World Perspectives
livestock

Livestock Industry Margins

The livestock packing sector saw mixed trends in profitability over the past week with packer margins improving for both the beef and pork sectors. Beef packing margins have been negative for five weeks now and hog packing margins in the red for three weeks, both of which present a threat to prices for cattle and hogs. Forward-looking placement margins for feedlots and wean-to-finish producers turned higher on stronger expected/hedged sale prices and, in the case of feedlots, lower feeder cattle costs. Note that farrow-to-finish margins at farrowing hit a new four-year high at $39/head last week. In contrast, closeout margins (e.g., profits on last week’s sales) deteriorates for the feedlot industry and farrow-to-finish and wean-to-finish h...

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Dec 25 Corn closed at $4.295/bushel, up $0.0625 from yesterday's close.  Dec 25 Wheat closed at $5.34/bushel, up $0.09 from yesterday's close.  Nov 25 Soybeans closed at $10.4975/bushel, up $0.07 from yesterday's close.  Dec 25 Soymeal closed at $286.1/short ton, up $0.4 from yes...

livestock

Livestock Industry Margins

Beef packer margins improved for the sixth straight week to put returns at their highest point in two years. The increase in margins came despite a pullback in beef values as packers were able to push fed cattle prices even lower and increase profits. The big concern for packers in the next 3-4...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

WPI Crop Progress and Conditions App (Updated 16 September)

Update for 28 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 o...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

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Dec 25 Corn closed at $4.295/bushel, up $0.0625 from yesterday's close.  Dec 25 Wheat closed at $5.34/bushel, up $0.09 from yesterday's close.  Nov 25 Soybeans closed at $10.4975/bushel, up $0.07 from yesterday's close.  Dec 25 Soymeal closed at $286.1/short ton, up $0.4 from yes...

livestock

Livestock Industry Margins

Beef packer margins improved for the sixth straight week to put returns at their highest point in two years. The increase in margins came despite a pullback in beef values as packers were able to push fed cattle prices even lower and increase profits. The big concern for packers in the next 3-4...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

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From WPI Consulting

Forecasting developments in production agriculture

On behalf of a private U.S. agricultural technology provider, WPI’s team generated an econometric model to forecast the movement of concentrated corn production north and west from the traditional U.S. Corn Belt. WPI’s model has subsequently provided quantitative support to a multi-million-dollar investment into short-season corn variety development. WPI’s methodology included a series of interviews with regional grain elevators and seed consultants. Emphasizing outreach and communication with stakeholders who possess intimate sectoral knowledge – on-the-ground insights – is a regular component of WPI’s methodologies, made possible by WPI’s ever-growing network of industry contacts.

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