In the context of conventional grain supply and demand, anomalies stand out and that unique breakout currently belongs to sorghum. Also known as milo (grain form) or broomcorn and several other names, it heralds originally from Sudan and not Mexico as in key competitor maize. As a crop grown in the U.S., it has been rising in obtaining policy respect. It is now approved for use in ethanol, and based on actual bid prices, it is now insured under crop insurance at 99.6 percent the price of corn. But it has also gained significance in the marketplace. USDA’s estimate of the area planted to sorghum this season was raised over 13 percent in the July WASDE to 6.8 million acres. Its average yield was raised to 69.1 bushels/acre, the highest...
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.