Packing Plant Hot Spots As Matt Herrington reported last night, meat packing plants are the new COVID-19 hotspots. The CDC is expected to issue its report from its investigation of the Smithfield Sioux Falls pork plant in South Dakota very soon. Reportedly it calls for improved social distancing, expanded use of face shields and other protective equipment, and better communication between the company and workers. It will be the model of other states which are also dealing with the outbreaks. The State of Kansas has received additional personal protective equipment (PPE) from the national stockpile, and active planning is in place in Iowa and Minnesota. The goal is to keep the plants as operational as possible. As of last week, fed cattle...
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.