After propane demand for drying crops in the upper Midwest surged and reduced inventories just before the start of winter last year, the season when it is most needed for heating purposes, more attention is now being paid to the level of supplies and related infrastructure.Last year, propane demand for drying crops in the upper Midwest surged just before the start of winter. As a result, propane inventories at distribution terminals were low before the winter heating season began. Combined with the extreme cold temperatures early in the winter, many livestock operations, particularly poultry, were impacted. Additionally, there were infrastructure and distribution problems such as pipeline maintenance and rail delivery delays that also reduc...
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.