The Trump Administration announced last week its Agriculture Innovation Agenda, which included the target of a 50 percent reduction in the sector’s environmental footprint by 2050. The details for accomplishing this goal are vague. Not to be outdone, some Congressional Democrats have introduced the Agriculture Resilience Act, which calls for zero emissions from the sector by 2040. The plan is very specific in that it calls for year-round cover crops on 75 percent of farmland. Endorsing the plan was the National Farmers Union since it has always sought supply controls to artificially boost farm income. The whole sustainability movement still lacks common metrics and sound science. One livestock expert points out that some consum...
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.