USDA’s semi-annual cattle report will be issued on Friday. The outlook calls for the cattle herd to be 86.4 million head, down from 86.7 million head last January, making it the seventh consecutive decline since 2019 and putting the cattle herd down 2 percent from the previous low point in 2014.
In July, USDA released its first estimate of the 2025 calf crop based on spring calving results, at 33.1 million head—down 429,000 head, or 1.3 percent, from the previous year. Current estimates would put it at 33.3 million head, still down about 230,000 head, or 0.7 percent, year over year. The liquidation that occurred from 2021 through 2023 has resulted in a younger, and potentially healthier, herd. With calves as valuable as they ha...
There was heavy volume exiting soybeans, which dragged down the broader market today. The lack of a specific Chinese buying commitment for soybeans undermined speculators who had placed bets on state-directed trade. But even the Chinese do not totally ignore market fundamentals. They may still...
On Tuesday, 12 May, WPI reported on an Executive Order being prepared by the Trump Administration to suspend tariff rate quotas (TRQs) on beef from all exporters for 200 days as a means of addressing high beef prices in the United States. After considerable pushback from cattle producer groups,...
WPI has officially launched Transportation Perspectives as a standalone weekly report separate from our Ag Perspectives articles and analysis. Current Ag Perspectives subscribers will have gratis access to the report through 16 April 2026. Please email us or subscribe online after this date to...
