World Perspectives
livestock

Livestock Industry Margins

Beef packer margins fell over $100/head for the second straight week to hit - $151/head, which is among the worst margins in the past decade. The culprit for weaker margins was an $11/cwt pullback in the Choice cutout and other beef values while fed cattle prices were steady/slightly higher. Packers tried to delay purchases last week, but ended up having to pay for spot cattle to fill beef orders. As margins weaken again, the threat of suspended weekend kills and reduced slaughter rates increases as a threat to fed cattle values. Feedlot profit margins for last week’s placements turned $134/head higher ...

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feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Summary of Futures

Dec 25 Corn closed at $4.18/bushel, down $0.0175 from yesterday's close.  Dec 25 Wheat closed at $5.1925/bushel, down $0.0025 from yesterday's close.  Nov 25 Soybeans closed at $10.27/bushel, down $0.06 from yesterday's close.  Dec 25 Soymeal closed at $284/short ton, up $0.3 fro...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Market Commentary: Ending on a Sour Note

The weak jobs report sent most economic indices lower, except for gold. The dollar slumped lower despite the increased likelihood of interest rate cuts. Corn, soybeans and some wheat contract teased higher at the start of the session but they couldn’t hold. There was yet another new contr...

livestock

Post-Labor Day Look at Pork and Beef Markets

With Labor Day behind us, here is a look at the meat market going into fall. Total hog slaughter for last week was estimated at 2.391 million head, 1.5 percent lower than a year ago, making this the 15th consecutive week below year ago levels. Seasonal national average weights are starting to t...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Summary of Futures

Dec 25 Corn closed at $4.18/bushel, down $0.0175 from yesterday's close.  Dec 25 Wheat closed at $5.1925/bushel, down $0.0025 from yesterday's close.  Nov 25 Soybeans closed at $10.27/bushel, down $0.06 from yesterday's close.  Dec 25 Soymeal closed at $284/short ton, up $0.3 fro...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Market Commentary: Ending on a Sour Note

The weak jobs report sent most economic indices lower, except for gold. The dollar slumped lower despite the increased likelihood of interest rate cuts. Corn, soybeans and some wheat contract teased higher at the start of the session but they couldn’t hold. There was yet another new contr...

livestock

Post-Labor Day Look at Pork and Beef Markets

With Labor Day behind us, here is a look at the meat market going into fall. Total hog slaughter for last week was estimated at 2.391 million head, 1.5 percent lower than a year ago, making this the 15th consecutive week below year ago levels. Seasonal national average weights are starting to t...

feed-grains

WPI U.S. State Corn Yield and Production Forecasts

The size and yield potential of the 2025 U.S. corn crop is of increasing debate and importance with the USDA’s September WASDE – and, more importantly, grain harvest – just around the corner. Much of the focus of recent discussions has been the impact of dryness across parts o...

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From WPI Consulting

Communicating importance of value-added products

Facing increasing pressure to quantify the value of export promotion efforts to investors, a U.S. industry organization retained WPI to develop a quantitative model that better communicated the importance of exports. The resulting model concluded that value-added meat exports contributed $0.45 cents per bushel to the price of corn, increasing support for that sector’s financial support of WPI’s client. In addition to serving the red meat industry with this type of analysis, WPI has generated similar deliverables for the U.S. soybean and poultry/egg industries.

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