World Perspectives
livestock

Smaller Birds, Bigger Demand

Broiler slaughter weights are below year-ago levels for the first time in three years, and demand is up ahead of the traditional seasonal growth trend.According to the latest USDA data, February broiler meat production totaled 3.2 billion pounds, an approximate 1.7 percent increase over the same month a year ago (after adjusting for the leap year in 2016). Two interesting developments emerge from the data. First, average bird weights were marginally below a year earlier, which was only the third time since 2012 that they failed to increase on a year-to-year basis. That is attributable to retailer and restaurant concerns about “woody breast” syndrome in larger birds.Second, the number of broiler-type eggs set has grown faster than the percen...

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livestock

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feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

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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.

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