In the 1500’s, it was considered folly to plant oats in lieu of “good” grain. Unlike wheat and other crops, oats are deficient in phytase and require additional processing. More importantly, the yield and price have not equaled the return on other crops. But oat demand has been increasing at the same time exportable production has been slowly dwindling. The EU produces more than a third of the world’s oats but consumes most of them domestically. Canada produces only half as many oats as the EU, but it exports 43 percent of its output. The price of oats rose 12.5 percent last year and are up another 3 percent so far this year. One source of new demand has been oat milk. The problem for an “orphan” c...
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.