles on two fronts if he is. First, Wheeler will have opposition from the environmental com...
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.