Lawsuits challenging foods labeled as natural when there are pesticide residues present open up a large can of worms. Biotech Labeling Compromise The biotech labeling compromise reached in the U.S. Senate is a fair outcome of an otherwise silly issue. Products will be labelled, though with various options from symbols to words to QR codes. Foods labelled with the Radura symbol (irradiation) have not suffered sales losses. Meat from livestock fed GM products will not be labelled, and organic foods get to use the non-GMO label. This is mostly a loss for the FDA, which supposedly uses a science-based approach for labeling but failed to step in and pre-empt the Vermont law that required federal action. Natural? Lawsuits challenging foods la...
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.