Global cattle production has basically been running steady. Fluctuating based on climate, health, supply and demand, and the gestation cycle. The U.S. is the largest fed-cattle producing nation, and the largest consumer of beef. It imports whatever it needs to meet demand. Cattle production in the U.S. and the rest of the world have an R2 of -.51 but there are lots of inconsistencies. What is clear is that global beef consumption is increasing faster than production. Ignoring differences like calves and cows and water buffaloes versus beef cattle, global all cattle production hit 1008 million head in 2014, dipped to 969 million head and is now back up at 1009 million head. An overall increase of 0.1 percent. During that same period, consum...
Illuminating the value of technical research
On behalf of a commodity producer organization, WPI evaluated the outputs from a project that featured a $5 million investment into technical research over multiple years. WPI’s team captured the results of this extensive effort and synthesized them for presentation to the organization’s governing board; among the findings uncovered and presented for the first time was the development of genomic traits proven, via rigorous testing, to provide crop yield advantages of 50 percent or more to U.S. farmers in times of drought. Capturing measurable results from long-term efforts can be challenging. Educating clients on the dynamics of success measurement when quantifiable results are not readily available requires deep client-consultant collaboration and an ability to consider both near- and long-term client aspirations with market/policy dynamics – attributes that WPI brings to every consulting engagement.