DIS Insights

posted by Aaron Gerdts on Monday, April 1, 2024 RIN prices have come down significantly in the last 9 months. To be competitive, biofuel producers need to be able to sell their fuels at the same price as conventional petroleum fuels. Typically, biofuels have higher costs of production than conventional fuels.

posted by Jing Tang on Monday, April 1, 2024 Soybean oil prices increased almost three times more in the summertime of 2021 compared to prices before 2021. Soybean meal price rose back to $493 per ton at the end of 2023, then fell back to $374 per ton in March 2024. Historically, a little over two thirds of the total value of soybean crush products came from soybean meal and the remaining one third came from soybean oil.

posted by Kade Grafel on Wednesday, February 21, 2024 IMPLAN's newest dataset was released at the end of November 2023. This dataset, based on 2022 data, is the most recent snapshot of economic activity by industry at the national, state, and county level.

posted by S. Patricia Batres-Marquez on Wednesday, February 21, 2024 Data released this month by USDA-FAS indicates U.S. pork exports were up 8% to 2.32 million metric tons (MT) in the 2023 calendar year compared with last year (see Figure 1). The value of those exports was estimated at $6.79 billion. U.S. pork exports to Mexico, the leading market, reached an all time record volume of 941,477 MT worth $2.05 billion.

posted by Aaron Gerdts on Thursday, December 28, 2023 Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) has been affecting US poultry flocks for almost two years now. Cases began in February 2022. Total cases and birds affected by month are shown in Figure 1 & Figure 2.

posted by David Miller on Thursday, December 28, 2023 According to the USDA-FAS PSD database, reported world consumption of soybean meal was 243.67 million metric tons (mmt) in the 2022/23 marketing year.

posted by Jing Tang on Thursday, December 28, 2023 The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) published its Monthly Energy Review report on December 21st, 2023 and its Monthly Biofuels Capacity and Feed Stocks Update Report on November 30th, 2023. In this article, we will conduct a descriptive analysis of pure biodiesel (B100) production and its feedstocks usage.

posted by Kade Grafel on Monday, November 20, 2023 The United Auto Workers (UAW), a union of American automobile manufacturing workers, has recently reached a deal with the “big three” US-based automakers: General Motors, Ford, and Stellantis.

posted by S. Patricia Batres-Marquez on Monday, November 20, 2023 The Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) and Price Loss Coverage (PLC) programs were first authorized by the Agricultural Act of 2014 (2014 Farm Bill) and reauthorized with modifications by the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (2018 Farm Bill).

posted by Michael J. Doherty on Monday, November 20, 2023 A lot of people know that Decision Innovation Solutions is an economic analytics firm based in Des Moines with expertise in ag-related economics and agribusiness analysis. What is less well-known is the expertise DIS has gained in broader economic development projects for municipalities.

posted by Jing Tang on Monday, October 23, 2023 In 2016, the state of Oregon launched the Oregon Clean Fuels Program (Oregon CFP); and the state of Washington started its Clean Fuel Standard on January 1st, 2023. Clean fuels/energy standards or programs in 12 other states have been proposed to the state governments

posted by David Miller on Monday, October 23, 2023 The 2023 U.S. corn and soybean harvest is nearing its midpoint in terms of harvested acres and farmers are now getting a better sense of crop yields following a growing season characterized by extended periods of dry weather across much of Iowa and other parts of the Corn Belt.

posted by Spencer Parkinson on Monday, October 23, 2023 While it seems that 2023 just started, looking at the calendar does indeed show that we have just 10 weeks left in the year. With another year soon coming to a close, I thought an update on the exciting work the DIS Team has been engaged in would be appropriate. As in previous business updates, we continue to be grateful for such a dedicated, hard-working team of professionals here at DIS.

posted by Kade Grafel on Monday, September 11, 2023 The past several years have been a turbulent period for international trade. With a pandemic, a major trade conflict, a war in Europe, and other weather- and supply chain-based disruptions, there has been no shortage of events causing major changes to the flow of goods around the world.

posted by Aaron Gerdts on Monday, September 11, 2023 Iowa fertilizer prices began rising in 2021 and peaked during the summer of 2022. Price peaks for each fertilizer were close to double their respective 2018-2020 average prices. Since the peak, prices have generally been trending down, though they still have not reached 2018-2020 levels.