Regional News The EU Commission lowered the region’s corn and soybean 2020 yields in its 26 October monthly bulletin. The EU corn yield was revised 5 percent lower from the agency’s September estimate to land at 7.42 MT/ha. Similarly, soybean yields were pared back 1.3 percent to 3.01 MT/ha. The reductions were largely motivated by data revisions reflecting the extent of summer drought conditions. Southern and western Europe are trending drier in the next two weeks while central and eastern Europe see normal precipitation. The UK will see above-average rainfall in the coming weeks. Notably, temperatures for nearly all of Europe will be above average this week. Light showers are forecast for eastern Ukraine and sout...
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.