A cattle and sheep herding robot is being tested by the Australian Centre for Field Robotics. While the current model is more likely to replace herding dogs than cowboys and shepherds, the next generation will have more advanced features. North American Hogs and Pigs Inventory According to USDA’s most recent quarterly Hogs and Pigs report, total U.S. and Canadian inventory is up 2 percent (see breakdown below).Additionally, the semi-annual pig crop for the U.S. and Canada totals 74.3 million head to date, up about 1 percent from last year, and sows farrowed total 7.04 million head, an increase of less than 1 percent. According to Ag-Canada, 503,126 feeder pigs and 100,750 slaughter hogs came into the U.S. from Canada through the end of Ma...
The corn and soy complex closed higher, with the wheat market mixed, as winter wheat closed up but spring wheat and livestock ended lower. Part of the strength for corn and soybeans may have been a weather premium, as crop planting has started out fast but warm weather has been slow to develop...
Real GDP grew at a 2 percent annual rate in the first quarter of 2026, slightly below the consensus expectation of 2.3 percent but above the 0.5 percent growth in Q4 2025. The GDP number matches the average annualized pace of growth since the peak back in late 2007, right before the Financial P...
Reflect for a moment on what you eat. There is a lot of advice out there in the ether about what you should eat, but really, what do you currently eat and how much? The good people at the USDA have some data for you, to help you answer that question. USDA says that we eat quite a bit of meat. L...
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.