The January WASDE report lowered previous forecasts for 2021 beef production based on lower expected carcass weights. That report also projected lower weights for hogs, though offset by higher rates of slaughter. That is a sound projection based on feed costs and the cost of gain for cattle and hogs, but the question remains: when will we start to see lighter weights? A month into the year, slaughter weights are actually increasing and running well above prior year averages. Last week’s estimated average cattle slaughter weight hit 1,400 pounds and average hog weights hit 295 pounds, the heaviest weight since (at least) 2016. Regardless if weights trend down, Q1 beef and pork production will be greater than anticipated. &n...
Key Market Insights The broad market is locked in on this week’s Trump-Xi meeting in Beijing, but this is no longer just a trade summit. Increasingly, the meeting is becoming tied directly to Iran, energy security, and the growing global economic fallout from disruptions through the Strai...
From WPI Consulting
Illuminating the value of technical research
On behalf of a commodity producer organization, WPI evaluated the outputs from a project that featured a $5 million investment into technical research over multiple years. WPI’s team captured the results of this extensive effort and synthesized them for presentation to the organization’s governing board; among the findings uncovered and presented for the first time was the development of genomic traits proven, via rigorous testing, to provide crop yield advantages of 50 percent or more to U.S. farmers in times of drought. Capturing measurable results from long-term efforts can be challenging. Educating clients on the dynamics of success measurement when quantifiable results are not readily available requires deep client-consultant collaboration and an ability to consider both near- and long-term client aspirations with market/policy dynamics – attributes that WPI brings to every consulting engagement.