Looking at the recently released meat price spreads from USDA can provide some hints as to what is going on in the livestock and wholesale meat markets. Retailers are having a difficult time maintaining margins on red meat. The August CPI data released this week showed beef prices up 0.7 percent on the month and 6.3 percent on the year. For pork, price inflation was down 1.9 percent on the year, it was up 1.8 percent on the month. Cattle producers, on the other hand, are faring well with high cattle prices. Those prices spiked in June to $188/cwt and held through July at around $185/cwt. For the past three weeks they’ve been just above $182/cwt. The August Cattle on Feed Report showed that July marketings as a percent of on feed inve...
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.