Label Police: The British "consumer watchdog" group Which? has produced plenty of silly and, at least from a pure economics standpoint, illogical critiques of the food system. Its latest demand is that the UK maintain a law that food labeling errors be treated as a criminal offense. An example it provides for such harsh treatment includes the fact that "cheaper supermarket [own label] products may not always deliver better value," and "[b]randed goods don't always provide the best value." It is truly shocking news that consumers are confronted with choices in the marketplace and are apparently unable to discern these differences without the threat of gaoling the food companies.Food industry writer Elaine Watson offers up a food trend that...
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.