The beef sector experienced a week of record-breaking prices, and depressed packer margins for the week ending 1 August. Live cattle were a record $244.41 per hundredweight (cwt) for Choice steers, a $48 jump compared to the same week last year, while the cutout dropped $5.22 per pound and by more than $10 per pound over the past two weeks, to average $364.54 per cwt. With that, packer margins plummeted to an estimated loss of $316.28 per head according to Sterling Marketing, which was the largest weekly loss since 1988 when Sterling started keeping records. However, cattle feeders posted an estimated profit of $788 per head, with feeder steers weighing 750-800 pounds selling for a record $348.49 per cwt. That set a new high for breakeven p...
What You Need to Know Today: There has already been a strong run of flash soybean sales announcements in recent weeks, but more than 1.4 MMT reported this morning is an exceptionally large single-day total with major implications for the market. If the sales to China and unknown destinations w...
On Friday, at 6:57 AM, President Donald Trump announced, via a social media post, a 90-day window during which up to 300,000 metric tons of product for ground beef could be imported outside of tariff-rate quotas—a move aimed at bringing down costs for American consumers. This is the secon...
From WPI Consulting
Weighing in on strategic realignment
WPI’s team was retained by the governing board of a U.S. industry organization to review a decision, reached by vote, to invest significant assets into the development and management of an export trading company. WPI’s team conducted a formal review of this decision and concluded that the current level of market saturation would limit the benefits of the investment. Based on WPI’s analysis and recommended actions, the board subsequently reversed its decision and undertook a strategic planning effort to identify more impactful investments. On behalf of numerous clients, WPI has not only assisted in identifying strategic paths but also advised their implementation.