All was well until a weak export sales report and improved prospects for South American rains triggered a get out quick mentality. Soybeans had edged up to a new contract high and then it was sell stops and profit taking. Soybean longs had a restless morning with corn and soybean traders feeling fortunate that it was not any worse. When all was said and done, it took large volumes of trades before losses were pared in half. The day left some things to think about. South American crops are beginning to come on-line and while they will take time to get to volumes, Chinese buyers will seek to be patient and save a lot of money. This does not change the underlying fundamentals, but it does evidence market changes that threaten the bull. ...
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.