The federal government shutdown is now in day 21, matching the record set in 1995-1996 when the House in the 104th Congress was controlled by Republicans and the president was a Democrat - the reverse of today’s situation. Yesterday the House passed an appropriations bill to fund USDA and FDA by a vote of 243-183, but the Senate will not be taking it up because of a veto threat by the president. A total of 10 Republicans voted for the bill with Representative Rodney Davis of Illinois the only GOP House Agriculture Committee member to do so. USDA has been sorting out some issues, or as Secretary Perdue put it, leveraging existing resources “as best we can.” Following are some of the things USDA is still doing:
Meat, po...
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...
