As we all know too well, the government shutdown continues to block nearly all of USDA's daily, weekly and monthly reports. We suppose it requires a shutdown like this, now in its 15th day, for those involved with or interested in cash and futures markets for grains and soybeans to realize just how much they depend on those inputs from USDA. Sometimes USDA's silence makes us feel as though we are traveling through unfamiliar territory and have misplaced our roadmap and GPS device. As long as we retain our sense of direction, we will eventually find our way through it. However, the process would be so much faster and better if we had access to a map or GPS (or USDA reports).The Treasury Department said that it will not have enough money to...
What You Need to Know Today: Chinese purchases of U.S. soybeans continued to accelerate, with USDA reporting another 558 KMT sold to China and 236 KMT to unknown destinations. Combined with sales announced Wednesday and Thursday, the latest purchases bring the three-day total to approximately...
Key Takeaways: With the fall calf run now upon us, producers are finally getting a glimpse of what their realized profits will be for 2026. Some producers may have already obtained a strong estimate of 2026 revenues, especially if calves were forward sold in, for example, the mid-summer...
As fall begins, wild migratory birds are starting their seasonal migration. That has the industry and government officials worried about the potential spread, again, of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI). Some members of Congress have called for the United States to be prepared for a pote...
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.