Trade Amendment Free-for-All The U.S. Senate Finance Committee markup of trade bills today reflects a lot of pent-up political anxiety, much of it misdirected. Congress recognizes the economic necessity of passing permanent normal trade relations (PNTR) for Russia and fabric will get added to the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). Legislation creating research and assistance trust funds for citrus, cotton and wool only encourages the parochial nature of the markup. There are amendments hounding Mexico over access for U.S. potatoes, demanding reports, and tracking on ractopamine, timber and other trade objectives. The silliest is a proposed requirement that any prospective free trade agreement (FTA) partners should be certified fr...
Key Takeaways: President Trump announced $8 billion in additional agricultural assistance through the Harvest Fuel Relief Program, as USDA projects farm fuel and oil expenses will increase 28.8 percent in 2026. The package follows $12 billion in earlier relief, while government farm payments w...
Key Takeaways: A student group from the University of Chicago is protesting to bring back onion futures trading. Trading in onion futures was banned in 1958 following a spectacular bout of market manipulation that resulted in a corner of the physical market. The ban on onion futures led t...
Beef packer margins deteriorated to $141/head last week, down $55 from the prior week as fed cattle prices strengthened while the Choice cutout remained nearly unchanged. The cutout held near $373/cwt while fed cattle prices climbed $4/cwt to $224/cwt, narrowing processor profits. Despite the d...
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.