World Perspectives
livestock

Cattle Contraction to be Felt Soon

We’re a week out from the April Cattle on Feed report; as noted on 25 March, the 1 March Cattle on Feed report showed record monthly inventories for the second month in a row, but the overall herd is declining. USDA’s annual cattle inventory report showed the total herd down 2 percent to 91.9 million head, with feeder cattle and replacement heifers down 3 percent. Soon, cattle on feed inventory will be tight. We’ll soon have a peak into the quarterly number of feeder cattle outside of feedlots. January was the lowest number since 2015. Drought conditions and heifer placements are likely to push down the April number to a similar level. Auction receipts last week were about 44,000 head below last year, and there is not a l...

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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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