Many are asking the net long-term impacts of China’s near embargo on purchases of soybeans from the U.S. The historical picture is very clear. The U.S. embargoes grain sales to the Soviet Union in 1980 and the Black Sea region is now once again the proverbial breadbasket to the world. Back in 1973, the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries embargoed sales to about eight importing countries, including the largest at the time, the U.S. The global average price of oil jumped from $3/barrel to $12, though it was far worse for the U.S., since it depended on imports for 45 percent of its consumption. Economic historian Daniel Yergin contends that the oil embargo “remade the international economy.” ...
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.