Most eyes on today’s WASDE were looking at the crop side since this is a critical month with harvest underway. However, there were a few items of interest in the meat and livestock sections of the report. Beef and pork production were up slightly based on broiler production being revised down from last month.
Overall, the WASDE comports with the trends and developments WPI has reported on. Beef production was adjusted based on higher bull and cow slaughter in Q3; most of that cow slaughter has come from dairy culling, a trend we noted to watch back in July. Milk cows on dairy farms were 13,000 head lower in July compared to July of last year. Milk production per cow in July was down 9 pounds based on hot weather in key produ...
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...
