Tomorrow, the last business day before Christmas, will be a busy one for livestock news. USDA will be releasing its quarterly Hogs and Pigs inventory report after the market closes early for the holiday weekend and the monthly Cattle on Feed report beforehand. Following are a few preliminary thoughts on both. Hogs and Pigs Report Industry pre-report estimates have inventory at 102.5 percent of last year with market hogs also at 102.5 percent and sows kept for breeding at 100.9 percent. These forecast increases come on top of a record swine herd, which reached 73.549 million head on 1 September. If the assumptions about a larger herd are correct, it will be the fourth year in a row that the September-November quarter has increased on a yea...
What You Need to Know Today: After a period of limited activity, USDA reported a sizeable 613 KMT in soybean export sales, including 330 KMT to China and 283 KMT to unknown destinations, potentially also China. The purchases represent a meaningful pickup in demand and bring China closer to ful...
Key Takeaways: Consumer spending is a key driver of the U.S. economy, and the latest retail sales data indicate that spending remains robust despite inflation. In September, total retail and food service sales rose more than 6 percent year-over-year, with food service spending up 7 percent and...
The Trump import plan for 300,000 MT of beef supplies used for ground beef, i.e., lean trim, from September through November has, according to Secretary Brooke Rollins, brought some relief to beef prices. The Executive Order states that the Secretary of Agriculture will analyze and review the m...
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.