Exports helped both beef and pork maintain strong prices so far in 2017 despite supply increases, and the EPA-proposed biofuel rule hints at potential changes to DDGS in the future. Exports Up in First Half of 2017 With all the data available for the first two quarters of the year, exports of beef, pork and broilers are exceeding last year. Three factors are involved: 1) increased foreign demand for protein; 2) higher U.S. production of beef (+4.3 percent), pork (+2.2 percent) and broilers (+1 percent) with resulting lower prices; and 3) the U.S. dollar’s decline in value (-5.9 percent to date this year, per the Federal Reserve).Mexico was the largest importer of pork and broiler meat with Japan the largest importer of beef (30 percent of...
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
Forecasting developments in production agriculture
On behalf of a private U.S. agricultural technology provider, WPI’s team generated an econometric model to forecast the movement of concentrated corn production north and west from the traditional U.S. Corn Belt. WPI’s model has subsequently provided quantitative support to a multi-million-dollar investment into short-season corn variety development. WPI’s methodology included a series of interviews with regional grain elevators and seed consultants. Emphasizing outreach and communication with stakeholders who possess intimate sectoral knowledge – on-the-ground insights – is a regular component of WPI’s methodologies, made possible by WPI’s ever-growing network of industry contacts.