The EPA is busy with renewable fuel issues. It is reviewing comments on the proposed volume obligations for 2019, which will be finalized by 30 November, and considering a year-round waiver for E15 that it is expected to propose, perhaps before the 2018 elections. The agency is also dealing with industry backlash over the granting of small refinery waivers. There are more issues, however, looming over the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). Below is a look at some of the outstanding matters facing the EPA and what might bounce to Congress for its intervention. 2016 Shortfall Regarding the combined volume obligations for 2014, 2015 and 2016, the EPA retroactively set the residual ethanol mandate at the actual usage in 2014 and 2015, but it use...
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.