Tariffs, but It’s NTBs Additional retaliatory tariffs were applied by Mexico today, and another round of U.S. tariffs will be applied to China at the stroke of midnight. Soon there will be more retaliatory tariffs and, presumably, counter-retaliatory tariffs. Two-thirds of U.S. agricultural exports go to countries that President Trump has declared war against. Former Australian economics editor Alan Mitchell thinks tariffs miss the real problem, which is nontariff barriers (NTBs). Indeed, at least one Trump administration official says that gaming the trade rules is so prevalent that it’s hard to see who is benefitting anymore. Mitchell speculates that maybe the trade war will bring attention to this problem since the WTO has 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.