U.S. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (D-Oregon) seeks to normalize relations with Cuba after the Trump Administration distanced itself from the communist, state-led economy. American agricultural groups will be pleased since they see the island as a market for sales even if prospects have been marginal at best. In some ways Cuba is improving its ways. The latest being the elimination of a dubious dual currency policy where the peso has more value on a state-run conversion system with hard currencies and a different value on the black market. However, the larger issue is the disparate approaches in international relations even when countries are very similar in most ways. For example, Cuba, China, and Vietnam are each treated di...
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.