We old-timers who have been involved in the grain business for many years (yes, there are a few of us left) have witnessed the benefits of trade first hand. For at least the last 60-plus years, exports of U.S. grain, soybeans and soy products have been a key fundamental factor in the balance between U.S. supplies and demand that determines their value. Whether exports are the most important factor in finding value may be debatable, but we would argue that they have been as critical in this regard over the long term as any other source of demand. Given this experience, the benefits to the U.S. of free trade unfettered by barriers seem crystal clear. In our view, support for free trade should be a “no-brainer.” Thus, we are surpr...
What You Need to Know Today: After a period of limited activity, USDA reported a sizeable 613 KMT in soybean export sales, including 330 KMT to China and 283 KMT to unknown destinations, potentially also China. The purchases represent a meaningful pickup in demand and bring China closer to ful...
Key Takeaways: Consumer spending is a key driver of the U.S. economy, and the latest retail sales data indicate that spending remains robust despite inflation. In September, total retail and food service sales rose more than 6 percent year-over-year, with food service spending up 7 percent and...
The Trump import plan for 300,000 MT of beef supplies used for ground beef, i.e., lean trim, from September through November has, according to Secretary Brooke Rollins, brought some relief to beef prices. The Executive Order states that the Secretary of Agriculture will analyze and review the m...
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.