As Gary Blumenthal mentioned in yesterday’s report, the Sacramento County Superior Court has delayed the implementation of Proposition 12 for 180 days. The rule was to go into effect on 1 January, but the implementing rules were not complete. The statute imposes civil and criminal penalties, and some packers were preparing to avoid the California market altogether given the risks. The delayed implementation certainly supports what was already a bullish outlook for hog prices in the first half of 2022. The market hog inventory is still tight as 2022 begins. As we reported on 23 December, farrowings from September to November were 3.01 million, or about 95 percent of a year earlier, and farrowing intentions for December to...
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.