One of the primary reasons we said the Outlook Conference numbers would be bearish is that USDA has a history of using a best case scenario from a yield standpoint. A few weeks ago, I wrote that the markets had two more potentially bearish events to get through before the spring planting season starts and the markets again turn to weather and yield potential. Those two events were the February USDA Outlook Conference that concluded today and the 31 March series of reports that include planting intentions and the 1 March quarterly stocks estimates. USDA's first look at the possible 2014/15 U.S. supply and demand numbers didn't really hold any surprises. The table below shows its outlook compared to the current marketing year.One of the prima...
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.