The quarterly Hogs and Pigs report comes out one week from today. It is a much- anticipated report. Feed costs, porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS), Proposition 12 in California, and international trade are all factors with influence on the market that making it particularly interesting. As we reported last week, California Proposition 12 regulation on sow housing goes into effect on 1 January 2022, though it won’t be fully enforced until the second half of the year. How, or in fact, are producers preparing for compliance? New farrowing barns are expensive and in practicality take a couple of years from planning, to permit, to construction, to production. That means reducing sow inventory is the short-term strategy t...
Key Market Insights The broad market is locked in on this week’s Trump-Xi meeting in Beijing, but this is no longer just a trade summit. Increasingly, the meeting is becoming tied directly to Iran, energy security, and the growing global economic fallout from disruptions through the Strai...
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.