At the end of June, there were 97.335 million birds depopulated due to HPAI; more than 75 percent at 73.5 birds, were egg layers. So far this month according to USDA, two more operations in Colorado have depopulated another 3.1 million birds, first on 8 July (1.8 million) and the second on 16 July (1.3 million). Not surprisingly, egg inventory last week was down about 2.4 percent compared to the week prior, and prices are up. Today’s Chicken and Eggs report from USDA pegs layers on 1 July at 305 million head. But that number is certainly reduced given recent events. Moreover, the 1 July total was down only 1 million birds from the 1 June total and even with the May total, despite the culling of 4.3 million birds at the end of M...
What You Need to Know Today: The hot, dry weather forecast continues to drive strength in grain futures with corn and soybeans hitting another day of strong gains. Monday’s Crop Progress and Conditions data were in line with market expectations and showed relatively few concerns for the...
Yesterday we wrote about the Q1 GDP numbers and the June employment reports in an article entitled Real GDP for Q1 Relying on AI Buildout, Held Back by Consumer Spending. That article mentioned that consumer spending had become a drag on GDP. Nonetheless, real GDP in Q1 was revised upward to 2...
Key Takeaways: The Middle East and North Africa's arid climate and limited water resources have created a structural dependence on imported wheat. Government wheat tenders in major importing countries serve as important benchmarks for global trade, providing insight into exporter competitivene...
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.