CBOT markets opened mostly higher with support from oversold technical conditions and strength from rising U.S. equity markets. Coronavirus is far from over, but the shock of the story seems to be wearing off. Wheat and corn found early support while the soy complex was dominated by sell meal/buy oil trade. President Trump’s top economic advisor, Larry Kudlow, said today that China’s coronavirus would delay the “export boom from the trade deal”. The deal will take effect on 15 February, but recent rumors suggest China is considering invoking an article in the deal that allows for flexibility on purchase commitments in the event of large disruptive events. WPI thinks it’s too early to put much faith in th...
What You Need to Know Today: The corn and soybean markets closed slightly higher in low-volume trade. The wheat market was mixed, with HRW continuing its downward trek on improved moisture. As expected, the bearish cattle on feed report drove down cattle prices and pulled hogs down with it. Mi...
Monday, 25 May is a U.S. holiday, and both the markets and our office will be closed. Please note that the next issue of Ag Perspectives will be published on Tuesday, 26 May. The WPI staff wishes everyone a safe and enjoyable holiday weekend...
USDA’s monthly cattle on feed report was released today. The total number of cattle on feed in feedlots with 1,000 head or more capacity amounted to 11.6 million head, 102 percent of last year. Source: USDA, WPI Placements were up, but part of that is attributable to persistent drought c...
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.