Overnight trading was mixed with corn and soybeans firmer, while wheat dropped lower. However, the volume of trade was large, which speaks to the importance of the Crop Progress reports this year. If USDA’s March acreage figures are correct, yesterday’s report suggests there are 30 million acres of corn and 51 million acres of soybeans still unplanted. The weather is turning favorable for U.S. crops with increasing dryness across the Plains, western Corn Belt and upper Midwest. That will help farmers enter fields for planting activities, which they are apt to do given the combination of prevented planting and Market Facilitation Program (MFP) payments. Additionally, the southeastern U.S. will receive rains this week that will h...
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.