Most analysts were expecting U.S. winter wheat farmers to increase planted acres this past fall. Moisture conditions across the southern plains were very good and the trade issues between the U.S. and China were threatening soybean markets and posing the possibility of expanded wheat area. The eventual problem that developed was that moisture conditions across the southern plains and Corn Belt were too good - it wouldn’t stop raining. That made conditions across parts of the southern plains too wet to get as much winter wheat planted as was expected. Wet and cold conditions across the Corn Belt also delayed the soybean and corn harvests, which eventually made it too late to planted either hard red winter or soft red winter whea...
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.