Beef packer margins reversed sharply to -$17/head from $120/head the prior week, as rising fed cattle prices more than offset a modest decline in the Choice cutout. Fed cattle prices increased $12.92/cwt from the prior week while the cutout slipped $3.24/cwt, compressing gross margins and pushi...
Livestock Industry Margins
Under the theory of economies of scale, the size of farms, like that of all industries, should increase over time due to improvements in productivity. Farmers themselves understand that the more land they farm, the greater their output and, thus, the larger their potential incomes. Government p...
Update for 6 April 2025: Last year, users pointed out differences between the 5-year averages reported in this app and what USDA estimates in its weekly report. The difference exists because WPI calculates average based on the last 5 years of observations for the current week. In cases where ob...
Argentina Corn Argentina’s corn harvest continued to advance nationwide, gaining 3.8 percentage points on the week to reach 19 percent of planted area. Fieldwork maintained a solid pace across most of the agricultural region, with the national average yield currently estimated at 8.53 MT/...
President Trump unveiled his FY2027 budget proposal on Friday. The President’s budget, which is largely for positioning purposes, poses a starting point for Congressional budget deliberations and proposes a 19 percent cut to the USDA and a massive 42 percent boost to Pentagon spending. Th...
There were a lot of moving parts on the last trading day of the holiday-shortened week, but liquidation and profit-taking may have been the strongest. A prolonged war and higher energy prices will impact consumption and inflation, while supporting biofuels. Storm systems may reduce some of the...
Tomorrow, 2 April, is a holiday for the CBOT/CME markets in observance of Good Friday. Please note that our office will also be closed. The next Ag Perspectives will be published Monday, 6 April. ...
Through the week ending 21 March, U.S. broiler production remains well above year-ago levels, with total headcount surpassing 2.04 billion, a 3.63 percent increase compared to 2025. While overall supply levels continue to expand, the distribution across weight classes further highlights a prono...
WPI Grain Prices and Freight Rate App Note: you can also visit the app directly by clicking here. Supplemental Information The section below offers a concise view of the options available in the current version of the WPI FOB Price and Freight Rate app, along with a short “How To”...
WPI has officially launched Transportation Perspectives as a standalone weekly report separate from our Ag Perspectives articles and analysis. Current Ag Perspectives subscribers will have gratis access to the report through 16 April 2026. Please email us or subscribe online after this date to...