Food definitions are an emerging policy topic. The dairy industry doesn’t like the term soymilk, and the rice industry is concerned about the marketing of cauliflower rice. Those issues are minor, though, compared with the question of whether lab-cultured proteins can be called meat or beef. Indeed, the matter of cultured meat is so complex because it raises issues that go beyond definitions such as the next generation debate over livestock cloning and which agency should regulate the product. Last week the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) held a hearing on the topic of cultured meat, also referred to as “clean” meat since the ultimate product is not derived directly from harvesting livestock and thus avoids slaughter...
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.