USDA released the monthly Cattle on Feed report today, which was mostly in line with pre-report expectations; only placements came outside of the consensus forecast. 10252024dj.jpg 50.4 KBSeptember marks the beginning of the fall run for cattle placements. Placements last month at 2.156 million head were 176,000 head more than August, and above the pre-report expectations, though still below September 2023. 10252024dj2.jpg 42.31 KBThe market is focused on signs of any move toward herd rebuilding from this report. The moves were subtle but leaning toward at least some expansion. Of the total inventory on feed, there were 7 million steers, which was 101 percent of last year, and 4.6 million heifers which was 99 percent of last year. Mark...
Key Takeaways: The U.S. sheep industry is contracting. Lamb output and producer participation have declined sharply. Imports now account for most U.S. lamb consumption. Their roughly 70 percent share raises concerns about domestic capacity and resilience. USTR’s referral carries substant...
Yesterday, the USDA released its monthly World Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE), forecasting tighter beef and pork supplies and growing broiler supplies, resulting in a tighter red meat supply. Broiler production, however, continues to grow and is forecast to be up more than 3 percent. Beef...
From WPI Consulting
Illuminating the value of technical research
On behalf of a commodity producer organization, WPI evaluated the outputs from a project that featured a $5 million investment into technical research over multiple years. WPI’s team captured the results of this extensive effort and synthesized them for presentation to the organization’s governing board; among the findings uncovered and presented for the first time was the development of genomic traits proven, via rigorous testing, to provide crop yield advantages of 50 percent or more to U.S. farmers in times of drought. Capturing measurable results from long-term efforts can be challenging. Educating clients on the dynamics of success measurement when quantifiable results are not readily available requires deep client-consultant collaboration and an ability to consider both near- and long-term client aspirations with market/policy dynamics – attributes that WPI brings to every consulting engagement.