A lot of Uncertainty about U.S. Soybean Yields I have been in the Quad Cities area of Illinois and Iowa this week, attending a conference organized by the Midwestern Shippers Association and the U.S. Soybean Export Council. While here, I have had an opportunity to speak with several farmers and others from all across the Midwest to hear their thoughts about the expectation for their soybean yields. What I have learned is that there is a lot of uncertainty about what they expect. Yesterday's crop condition report indicated that 50 percent of U.S. soybeans were rated as good or excellent over the weekend, down from 52 percent last weekend. A year ago, only 33 percent were rated as good or excellent.Farmers from Iowa, Minnesota, and Illin...
As predicted, the Federal Reserve held rates steady at the last meeting before the midterm elections, likely in part because of the election (see WPI 19 October and 22 September). The decision comes at the tail end of a midterm election cycle that has been marked by the two parties campaigning...
Key Takeaways: WPI’s new EU rapeseed crushing margin models point to weaker processing returns over the next four months due to higher rapeseed procurement costs and weaker product values. Statistical forecasts call for German crushing margins to decline from €181/MT to €...
Key Takeaways: The tariff burden rose sharply in 2025 and 2026: the effective rate on imports in HTS Chapters 1–24 increased from 1.53 percent in 2024 to 6.11 percent in 2025, before averaging 5.68 percent in January–August 2026. Headline rates tell only part of the story: exemptio...
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.