A union representing workers at 20 percent of Argentina's soybean processors went on strike today demanding higher wages. A major union representing truck drivers and dock workers at all ports is set to vote tonight on whether to join in. Low Soybean Export Inspections Last Week Yesterday's soybean export inspections report noted USDA inspected only 172,066 MT (6.32 million bushels) for export last week. That is quite low even for this time of year. Notable was the fact that there were no shipments inspected for either China or Taiwan. The top destination for the soybean shipments was Indonesia at 48,851 MT. Inspections of soybeans to be shipped in containers totaled 43,193 MT. U.S. Soybean Plantings Off to Quick Start USDA's Crop Progr...
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.