A second impact analysis on the EU’s Green Deal targets for agriculture has now been reviewed and still the policy is hung up as policymakers debate its future. Like the first go-around, EU analysts insist that a 20 percent reduction in fertilizer use, cutting pesticide use in half and setting aside 10 percent of land for biodiversity will not disrupt food security, production, or prices. Perhaps it is a case of when it seems too good to be true, it probably is. Over-application of inputs can be a problem, particularly in less sophisticated farm operations where the interpretation may be that if a little bit is good, more must be better. But input costs deduct from profits and more competitive operators tend to use a cost-benef...
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.
Key Market Insights Macros: Inflation isn’t cooling — it’s moving higher again. March PCE inflation (Personal Consumption Expenditures index — the Fed’s preferred measure of inflation) rose 0.7 percent month-over-month, pushing the annual rate to 3.5 percent, the h...
WPI has officially launched Transportation Perspectives as a standalone weekly report separate from our Ag Perspectives articles and analysis. Current Ag Perspectives subscribers will have gratis access to the report through 16 April 2026. Please email us or subscr...
What Matters Today... Fed holds rates steady as inflation uncertainty tied to the Iran conflict pressures equities and supports broader commodity risk premia Biofuel demand accelerating globally, with U.S. imports of used cooking oil and strong soyoil demand reinforcing upside across the soy c...