Scale Needed in Africa The Overseas Development Institute (ODI), a research group funded by governments, international organizations and development groups, notes the limits of rural advancement in Africa. Most development organizations advocate a focus on improving subsistence agriculture, but experts at a conference hosted by ODI’s Chronic Poverty Advisory Network argued that “opportunities for sustained employment in the agriculture sector in rural African regions are in decline.” The data shows that sustained recovery from poverty is happening in Africa’s cities, whereas the focus on agriculture has become less effective. The understandable rationale is that non-poor farms must be larger so that the input-to-out...
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.