Real Trade War Tariffs applied by both the U.S. and China are staged to rise substantially tomorrow unless there is a last-minute agreement between each country’s respective trade negotiators. The trade war has had more subtle, adverse economic impacts up to this point, but they are likely to worsen substantially. Unfortunately, the more painful those are, the likelier the war is to come to an end. If the adverse impacts are not dramatic, the longer the trade war and the worse for U.S. agriculture. Beijing’s reorganization of its state-owned agribusiness giants is a case in point for the trade war. The functions of COFCO and Sinograin are being reshuffled to enable China to outcompete privately-owned western agribusinesses. At...
What You Need to Know Today: Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva secured reelection on Sunday, defeating right-wing Senator Flávio Bolsonaro despite trailing in the first round of voting. The surprise victory triggered a sharp selloff in Brazilian financial market...
The 2026 midterm elections are a week from tomorrow, but early voting has been taking place for weeks. At stake is control of Congress, including the House of Representatives, where all 435 seats are contested, and the Senate, where approximately one-third of the seats are up for election. Farm...
Key Takeaways: Total U.S. crop acres (excluding hay) are forecast to expand fractionally this year due to greater oilseed crop and winter wheat plantings. One of the key drivers of this year’s crop outlook is input costs, and crops with a lower cost profile have an advantage in producers...
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.