A draft EU-backed study of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) oddly concludes that the pact will actually raise the cost of food and promote unhealthy consumption because the cost of sugar, tobacco and alcohol will go down. Politics at AB The U.S. is being criticized for disapproving the reappointment of Seung Wha Chang as a jurist on the WTO’s Appellate Board (AB). Supporters of Chang warn that the U.S. is threatening the independence and impartiality of adjudication as well as politicizing the body. Washington’s complaint against Chang is that rather than interpreting trade law, he has been “legislating from the bench” – creating precedent with no underlying statutory credence. In other words, it is Chang that is...
What You Need to Know Today: A third U.S. border crossing (Columbus, New Mexico) has reopened to Mexican cattle imports following nearly two years of restrictions related to New World screwworm. The reopening could gradually improve feeder cattle availability, although more than 60 confi...
Yesterday, the USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) released a new report of negotiated cash purchases of cattle under the mandatory price report. The report included Colorado, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas, and Kansas. The goal of the report was to solve the confidentiality issues e...
Key Takeaways: U.S. soybean crushing began in 1911 and saw its most rapid expansion during the 1930s amid the broader agricultural and technology revolutions of the time. After peaking in the early 2000s, the soybean crushing industry went through a downturn as poor crush margins forced...
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.