Brazil recently imposed a 7 percent blending mandate for combining biodiesel with petroleum diesel. The higher production would increase the use of soyoil by about 23.4 percent to 2.9 MMT from 2.35 MMT in CY 2014. European Rapeseed Production Forecasted to Decline in 2015 The European consulting firm Strategie Grains this week forecasted EU rapeseed production in 2015 at 21.6 MMT, a decline of 2.5 MMT (10.4 percent) from the record 2014 production of 24.1 MMT. This is based on a decrease in plantings from 6.7 million hectares in 2014 to 6.5 million hectares next year. The firm is also forecasting a decline in Europe's average yield from 3.6 MT/hectare in 2014 to 3.3 MT/hectare in 2015.The estimated drop in EU 2015 rapeseed production will...
What You Need to Know Today: Oil prices surged today following reports of tanker attacks off the coast of Saudi Arabia by Houthi rebels and renewed U.S. threats to escalate military strikes against Iran, heightening concerns over potential disruptions to Middle East energy supplies. Brent crud...
Key Takeaways: The latest UN data shows solid progress reducing global hunger and food insecurity. The geography of hunger-affected people has shifted substantially, however, and Africa is now the most affected region. To understand why hunger patterns have shifted and what policy option...
USDA’s monthly cattle on feed report for 1 July will be released tomorrow. Analysts’ pre-report consensus estimates are for the total inventory on feed to be 102.2 percent of last year. Those estimates imply an on-feed inventory of 11.327 million head. If accurate, that would be the...
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.