While the trend toward expanded meat consumption globally will still be a major driver in the agricultural sector, there is one element to be considered. Lighter Broilers and Hogs Heat in the South this summer has taken a toll on broiler weights. While going into mid-summer, slaughter weights were about 4 percent above the same period in 2014. This trend was expected to continue with good feeder margins, but the heat has made it difficult for birds to maintain these higher weights. The average slaughter weight for the week of 20-27 July was 5.94 pounds, about 2 percent lower than the 6.05 pound average weight so far in 2015. Broiler meat production was growing from both flock expansion and higher weights. The current weight is still large...
What You Need to Know Today: Chinese purchases of U.S. soybeans continued to accelerate, with USDA reporting another 558 KMT sold to China and 236 KMT to unknown destinations. Combined with sales announced Wednesday and Thursday, the latest purchases bring the three-day total to approximately...
Key Takeaways: With the fall calf run now upon us, producers are finally getting a glimpse of what their realized profits will be for 2026. Some producers may have already obtained a strong estimate of 2026 revenues, especially if calves were forward sold in, for example, the mid-summer...
As fall begins, wild migratory birds are starting their seasonal migration. That has the industry and government officials worried about the potential spread, again, of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI). Some members of Congress have called for the United States to be prepared for a pote...
From WPI Consulting
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.