Wheat is the largest and possibly oldest consumed food grain in the world, but its future is slowing down. Known as the staff of life, about 50 percent more wheat is consumed than rice, though about 18 percent of wheat destruction is from feed use. Bread is a predominant use of wheat, though pasta is also a demand medium. This past Saturday (17 October) was National Pasta Day, but all of November is National Bread Month. Globally, the OECD forecasts total wheat use increasing 1 percent between 2015 and 2024, which means that on a per capita basis, it will decline over that period by -0.01 percent. Consumption in North America is in decline and it is incurring slow growth in Europe. Turkey is the largest per capita consumer of wheat, using...
What You Need to Know Today: The September Cattle on Feed report was strongly bullish, with both the 1 September on-feed inventory and August placements coming in well below average expectations and below the bottom of their respective pre-report estimate ranges. China continues to buy U...
USDA’s September cattle on feed report was released Friday, with the total number of cattle in feedlots with 1,000 head or more capacity amounting to 11.2 million head, 101 percent of last year. Placements dropped in August to their lowest total for the month since records began in 1996...
Key Takeaways: The U.S. herd is stabilizing, but growth remains modest. Total goat inventory rose 1 percent in 2026, while meat-goat numbers increased 2 percent, which is not enough to materially reduce import dependence. Domestic slaughter is rising from a low base. Commercial slaughter incre...
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.