Water is the world’s most important commodity, but also its most underappreciated—until scarcity starts. Water scarcity runs in cycles, and reports of shortages, debates on policy, and conflicts about ownership and usage pop up every few years with the reliability and sameness of Fast and Furious movies. While those movies seem to have mercifully ceased, conflicts over water and reports highlighting the dire situation have not. Just this week, there were several headlines that discussed, directly or indirectly, water shortages and conflicts around usage. In this article, WPI looks at recent developments in the water scarcity discussion and contextualizes them amid the global scope of conflicts around water and its role as a huma...
Early Sunday evening, President Trump and Iranian officials confirmed the two countries have agreed to a peace deal. The agreement notes the Strait of Hormuz will be reopened (though President Trump cautioned time would be needed “for purposes of mine removal”) and the U.S. bl...
What You Need to Know Today: It was a quiet trading day across major agricultural commodities, with most contracts closing within 1 percent of the previous day's settlement. Trading volumes for corn and the soy complex were lighter than earlier in the week, as traders were positioning before a...
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.