World Perspectives
livestock

Livestock Roundup: North American Beef and Pork Forecast

The U.S. beef cow herd stabilized somewhat in 2024. The average culling rate was 10.5 percent, but with a beef cow herd of 28 million, the cull rate would have to be around 9 percent – or less – and heifer retention must increase in order to enter into an expansion phase.   Holding back heifer retention is the current record price level for feeder cattle; producers are more than willing to take advantage of those record prices than to invest in future expansion. For many operations, current production risks outweigh potential future returns. April prices for medium to large-frame feeder cattle between 600 and 650 pounds are $290/cwt. Steer prices are projected to reach $205.51/cwt for the year, up 10 percent, while fe...

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feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Summary of Futures

Jul 25 Corn closed at $4.545/bushel, up $0.07 from yesterday's close.  Jul 25 Wheat closed at $5.46/bushel, up $0.17 from yesterday's close.  Jul 25 Soybeans closed at $10.53/bushel, up $0.0225 from yesterday's close.  Jul 25 Soymeal closed at $292.6/short ton, up $1.5 from yeste...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Market Commentary: Wheat, Corn Rally on Weather Worries; Cattle Consolidate but Beef Rallies

The CBOT turned higher on Tuesday with wheat leading the way. Wheat turned higher overnight and started the broader CBOT rally as traders are increasingly concerned about the Black Sea weather, and, to a lesser extent, the EU and U.S. forecasts as well. Too, wheat saw more action as it is where...

Crunch Time; Miscellaneous

Crunch Time The “Big Beautiful Bill” providing the tax cut extensions sought by President Trump is supposed to be passed by the U.S. House by Memorial Day. The President told House Republicans today that they should not cut Medicaid, and they should not raise the cap on deducting st...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Summary of Futures

Jul 25 Corn closed at $4.545/bushel, up $0.07 from yesterday's close.  Jul 25 Wheat closed at $5.46/bushel, up $0.17 from yesterday's close.  Jul 25 Soybeans closed at $10.53/bushel, up $0.0225 from yesterday's close.  Jul 25 Soymeal closed at $292.6/short ton, up $1.5 from yeste...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Market Commentary: Wheat, Corn Rally on Weather Worries; Cattle Consolidate but Beef Rallies

The CBOT turned higher on Tuesday with wheat leading the way. Wheat turned higher overnight and started the broader CBOT rally as traders are increasingly concerned about the Black Sea weather, and, to a lesser extent, the EU and U.S. forecasts as well. Too, wheat saw more action as it is where...

Crunch Time; Miscellaneous

Crunch Time The “Big Beautiful Bill” providing the tax cut extensions sought by President Trump is supposed to be passed by the U.S. House by Memorial Day. The President told House Republicans today that they should not cut Medicaid, and they should not raise the cap on deducting st...

livestock

Red Meat Exports

In Q1, U.S. pork exports to Mexico grew by 11 percent year-over-year according to the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF). That’s despite U.S. exports hitting a record $2.6 billion in 2024. According to USMEF, pork consumption in the country has increased more than 50 percent over the las...

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From WPI Consulting

Communicating importance of value-added products

Facing increasing pressure to quantify the value of export promotion efforts to investors, a U.S. industry organization retained WPI to develop a quantitative model that better communicated the importance of exports. The resulting model concluded that value-added meat exports contributed $0.45 cents per bushel to the price of corn, increasing support for that sector’s financial support of WPI’s client. In addition to serving the red meat industry with this type of analysis, WPI has generated similar deliverables for the U.S. soybean and poultry/egg industries.

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