With fall and colder weather coming, so does the threat of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) re-emerging as wild fowl start to migrate again. As we noted on 30 August, Another outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza was reported in California; that marks the 21st state to see HPAI. Turkeys were the most affected, with only about 68,000 to 69,000 broilers destroyed. The significance though, is that HPAI has always mostly disappeared in the hot weather; an outbreak in California in August is a surprise. This will put the industry on watch for a re-emergence this fall/winter as production is otherwise expected to ramp up. There have been 417 cases detected through August, with 85 percent of them occurring from Februa...
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.