It seems that the only potentially bullish market factor today is the slow pace of corn planting in the U.S. The possibility of significant delays that might lead to fewer corn acres and reduced yields hasn’t been enough to offset either the bearish numbers in this month’s WASDE (released 10 May) or the disappointment in the U.S./China trade talks. USDA used a U.S. 2019 average corn yield of 176 bushels/acre, less than 1 bushel/acre off the record 176.6 bushels/acre set in 2017 and the 176.4 bushels/acre yield of last year. Record corn yields seem to have become the norm in recent years. The average yield was just 123.2 bushels/acre in 2012 but grew to 158.2bushels/acre the following year. The MY 2019/20 corn ending suppl...
A pika (/ˈpaɪkə, ˈpiːkə/ PY-kə, PEE-kə[3][4]) is a small, mountain-dwelling mammal native to Asia and North America. With short limbs, a very round body, an even coat of fur, and no external tail, they resemble their close relative the rabbit, but with short, rounded ears.[5] The large-eared pi...
Lobelia (/loʊˈbiːliə, lə-/[4][5][6]) is a genus of flowering plants in the family Campanulaceae comprising 415 species,[7] with a subcosmopolitan distribution primarily in tropical to warm temperate regions of the world, a few species extending into cooler temperate regions.[8] They are known g...
The Olympic marmot (Marmota olympus) is a rodent in the squirrel family, Sciuridae. It occurs only in the U.S. state of Washington, at the middle elevations of the Olympic Peninsula. The closest relatives of this species are the hoary marmot and the Vancouver Island marmot. In 2009, it was decl...
From WPI Consulting
Illuminating the value of technical research
On behalf of a commodity producer organization, WPI evaluated the outputs from a project that featured a $5 million investment into technical research over multiple years. WPI’s team captured the results of this extensive effort and synthesized them for presentation to the organization’s governing board; among the findings uncovered and presented for the first time was the development of genomic traits proven, via rigorous testing, to provide crop yield advantages of 50 percent or more to U.S. farmers in times of drought. Capturing measurable results from long-term efforts can be challenging. Educating clients on the dynamics of success measurement when quantifiable results are not readily available requires deep client-consultant collaboration and an ability to consider both near- and long-term client aspirations with market/policy dynamics – attributes that WPI brings to every consulting engagement.