World Perspectives
livestock

Cow-Calf Revenues Set Record in 2024, Profitability to Continue in 2025

The rally in feeder cattle and calf prices from September 2024 through mid-January 2025 provided cow-calf producers with near-record profitability for the 2024 calf crop. Higher prices for calves and feeder cattle, combined with record- or near-record high values for cull cows, pushed cow-calf operations’ revenues to new all-time highs in 2024. WPI’s early projections for 2025 indicate producers are likely to see similar profitability levels for the coming year with high expected cattle prices set against declining feed costs. 2024 ProfitsCow-calf margins improved significantly from October through December as feeder cattle futures rallied and supported calf prices. Too, basis levels for steers and heifers were above historic norms for...

Related Articles
feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Summary of Futures

Jul 25 Corn closed at $4.175/bushel, up $0.08 from yesterday's close.  Sep 25 Wheat closed at $5.4075/bushel, up $0.04 from yesterday's close.  Nov 25 Soybeans closed at $10.2475/bushel, up $0.0825 from yesterday's close.  Jul 25 Soymeal closed at $271.1/short ton, up $0.2 from y...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Market Commentary: Trade Deals, Emerging Dryness Spark CBOT Short Covering

Traders seemed content to take short risk off the table heading into the weekend with USDA’s June Acreage and Grain Stocks reports due out Monday. Funds in particular are comfortable with positions ahead of these reports and saw little reason to push markets further into oversold territor...

Trade Negotiation Update; Miscellaneous

Trade Negotiation Update There were no shortages of eye-opening news reports this week and the notable one on trade late today was President Trump’s announcement that he is ending trade negotiations with Canada. Ottawa’s decision to impose a retroactive digital services tax on Ameri...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Summary of Futures

Jul 25 Corn closed at $4.175/bushel, up $0.08 from yesterday's close.  Sep 25 Wheat closed at $5.4075/bushel, up $0.04 from yesterday's close.  Nov 25 Soybeans closed at $10.2475/bushel, up $0.0825 from yesterday's close.  Jul 25 Soymeal closed at $271.1/short ton, up $0.2 from y...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Market Commentary: Trade Deals, Emerging Dryness Spark CBOT Short Covering

Traders seemed content to take short risk off the table heading into the weekend with USDA’s June Acreage and Grain Stocks reports due out Monday. Funds in particular are comfortable with positions ahead of these reports and saw little reason to push markets further into oversold territor...

Trade Negotiation Update; Miscellaneous

Trade Negotiation Update There were no shortages of eye-opening news reports this week and the notable one on trade late today was President Trump’s announcement that he is ending trade negotiations with Canada. Ottawa’s decision to impose a retroactive digital services tax on Ameri...

Input Costs Forecast to Rise, Led by Fertilizer

After rising sharply in 2022, input costs remain stubbornly high yet today. At the same time, the prices received for major crops like corn, soybeans and wheat have fallen by as much as 30 percent over the same period.   In response to these economic headwinds, Congress stepped up thr...

Image
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.

Search World Perspectives

Sign In to World Perspectives

Don’t have an account yet? Sign Up