Macro Trends 2017 Ag Output Up Despite Lagging Growth Rates Annual data released by China’s National Bureau of Statistics shows the country’s total ag output was up year on year in 2017. Field crop production (including soybeans, wheat, corn, rice, beans, fruits and vegetables) increased 0.3 percent to 617.9 MMT from 616.05 MT in 2016. At the same time, total planted acreage fell 0.7 percent to 112.2 million hectares (277.25 million acres). Improved production efficiencies in corn and cotton pushed the average yield to 5.5 MT/hectare (13.59 MT/acre, up 1 percent from 2016. On the livestock front, output was fairly stagnant with the exception of beef production, which rose 1.3 percent to 7.26 MMT. Meanwhile, pork output was up...
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.