No China ASF Visit Wall Street and Chicago headed lower after President Trump signaled that trade negotiations with China were not proceeding as hoped. He basically said China purchasing agricultural commodities is not enough, that he wants a complete deal and he doesn’t need it before the 2020 election. The reaction was somewhat muted because as Jody Lefcourt pointed out in today’s Technical Perspectives report, traders do not trust rallies based on trade policy optimism. Chinese agriculture officials scheduled to visit U.S. farm states as a sign of goodwill promptly cancelled the trip and went back home. This was probably fine with some in the trade who joked that farm officials from ASF-infected China should probably...
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.