With President Trump’s tweet this weekend that he’s ready to escalate the trade war with China, the administration’s recalcitrance on removing the Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from Mexico and Canada, and the farm sector’s anxiety over the ag economy growing, several key Democrats are seeking to break the electoral stranglehold Republicans have had on farm states. However, the strategies considered so far are widely divergent. It should first be noted that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-California) has been encouraging new Democratic members who won their seats in Republican-held districts to do what they need to do. The Democratic majority was won based on those races as well as the recovery of s...
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.