In agriculture, there are major and minor crops. This seemingly disparaging characterization relates solely to the amount of acreage utilized. Minor crops can be high value and major crops low value. Or vice-versa when it comes to farm income. Oats are produced on just 1.4 percent of the area seeded to wheat, corn, and soybeans, which makes them pretty minor until those that use them come up short. Prices are up 77 percent this year based on a shortfall in Canada, though most oats are procured via contracting rather than spot pricing. Oats are particularly suited for production in northern climes, thus Canada, Russia, and the EU as dominant producers. This means that climate change could adversely impact the output of oats. Alt...
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.