The military's interest in biofuel is purportedly fueled by paranoia about dependence on foreign sources of oil, but those sources are mainly Canada and Mexico. CCC to DoD Some members of Congress with oversight responsibility for the Department of Defense (DoD) have been highly critical of that agency's efforts to buy higher-cost alternative fuels for its ships and planes. The solution announced yesterday is to use the borrowing authority of USDA's Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) to purchase the boutique fuel instead of DoD money. In announcing the Farm-to-Fleet initiative, USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack said, "they're (e.g. biodiesel) cost effective for our military." That is true only because the $146 billion agriculture budget baseline...
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.