As WPI reported yesterday, the total supply of beef per capita is up this year over last based on imports and heavier slaughter weights; both are related to the pace of beef cow salughter. A bigger percent of fed cattle in the mix has resulted in heavier slaughter weights, as well as feeder cattle being fed longer to heavier weights. Plus, with cow slaughter down this year after two years of culling, imports of lean trim are up.Next week, the September monthly cow slaughter totals will be released, but through August, beef cow slaughter is down 15.7 percent from last year, and 26.9 percent from 2022, and 9.6 percent from the 2018-2021 average after two years of culling from drought impact. Based on the historical averages, cow slaughter cou...
Last week, the Federal Reserve’s Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) raised the federal funds rate by 0.25 percentage point to a target range of 3.75 to 4 percent. That was the first rate hike since mid-2023, and the vote was unanimous. President Trump, who nominated Kevin Warsh in March...
What You Need to Know Today: Grain markets were sharply higher overnight and through the day session as the concerning wet weather pattern persists over the Midwest. Grain traders – and soybean market players in particular – will be closely parsing both what is said and unsaid from...
Key Takeaways: Higher interest rates increase the cost of financing agricultural production, reducing farm margins without providing any corresponding increase in production or revenue. The financial impact of higher rates varies considerably by operation, with highly leveraged producers and t...
From WPI Consulting
Accountability and a comprehensive approach to export programming
WPI’s team helped construct a strategic approach to develop, implement, and track promotional activities in 8 key regions across the globe for an agricultural export association. With continued progress measurement and strategic advisory services from WPI, the association has seen its ROI from investments in promotional programming increase by 44 percent over the past 5 years. Not only does this type of holistic approach to organizational strategy provide measurable results to track and analyze, it fosters top-down and bottom-up organizational accountability.