Farm Bill Livestock Amendments A few key and non-key livestock related amendments were adopted yesterday in the House Agriculture Committee's farm bill markup, including two from Representative Robert Neugebauer (R-Texas) and one from Representative Mike Conaway (R-Texas).Also of interest is an amendment that directs the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) to provide food safety technical assistance to small scale livestock and poultry processing and slaughter establishments as well as establishes a grant program at USDA Rural Development to assist small-scale facilities in making adjustments to meet food safety and regulatory standards. Another amendment closes a loophole related to spectators at animal fighting ventures...
Beef packer margins deteriorated to $141/head last week, down $55 from the prior week as fed cattle prices strengthened while the Choice cutout remained nearly unchanged. The cutout held near $373/cwt while fed cattle prices climbed $4/cwt to $224/cwt, narrowing processor profits. Despite the d...
What You Need to Know Today: Corn and soybeans were under heavy selling pressure as weaker (or at least as-expected) export demand runs into an accelerating harvest pace with more grain available in the spot market. Corn and soybean harvest progress remains below average across the U.S., espec...
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.