U.S. ag exports have benefited from strong global demand and also dovish monetary policy at home. The latter is about to change, though, and could impact the former.MY 2016/17 has seen a major increase in U.S. ag exports with the volumes for almost all commodities rising by double-digit percentages after a few slump years.In terms of value, exports of U.S. ag commodities are likely to reach their third-highest level this year (following 2013 and 2014, respectively).Low commodity prices are one reason for this with the volume more than offsetting per-bushel or per-pound values. However, another is the global economic growth that has been strong among the economies of major trading partners. That has also been a factor in the U.S. dollar fall...
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.