The May WASDE trimmed red meat and poultry production estimates but raised them for 2018. Meanwhile, cattle futures are deescalating quickly amid broad market nervousness. WASDE Herd and flock expansion will continue into 2018, at least according to the May WASDE. The latest USDA figures peg total red meat and poultry production at 102.8 billion pounds in 2018, up from 100.3 billion this year. Every category from beef to broilers is expected to expand in the coming year. Notably, USDA decreased 2017 meat supply projections, based primarily on lighter cattle and hog slaughter weights.Cattle feeders’ ability to aggressively market cattle has reduced on-feed times and pressured slaughter weights. Consequently, USDA lowered 2017 beef producti...
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.