Collateral damage to non-target species by pesticides should come as no surprise. What is surprising is that the superiority of genetic modification as a pest-targeting mechanism is concurrently rejected by critics. Government Math The U.S. Navy’s goal is to have half of its fleet powered by renewable energy by 2020. Toward that end, it announced this week that Australia would provide biodiesel for the “Great Green Fleet” traveling in Asia. The biodiesel will be 10 percent beef tallow mixed with 90 percent petroleum. Yet in government parlance, it will be counted as 100 percent renewable, thus easing the ability to meet the 50 percent target. The Navy burns 1.6 billion gallons of fuel annually, which means its target is to use 800 million...
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.