USG Shutdown Forecast Historical: The partial shutdown of U.S. government (USG) services that began 16 days ago must last until 13 January to beat the 21-day shutdown that occurred during 1995/96. The frequency in recent decades of political impasses between the branches of government leading to a shutdown means that they have become normalized. For those with money, it looks like a paid vacation for federal workers since they will ultimately be compensated for any lost wages. However, nearly 80 percent of all full-time workers say they work paycheck to paycheck, meaning they lack the savings to bridge a multi-week gap in income. Government employees are unlikely to veer far from that pattern. More adversely impacted are government contrac...
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.