Trump Trade Policy Explained In a Foreign Policy magazine article by USTR Robert Lighthizer, the Trump Administration’s trade policy is explained as a rejection of the historic bifurcated view of it either being geopolitical or economic, and instead the focus being on the well-being of Americans. Specifically, the goal is to maximize competition to the point that it doesn’t hurt the half of Americans that are not college educated and have been hurt most by outsourcing manufacturing. He says it is callous for ivory-tower types to argue free trade should prevail and society should be forced to adapt. He believes trade policy should reflect the type of society that is desired. He defends the Administration’s kinetic a...
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.