World Perspectives
livestock

A Closer Look at Drought and Cattle

Yesterday, Matt Herrington reported on the drought conditions in the west and High Plains. The western U.S. is at its worst drought conditions in 20 years, and the Plains states are also at the worst since the 2012 drought, though state by state conditions are spottier. Below is a closer look at the coverage of cattle country; about 37 percent of the U.S. cattle inventory is in areas experiencing a drought. Pasture and hay conditions are moving to the point of not being able to recover. Overall, 35 percent of hay acreage is in drought areas, and 62 percent of alfalfa hay acreage is in drought areas.   Given the regional breakdown above, including the Midwest (Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan), the west (California, Idaho, New Me...

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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.

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