USDA’s December WASDE, released at midday, fits right into the history of previous issues for this month. They very seldom contain surprises but are always interesting, especially since they come along at a time of year when markets must search hard to find anything that is compelling. This is surely the case in December 2017 when the most interesting things are South American weather forecasts. As Mike Krueger noted yesterday, December WASDEs do not provide fresh production estimates for crops harvested in the fall. We must wait until 12 January for USDA’s final scheduled estimates for U.S. 2017/18 corn, soybeans and grain sorghum production. For the December WASDE, markets usually focus on whatever adjustments are made to pro...
ZanzibarMnemba Marine Parksouthern cassowary Mnemba Marine Park is located 10 kilometres (6 mi) from Stone Town and forms part of the northeastern Unguja Island. A marine reserve and atoll, its shallow stretch of coral reef is in the shape of an oval. It is located between Matemwe and Nungwi, w...
Kiwengwa/Pongwe Forest Reserve Kiwengwa/Pongwe Forest Reserve is located on the northeast coast of Unguja, 20 kilometres (12 mi) from the Town. The reserve is an important biodiversity spot in the coral rag zone. The forest reserve is rich both in faunal and floral species. The faunal species r...
Fabiana is a genus of flowering plants in the nightshade family, native to dry slopes in western South America.[1] They are evergreen shrubs or subshrubs,[1] with needle-like leaves and profuse tiny tubular flowers in summer. The common name is false heath because the leaves superficially resem...
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.