Regional Updates MEDITERRANEAN/MIDDLE EAST/NORTH AFRICA Egypt reports that local wheat purchases by the government are now at 1 MMT well on the way to the target of 3.6 MMT. However, local press says that purchases are actually closer to 600,000 MT. Coronavirus restrictions in Egypt do not affect farmers, as they are exempt, so farmers are working day and night to harvest the wheat crop as quickly as possible. An added complication for farmers is that this month, the main harvest month, is also the month of Ramadan, a time of sunrise to sunset fasting, which makes the harvest efforts more difficult. Egypt set up the Agricultural Solidarity Fund (ASF) in 2014 that was designed to support farmers through times of natural...
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.