Last Friday (see WPI 13 July) we wrote that it is up to the House Republican leadership to devise a strategy to deal with scheduling the farm bill. Here's this analyst's bias: The farm vote is way overstated in Washington, mostly by ag advocates who are myopic and campaign consultants who don't understand the sector.Indeed, then-presidential candidate Barack Obama made serious inroads into rural counties in 2008, and actually edged out Republican candidate John McCain in several rural Iowa counties -- counties that Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry lost big in 2004. However, according to an NBC News analysis, voter turnout was lower in 2008 than in 2004 in two-thirds of Iowa rural counties, indicating more Bush-fatigue than...
Key Takeaways: President Trump announced $8 billion in additional agricultural assistance through the Harvest Fuel Relief Program, as USDA projects farm fuel and oil expenses will increase 28.8 percent in 2026. The package follows $12 billion in earlier relief, while government farm payments w...
Key Takeaways: A student group from the University of Chicago is protesting to bring back onion futures trading. Trading in onion futures was banned in 1958 following a spectacular bout of market manipulation that resulted in a corner of the physical market. The ban on onion futures led t...
Beef packer margins deteriorated to $141/head last week, down $55 from the prior week as fed cattle prices strengthened while the Choice cutout remained nearly unchanged. The cutout held near $373/cwt while fed cattle prices climbed $4/cwt to $224/cwt, narrowing processor profits. Despite the d...
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.