Last Friday the Labor Department released a shocker of a jobs report: 517,000 new jobs created in January. The pre-report consensus was 188,000 jobs. Unemployment was 3.4 percent, the lowest in more than 50 years. The number was a surprise because it came after a barrage of headlines about massive layoffs in the tech sector, which probably says something about the number of actual jobs in the tech sector. There is a lot to digest from this jobs report. First, anecdotally, many of the tech layoffs were from jobs added during the COVID era when tech was booming (zoom calls, virtual conferences, on-line shopping, etc.). Now things are getting back to more “normal” – airlines are flying, hotels are full, restaura...
What You Need to Know Today: The corn and soybean markets closed slightly higher in low-volume trade. The wheat market was mixed, with HRW continuing its downward trek on improved moisture. As expected, the bearish cattle on feed report drove down cattle prices and pulled hogs down with it. Mi...
Monday, 25 May is a U.S. holiday, and both the markets and our office will be closed. Please note that the next issue of Ag Perspectives will be published on Tuesday, 26 May. The WPI staff wishes everyone a safe and enjoyable holiday weekend...
USDA’s monthly cattle on feed report was released today. The total number of cattle on feed in feedlots with 1,000 head or more capacity amounted to 11.6 million head, 102 percent of last year. Source: USDA, WPI Placements were up, but part of that is attributable to persistent drought c...
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.