Today’s Word Agriculture Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) report marginally increased its forecast by 0.2 percent for total red meat and poultry production compared to the August forecast. Only turkey production was down – up to 44 million birds have been culled due to HPAI.
Beef, pork, and broiler production were all revised up slightly. Broiler production is rebounding on higher chick placements and egg sets. Both beef and pork production are forecast up on slaughter volumes but are held back from larger increases by lighter slaughter weights. The pace of slaughter is picking up steam. The last week of August was the highest of the year, and last week’s Labor Day slaughter was the largest in more...
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...
