Chinese Pork Situation and Trade Outlook After the initial finding of African Swine Fever (ASF) in China in August, the disease has been found in three-quarters of the country’s provinces and cull estimates are between 200,000-250,000 pigs. The latest discovery was in Heilongjian Province on a farm that has about a third of that cull total (i.e. more than 70,000 head) on premise. Now the Chinese government has announced that all packers must test for ASF starting 1 February and cull all pigs in the slaughter queue as well as suspend operations for 48 hours if ASF is detected. This is the latest mitigation effort imposed on packers; they must already separate pigs for slaughter runs by the animals’ origins. Also, bl...
What You Need to Know Today: Commodities were mostly lower across the board today after yesterday’s Federal Reserve meeting hinted at a potential interest rate hike later in 2026. The dollar index reached its highest level in over a year, and a strong dollar makes U.S. agricultural expor...
Tomorrow is the Juneteenth federal holiday, and the USDA, along with the rest of the federal government and the CME, will be closed, so the monthly Cattle on Feed report was released a day early. The total number of cattle on feed in feedlots with 1,000 head or more capacity on 1 June amounted...
From WPI Consulting
Weighing in on strategic realignment
WPI’s team was retained by the governing board of a U.S. industry organization to review a decision, reached by vote, to invest significant assets into the development and management of an export trading company. WPI’s team conducted a formal review of this decision and concluded that the current level of market saturation would limit the benefits of the investment. Based on WPI’s analysis and recommended actions, the board subsequently reversed its decision and undertook a strategic planning effort to identify more impactful investments. On behalf of numerous clients, WPI has not only assisted in identifying strategic paths but also advised their implementation.