Without trying to add to the salaciousness of the topic, it is worth considering recent revelations of sexual harassment in the context of the possible impact on Congress. The dean of the House of Representatives, John Conyers (D-Michigan), resigned today. He was the ranking minority member of the powerful House Judiciary Committee and the longest-serving current member of the House. Another member of the powerful House Energy and Commerce Committee, Joe Barton (R-Texas), has announced he won’t run for re-election. Meanwhile, Senator Al Franken (D-Minnesota) is facing pressure from colleagues and even Democratic operatives to resign. In terms of political effect, this issue is akin to the early 1990s House of Representatives bank che...
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.