World Perspectives
feed-grains soy-oilseeds

Updated: The Historic Context for January WASDE Yield Surprises

Errata: The original version of this article incorrectly state the January 2018 soybean yield estimate at 50.6 BPA, instead of the true February (which made up for the delayed January report) estimate of 51.6 BPA. All statistics related to this yield estimate and charts/tables have been corrected below. USDA surprised the commodity markets on Friday with bullish adjustments to the U.S. corn and soybean balance sheets, particularly the unexpected reductions in yields for both commodities. The surprise created by the latest balance sheet makes it worthwhile to evaluate the USDA’s adjusted estimates relative to historical patterns. For this analysis, WPI uses the USDA’s yield, harvested acreage, and production forecasts as published in th...

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livestock

Livestock Industry Margins

Beef packer margins deteriorated further, falling to -$129/head last week, down $38 from the prior week as a continued seasonal softening in the Choice cutout pressured returns. The cutout declined to $382/cwt, extending its post–Easter pullback, while fed cattle prices held near $248/cwt...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Market Commentary: SOH Confusion Persists, but Ags Focus on Weather, Exports

The situation in the Persian Gulf remains as volatile as ever since it started on 28 February with a supposed weekend peace agreement dissolving into the U.S. Navy firing upon an Iranian vessel. The vessel was trying to pass through the Strait of Hormuz and reportedly did not heed commands to h...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Summary of Futures

May 26 Corn closed at $4.52/bushel, up $0.0325 from yesterday's close.  Jul 26 Wheat closed at $6.06/bushel, up $0.0675 from yesterday's close.  May 26 Soybeans closed at $11.6575/bushel, down $0.015 from yesterday's close.  Jul 26 Soymeal closed at $321.2/short ton, down $6 from...

livestock

Livestock Industry Margins

Beef packer margins deteriorated further, falling to -$129/head last week, down $38 from the prior week as a continued seasonal softening in the Choice cutout pressured returns. The cutout declined to $382/cwt, extending its post–Easter pullback, while fed cattle prices held near $248/cwt...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Market Commentary: SOH Confusion Persists, but Ags Focus on Weather, Exports

The situation in the Persian Gulf remains as volatile as ever since it started on 28 February with a supposed weekend peace agreement dissolving into the U.S. Navy firing upon an Iranian vessel. The vessel was trying to pass through the Strait of Hormuz and reportedly did not heed commands to h...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Summary of Futures

May 26 Corn closed at $4.52/bushel, up $0.0325 from yesterday's close.  Jul 26 Wheat closed at $6.06/bushel, up $0.0675 from yesterday's close.  May 26 Soybeans closed at $11.6575/bushel, down $0.015 from yesterday's close.  Jul 26 Soymeal closed at $321.2/short ton, down $6 from...

Aid versus Trade; Idealism versus Competition; AI and Ag; Untethered Presidency

Aid versus Trade Development assistance has a long and unsatisfying history. The causes of poverty were long ago identified as poor governance and the lack of rule of law. But the UN could not criticize the national leaders that form its membership, and so for decades development assistance has...

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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.

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