Biotech Shifts The assault on agricultural biotechnology has increased in the United States and Prop 37 (mandatory labeling) in California is a major threat, but there are signs of growing acceptance in Europe. Poland has now passed a law allowing the use of biotech soybeans in animal feed effective in 2016. More broadly, at an informal Farm Council meeting on CAP Reform in Cyprus this week, the use of biotechnology was reportedly mentioned as one of the technological solutions to deal with water shortage concerns.Sometimes the language of the anti-biotech movement is so over the top that it's humorous. Following an article in Nature News on Jack Heinemann, a University of Canterbury professor who has never found a biotech crop that does...
What You Need to Know Today: Commodities were mostly lower across the board today after yesterday’s Federal Reserve meeting hinted at a potential interest rate hike later in 2026. The dollar index reached its highest level in over a year, and a strong dollar makes U.S. agricultural expor...
Tomorrow is the Juneteenth federal holiday, and the USDA, along with the rest of the federal government and the CME, will be closed, so the monthly Cattle on Feed report was released a day early. The total number of cattle on feed in feedlots with 1,000 head or more capacity on 1 June amounted...
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.