News Updates MEDITERRANEAN/MIDDLE EAST COMMENTS Massive overuse of antibiotics in the poultry industry in Africa and the Middle East is the major cause for the development of antibiotic resistant salmonella, according to the Institut Pasteur in Paris. The resistance to antibiotics, first noted in Salmonella Kentucky in 2002, is now evident in most of Africa and the Middle East. Recent analysis has shown more types of resistant salmonella, particularly in chicken and turkey farms where it has now spread in Europe.FAO comments on the Syrian agriculture situation indicate that poultry production is down by 50 percent, cattle herds down by 25 percent and sheep down by 35 percent. Large numbers of the Syrian livestock are being sold to Jorda...
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.