World Perspectives

U.S. Agriculture Crisis

U.S. farmers’ export markets were challenging before the trade war, and they are not coming back. It is time for Plan B. The trade agreement still being negotiated with the United Kingdom will supposedly allow U.S. beef producers to fill up to 1.5 percent of the British market. Except the U.S. is short of beef for its own consumers, and Washington is allowing Britain to maintain its ban on hormone treated beef. Pork and poultry are not part of the agreement and they would raise a whole different set of European technical barriers. USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins suggested that American exporters should follow the market and not the science, but conceding this principal is a slippery slope.  It is true that good businesses deliver w...

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Bearish Sugar Prices to Continue Despite Production Increases

The U.S. 2025/26 sugar supply is forecast at 14.119 million short tons, raw value (STRV), down 1,800 STRV from November as the decrease in expected imports of refined organic and specialty sugar, which pays the high tier, out of quota duty, more than offsets the increase in beginning stocks and...

livestock

Livestock Industry Margins

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Bearish Sugar Prices to Continue Despite Production Increases

The U.S. 2025/26 sugar supply is forecast at 14.119 million short tons, raw value (STRV), down 1,800 STRV from November as the decrease in expected imports of refined organic and specialty sugar, which pays the high tier, out of quota duty, more than offsets the increase in beginning stocks and...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Summary of Futures

Mar 26 Corn closed at $4.365/bushel, down $0.0325 from yesterday's close.  Mar 26 Wheat closed at $5.095/bushel, down $0.1125 from yesterday's close.  Jan 26 Soybeans closed at $10.6275/bushel, down $0.09 from yesterday's close.  Jan 26 Soymeal closed at $302.4/short ton, down $1...

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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.

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