It was a big day for market-moving reports with the WASDE report (see Matt Herrington’s analysis) and the Consumer Price Index (CPI) report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The CPI for food at home was up 1.4 in May, the fifth consecutive increase of more than 1 percent. For the year, the index rose 11.9 percent – the largest increase since April 1979 during the great stagflation. All six major grocery store categories increased, with five of them up more than 10 percent
Note that Meat Poultry Eggs and Fish was driven by a 32 percent increase in egg prices due to HPAI. Energy was up 34.6 percent. All items excluding food and energy, i.e., the “core inflation” the Federal Reserve watches, was up 6...
What You Need to Know Today: Crude oil prices extended their rally today, supported by several developments, including escalating Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabian oil infrastructure and growing concerns about supply disruptions. The Trump administration is reportedly preparing to remove 50 perc...
Key Takeaways: The agricultural trade surplus has become a sizable deficit: the balance swung from a $40.1 billion surplus in 2011 to a $40.7 billion deficit in 2025. Imports kept growing while exports lost momentum: between 2020 and 2025, agricultural imports increased 45 percent, compa...
USDA released its October Cattle on Feed report Friday, showing 11.4 million cattle in feedlots with capacity for 1,000 head or more, slightly below last year. September placements were the lowest for the month since records began in 1996, marking the third consecutive month of placements sett...
Total Red Meat & Poultry September 2026 total red meat and poultry stocks totaled 1.97 billion pounds, down 1.4 percent from August despite typically increasing 0.8 percent during the month, and were 1.5 percent below September 2025 levels. The decline pushed total inventories to a new five...
