The U.S. Senate approved (55 to 43) a measure today that would end USDA’s inspection of imported catfish and move the responsibility back to the FDA from whence it came. Fishy Cat Fight Over Inspection The U.S. Senate approved (55 to 43) a measure today that would end USDA’s inspection of imported catfish and move the responsibility back to the FDA from whence it came. The recent implementation of USDA’s role was a mandate in the 2008 Farm Bill and was intended to stifle imports that the domestic catfish producers contended were unsafe. Proponents are correct that the such inspection by USDA is not WTO-illegal since domestic fish are handled in the same manner, but opponents are also correct that the intent is to find reasons to disallow...
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.