Some are calling it scaremongering by Angela Merkel’s government, but her latest civil defense policy is likely welcome news for agriculture. Automation Push The California Assembly will revisit legislation mandating an increase in wages for farm workers. Similar to the debate over raising the minimum wage, it is a well-intentioned initiative but fraught with well-documented consequences. Farms, like other businesses, operate under the rule of competition, which incentivizes limiting increased costs that lack a corresponding productive gain, and this includes labor costs. This objective is typically met by speeding the adoption of technology.The farm labor targeted by the California Assembly is repetitive by nature, which is ideal for aut...
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.