World Perspectives
livestock

Cattle Contraction to be Felt Soon

We’re a week out from the April Cattle on Feed report; as noted on 25 March, the 1 March Cattle on Feed report showed record monthly inventories for the second month in a row, but the overall herd is declining. USDA’s annual cattle inventory report showed the total herd down 2 percent to 91.9 million head, with feeder cattle and replacement heifers down 3 percent. Soon, cattle on feed inventory will be tight. We’ll soon have a peak into the quarterly number of feeder cattle outside of feedlots. January was the lowest number since 2015. Drought conditions and heifer placements are likely to push down the April number to a similar level. Auction receipts last week were about 44,000 head below last year, and there is not a l...

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Venezuela Oil Situation and Oil Price Impacts

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feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Market Commentary: Yield, Acreage Increases Sink Corn, Soybeans

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The world woke up on Jan. 3 to news of the arrest of Nicolas Maduro, the self-proclaimed president of Venezuela. Few expected this move from the U.S. administration, but in hindsight it may not have been surprising. The Biden administration had placed a $25 million bounty on Maduro through the...

feed-grains

WASDE Corn - Jan 2026

USDA’s Jan estimate for 2025/26 U.S. corn is for larger production and higher feed residual usage to result in greater ending stocks: Corn production is estimated at 17.0 billion bushels, up 269 million on a 0.5-bushel increase in yield to 186.5 bushels per acre and a 1.3-million acre ris...

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From WPI Consulting

Infrastructure investment due diligence

On behalf of a Canadian oilseed processer WPI's team provided market analysis, econometric modeling and financial due diligence in support of a $24 million-dollar investment in a Ukrainian crush plant. Consistent with WPI's findings, local production to supply the plant and the facility's output have expanded exponentially since the investment. WPI has conducted parallel work on behalf of U.S., South American and European clients, both private and public, in the agri-food space.

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