USDA and other international agencies are working in Pakistan to address an issue with the wheat crop there. Meanwhile, a recent study indicates maize-producing countries in Africa could lose $2.2-5 billion per year due to yield loss caused by one particular pest. Regional Updates MIDDLE EAST/MEDITERRANEAN COMMENTS Egypt has put a hold on another wheat shipment, 59,000 MT from France, that is now being examined by authorities as it is said to contain poppy seeds (see below). Meanwhile, there has been no decision yet regarding the previous 63,000 MT shipment of Romanian wheat being held for the same reason (see Ag Perspectives, 29 August). According to the trade, shippers are now being very careful about wheat shipments to Egypt and that...
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.