The FDA has concluded that meat from clones and clone progeny is as safe as that from conventionally-bred animals. Now there is news from China indicating that the country will both allow and promote cloned cattle in order to expand its beef supply. Cloned Beef in China On 19 November, we reported the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had earlier that day approved a genetically engineered salmon, the first such authorization ever for a GM animal. We also noted that despite a voluntary moratorium on cloned animals and their progeny entering the food chain, cloned cattle in the U.S. had almost certainly slipped through the system over the years and into the beef supply. The FDA has concluded that meat from clones and clone progeny is...
Communicating importance of value-added products
Facing increasing pressure to quantify the value of export promotion efforts to investors, a U.S. industry organization retained WPI to develop a quantitative model that better communicated the importance of exports. The resulting model concluded that value-added meat exports contributed $0.45 cents per bushel to the price of corn, increasing support for that sector’s financial support of WPI’s client. In addition to serving the red meat industry with this type of analysis, WPI has generated similar deliverables for the U.S. soybean and poultry/egg industries.
What You Need to Know Today: The corn and soybean markets closed slightly higher in low-volume trade. The wheat market was mixed, with HRW continuing its downward trek on improved moisture. As expected, the bearish cattle on feed report drove down cattle prices and pulled hogs down with it. Mi...
Monday, 25 May is a U.S. holiday, and both the markets and our office will be closed. Please note that the next issue of Ag Perspectives will be published on Tuesday, 26 May. The WPI staff wishes everyone a safe and enjoyable holiday weekend...
USDA’s monthly cattle on feed report was released today. The total number of cattle on feed in feedlots with 1,000 head or more capacity amounted to 11.6 million head, 102 percent of last year. Source: USDA, WPI Placements were up, but part of that is attributable to persistent drought c...