Cockleburs a Problem for U.S. Soybean Shipments to Pakistan While in Karachi this past weekend to speak at the third Pakistan Edible Oils Conference, it was apparent that Pakistan is experiencing rapid growth in demand for vegetable oils and soymeal. This has resulted in the construction of new soybean processing plants and major increases in soybean imports to produce a supply to meet that demand. USDA has forecast Pakistan’s 2017/18 soybean imports at 2 MMT, up from only 11,000 MT in 2013/14 and 1.69 MMT in 2016/17. A problem has arisen, however, for U.S. soybean exports to that country. The import inspection service there has determined that the presence of cockleburs in those shipments pose a weed threat to Pakistan. However, th...
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.