A little over four years ago (see WPI Wednesday, 26 November 2008), China and the EU announced their respective economic stimulus packages, prompting WPI's Bob Kohlmeyer to write, "Economic stimulus is the new mantra these days." A younger (then-president-elect) Barack Obama had previously "promised that his administration would hit the ground running with a new two-year $500 billion package designed to promote investment, create jobs and jump start the economy."China's proposed changes (cutting bank lending interest rate by 1.08 percent to 5.58 percent and spending $568 billion on infrastructure improvements) "helped grain and soy prices firm overnight on the assumption that the infrastructure stimulus package would support Chinese demand...
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...
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.