If there is any doubt whether or not agriculture is a key constituency for Republicans generally, and the President specifically, in 2020, consider that the White House has scheduled President Trump to address the American Farm Bureau Federation convention which convenes this weekend for the third year in a row. Notably, EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler will accompany the President. Wheeler is unpopular with corn and biofuels crowd; why would he be there if not to smooth over ruffled feathers on the topic of biofuels and small refinery exemptions (SREs)? It will be worth keeping an ear tuned to Wheeler’s comments to learn of any coming EPA action that could be bullish to biofuel use. Perhaps there will be comments r...
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.