A third of U.S. grain and oilseed exports move through New Orleans and nearly 40 percent if one includes the Texas Gulf ports. Another 15 percent moves out the PNW to Asia. But what happens when the Mississippi dries up? In older literature, USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service does not even show the Great Lakes ports moving cargo out of the Midwest. But when a conventional egress is blocked, find another route. U.S. wheat exports are about on par with last year, but corn and soybean exports are both off by about a fifth. Thus far this year, U.S. grain exports moving out through the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence Seaway to the North Atlantic are up 40 percent and potash is up over 260 percent. Some of this moved prior to the...
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.