Markets were mixed in relatively quiet trade overnight, and it was a low volume day with little in the way of fresh news to end the week. KC and Chicago wheat had light selling pressure again today, while the late surge in soybean futures had an effect on the corn market. General Comments Markets were mixed in relatively quiet trade overnight and through much of today. Corn and wheat spent most of the day session unchanged to lower. Soybeans and soymeal were stronger, and soyoil was steady. There was no change in the forecast for Argentina. Some of the dry areas will receive rain this weekend, but the questions coming back Sunday will pertain to where and how much fell plus what is in the extended forecast.Crude oil was firmer today and t...
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.