World Perspectives
livestock

Livestock Roundup: High Prices and China Persist

What a difference a year makes! No one will forget how out of balance cattle markets were in 2022 with margins steeply favoring the packer, while feedlots saw their margins shrink away into negative territory.  In fact, it was such a factor that we suffered through a year of misguided attempts to “fix” the market with all kinds of adjustments to cattle pricing.   However, in the past year, feedlot margins are up more than 1,300 percent, according to Sterling Beef Profit Tracker, going from $29.33/head in 2024 to $419.93/head last week. Last week’s highs were up from already high margins of $366.40/head the previous week and $278.73/head in mid-February. Packer margins, meanwhile, remained in the red with a -...

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feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Market Commentary: Turnaround Tuesday for Grains; Soybeans Sag; New Highs for Cattle

Corn and wheat found technical support Tuesday that created turnarounds on their respective charts and, in the case of wheat, formed bullish key reversals. News of smaller corn yields in the Midwest and strong export sales performance last week helped boost corn and wheat values following Monda...

livestock

The Strange Effects of Screwworm

For the first six months of 2025, cattle imports from Mexico are down 73.1 percent due to restrictions from the discovery of New World Screwworm (NWS) in Mexico. From January to July 2024 there were 853,976 head imported into the U.S. from Mexico, but in 2025 that volume over the same time peri...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Summary of Futures

Dec 25 Corn closed at $4.13/bushel, up $0.0225 from yesterday's close.  Dec 25 Wheat closed at $5.0025/bushel, up $0.035 from yesterday's close.  Nov 25 Soybeans closed at $10.065/bushel, down $0.0125 from yesterday's close.  Dec 25 Soymeal closed at $274.3/short ton, up $0.2 fro...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Market Commentary: Turnaround Tuesday for Grains; Soybeans Sag; New Highs for Cattle

Corn and wheat found technical support Tuesday that created turnarounds on their respective charts and, in the case of wheat, formed bullish key reversals. News of smaller corn yields in the Midwest and strong export sales performance last week helped boost corn and wheat values following Monda...

livestock

The Strange Effects of Screwworm

For the first six months of 2025, cattle imports from Mexico are down 73.1 percent due to restrictions from the discovery of New World Screwworm (NWS) in Mexico. From January to July 2024 there were 853,976 head imported into the U.S. from Mexico, but in 2025 that volume over the same time peri...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Summary of Futures

Dec 25 Corn closed at $4.13/bushel, up $0.0225 from yesterday's close.  Dec 25 Wheat closed at $5.0025/bushel, up $0.035 from yesterday's close.  Nov 25 Soybeans closed at $10.065/bushel, down $0.0125 from yesterday's close.  Dec 25 Soymeal closed at $274.3/short ton, up $0.2 fro...

Worse Before Better; Tech Rescue; Value Added

Worse Before Better First China announced restrictions on rare earth exports, then President Trump announced 100 percent tariffs and software restrictions starting 1 November in retaliation, until he signaled everything was just a bad day. China then sanctioned a U.S. shipping subsidiary. Some...

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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.

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