WPI has written about the declining state of the U.S. soybean crop for several weeks. Our concerns started when crop observers reported that soybean pod counts from central Illinois through much of the western Corn Belt were well below normal and, in some areas, less than half of normal or average. This was before the searing heat and no rain that took over in the past 10 days. The cool summer had masked the lack of moisture across the west until temperatures soared. The hot weather quickly changed the appearance of the corn and soybean crops from looking good to looking stressed. The current hot and dry pattern will continue at least through the Labor Day weekend, according to today's weather forecasts. That will add to the crop stress.L...
What You Need to Know Today: U.S. weather is getting more attention this week as conditions vary greatly across the western, central, and eastern corn belts, with the different regions battling dryness and too much rain simultaneously. The ProFarmer Crop Tour began today in Indiana and Nebrask...
Key Takeaways: Argentina is on pace for a record corn crop and record exports in the current marketing year, with abundant supplies likely to keep the country highly competitive in global export markets. Argentina’s record exportable surplus is allowing it to offer highly competitive pri...
Illuminating the value of technical research
On behalf of a commodity producer organization, WPI evaluated the outputs from a project that featured a $5 million investment into technical research over multiple years. WPI’s team captured the results of this extensive effort and synthesized them for presentation to the organization’s governing board; among the findings uncovered and presented for the first time was the development of genomic traits proven, via rigorous testing, to provide crop yield advantages of 50 percent or more to U.S. farmers in times of drought. Capturing measurable results from long-term efforts can be challenging. Educating clients on the dynamics of success measurement when quantifiable results are not readily available requires deep client-consultant collaboration and an ability to consider both near- and long-term client aspirations with market/policy dynamics – attributes that WPI brings to every consulting engagement.