World Perspectives
livestock

Livestock Round Up: 2024 Slaughter Totals

The annual livestock slaughter data for 2024 was released Tuesday from USDA. Despite a reduced cattle supply, beef production totaled 27 billion pounds, up slightly from 2023 based on heavier weights, especially in the fall. For 2023, total pounds produced were also about 27 billion pounds, down 5 percent from the previous year, in 2022. Commercial cattle slaughter during 2024 totaled 31.8 million head, down 3 percent from 2023, but average weights were up 34 pounds. The average live weight for the year was 1,399 pounds, with heavier cattle starting in September, exceeding 1,400 pounds. The average weight for 2023 was 1,365 pounds. Federal inspection accounted for 98.2 percent of the total. Steers were 48.6 percent of the total federally i...

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feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Export Sales

Export Sales and Shipments for August 1-7, 2025.  Wheat: Net sales of 722,800 metric tons (MT) for 2025/2026 were down 2 percent from the previous week, but up 14 percent from the prior 4-week average. Export shipments of 340,800 MT were down 49 percent from the previous week and 37 percen...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Market Commentary: Another Day in a Sea of Red

After a three-day rally, the soybean complex drifted lower, wheat continued its bearish decline, and corn miraculously escaped another day of damage.  The market now awaits crop tour results, which at their onset appear to be confirming USDA’s view of big yields. Barring a miraculous...

livestock

Livestock Roundup: WASDE Shows Protein Production Mostly Down

Red meat and poultry production total estimates were down for August in the latest WASDE report. Beef production for the year was estimated at 25.926 billion pounds, which was 262 million pounds less than July on lower slaughter and relatively lighter dressed carcass weights. Steer prices were...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Export Sales

Export Sales and Shipments for August 1-7, 2025.  Wheat: Net sales of 722,800 metric tons (MT) for 2025/2026 were down 2 percent from the previous week, but up 14 percent from the prior 4-week average. Export shipments of 340,800 MT were down 49 percent from the previous week and 37 percen...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Market Commentary: Another Day in a Sea of Red

After a three-day rally, the soybean complex drifted lower, wheat continued its bearish decline, and corn miraculously escaped another day of damage.  The market now awaits crop tour results, which at their onset appear to be confirming USDA’s view of big yields. Barring a miraculous...

livestock

Livestock Roundup: WASDE Shows Protein Production Mostly Down

Red meat and poultry production total estimates were down for August in the latest WASDE report. Beef production for the year was estimated at 25.926 billion pounds, which was 262 million pounds less than July on lower slaughter and relatively lighter dressed carcass weights. Steer prices were...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Market Commentary: Grains Gain as Dollar Falls; Soybeans Extend Rally on Acreage and Heat

The CBOT on Wednesday saw grains make a slight recovery and correction from Tuesday’s WASDE-induced selloff while the soybean market extended the bullish trade. Both corn and wheat pushed slightly higher for the day with concerns about heat in the Corn Belt supporting corn trade while whe...

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From WPI Consulting

Illuminating the value of technical research

On behalf of a commodity producer organization, WPI evaluated the outputs from a project that featured a $5 million investment into technical research over multiple years. WPI’s team captured the results of this extensive effort and synthesized them for presentation to the organization’s governing board; among the findings uncovered and presented for the first time was the development of genomic traits proven, via rigorous testing, to provide crop yield advantages of 50 percent or more to U.S. farmers in times of drought. Capturing measurable results from long-term efforts can be challenging. Educating clients on the dynamics of success measurement when quantifiable results are not readily available requires deep client-consultant collaboration and an ability to consider both near- and long-term client aspirations with market/policy dynamics – attributes that WPI brings to every consulting engagement.

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