Seaboard, a relatively smaller meat processor, reported that 22 percent of its employees tested positive for the COVID-19 virus. That is not too far behind New York City where 25 percent of the population tested positive. Meat packing is the largest employer in food manufacturing, absorbing nearly 30 percent of the sector’s workers. By contrast, those in the grain and oilseeds comprise just 3.2 percent of the food and agriculture workforce. Farmers get all the glory, but they are just 1.3 percent of the overall workforce or about 10 percent of those working in food and agriculture. But that in itself is a highly skewed number because with 4 percent of farms growing 66 percent of the output, most farms are hobby operations heavi...
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
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.