World Perspectives
livestock

Cattle Inventory Report: U.S. Cattle Herd Still in Contraction

USDA released its January Cattle Inventory report today. The U.S. cattle herd is still in a contraction phase. 

The total inventory of all cattle and calves as of 1 January was 86.7 million head, down 500,000 head from last year. Key numbers from today’s report are:

The cattle on feed estimate showed 87.2 percent on feedlots of 1,000 head or more capacity, slightly higher than last year.  The combined total of calves under 500 pounds, other heifers, plus steers over 500 pounds, representing the number of feeder cattle outside of feedlots, was 24.6 million head, just slightly below 1 January 2024. The 1 January number of feeder cattle outside of feedlots is the lowest since 2015. Feeder cattle outside feed lots make up 63 p...

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Summary of Futures

May 26 Corn closed at $4.67/bushel, down $0.0025 from yesterday's close.  May 26 Wheat closed at $6.05/bushel, up $0.0725 from yesterday's close.  May 26 Soybeans closed at $11.7375/bushel, up $0.02 from yesterday's close.  May 26 Soymeal closed at $322.1/short ton, up $2.3 from...

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Market Commentary: War Worries Continue to Drive the Narrative

War-related higher energies are a mixed story for ags. They could stymie economic growth and thus demand, but they open the door for better biofuel sales. Ags were mostly in the green today, betting on the biofuel market.  Reports Export Sales: Last week’s new commitments by foreign...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

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Export Sales and Shipments for March 13-19, 2026.  Wheat: Net sales of 397,200 metric tons (MT) for 2025/2026 were up noticeably from the previous week and up 46 percent from the prior 4-week average. Export shipments of 383,500 MT were unchanged from the previous week, but down 10 percent...

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May 26 Corn closed at $4.67/bushel, down $0.0025 from yesterday's close.  May 26 Wheat closed at $6.05/bushel, up $0.0725 from yesterday's close.  May 26 Soybeans closed at $11.7375/bushel, up $0.02 from yesterday's close.  May 26 Soymeal closed at $322.1/short ton, up $2.3 from...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Market Commentary: War Worries Continue to Drive the Narrative

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livestock

Why Beef and Pork Prices May Fall Despite Strong Demand

Beef prices dropped sharply this week, with the Choice cutout down about $11/cwt in the past six trading days. The move unnerved live cattle futures on Wednesday (though the market recovered Thursday) and quickly led to concerns about beef demand weakening. After all, isn’t this supposed...

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From WPI Consulting

Accountability and a comprehensive approach to export programming

WPI’s team helped construct a strategic approach to develop, implement, and track promotional activities in 8 key regions across the globe for an agricultural export association. With continued progress measurement and strategic advisory services from WPI, the association has seen its ROI from investments in promotional programming increase by 44 percent over the past 5 years. Not only does this type of holistic approach to organizational strategy provide measurable results to track and analyze, it fosters top-down and bottom-up organizational accountability.

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