The agriculture sector is generally optimistic about 2020 based on a new trade deal with Japan in place on New Year’s Day, the progress of the USMCA, and the apparent deal struck with China. Weather is not likely to get worse, but the sheer volume of water means it will take a dry spring to get back to normal. Which raises the question: “what is normal?” Most economic overviews show the steady drop in farm income since the high mark of 2012, and an increase in farm debt over the same period. For example: • From 2012 to 2017, the farm sector saw the largest multiyear decline in net cash income in percentage terms since the 1970s. • Farm sector debt is again near peak levels of the...
Key Market Insights The broad market is locked in on this week’s Trump-Xi meeting in Beijing, but this is no longer just a trade summit. Increasingly, the meeting is becoming tied directly to Iran, energy security, and the growing global economic fallout from disruptions through the Strai...
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.