Last week the Federal Reserve – by a unanimous vote – moved to increase the federal funds rate by another 75 basis points for the third consecutive meeting, which brings the rate to the 3 - 3.25 percent range. That’s the highest since since early 2008 prior to the last recession. More important, however, is the Federal Open Market Committee’s (FOMC) outlook for more rate hikes. The September meeting was one of the Committee’s so-called “dot-plot” meetings, which refers to a chart the committee issues with dots, each representing a Fed member’s view on where the federal funds rate should be at the end of the current and following years. Below is the Fed’s plot.
Based...
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...
