Macroeconomics Food Inflation Up in May, First Time Since January With live hog and retail pork prices nosediving, food inflation remained in negative territory from February through April. Despite rising prices for vegetable oil, eggs, fresh vegetable, and fresh fruit during that period, the drop in pork prices at the retail level more than offset the increases. That changed in May. In the aggregate, food prices last month were up by .3 percent from May 2020. Leading the uptick were fresh vegetables, eggs, fresh fruit, cooking oil, and dairy products, which jumped by 5.4 percent, 14.3 percent, 1.4 percent, 8.2 percent, and 2.3 percent, respectively. Pork prices fell by 23.8 percent from a year ago. Outside of food infl...
What You Need to Know Today: Markets got a surprise with a corn yield of 181.2 bushels/acre in the October WASDE, above the average estimate of 177.6 bushels/acre and up from USDA’s September estimate of 178.5 bushels/acre. Although stronger demand is expected to absorb some of the addit...
The USDA has lowered its 2026 red meat production forecasts slightly while forecasting a slight increase in broiler production. Beef is now projected at 24.802 billion pounds, 75 million pounds less than in September. Cow slaughter is expected to be up; however, this will be offset by lower ste...
From WPI Consulting
Weighing in on strategic realignment
WPI’s team was retained by the governing board of a U.S. industry organization to review a decision, reached by vote, to invest significant assets into the development and management of an export trading company. WPI’s team conducted a formal review of this decision and concluded that the current level of market saturation would limit the benefits of the investment. Based on WPI’s analysis and recommended actions, the board subsequently reversed its decision and undertook a strategic planning effort to identify more impactful investments. On behalf of numerous clients, WPI has not only assisted in identifying strategic paths but also advised their implementation.