The House of Representatives is in recess this week, meaning that the farm bill conference proper will likely not convene. However, staff work that proceeded last week will continue. Both House Agriculture Committee Chairman Frank Lucas (R-Oklahoma) and Ranking Minority Member Collin Peterson (D-Minnesota) are expected to be in town this week for meetings with their counterparts on the Senate Committee, Chairman Debbie Stabenow (D-Michigan) and Ranking Minority Member Thad Cochran (R-Mississippi). Moreover, as the staff talks have whittled down the member-only issues that will have to be decided at a high level, some battle lines on major issues are being drawn.It appears unlikely that Senator Stabenow will accept any cuts to the Suppleme...
Key Takeaways: WPI’s new EU rapeseed crushing margin models point to weaker processing returns over the next four months due to higher rapeseed procurement costs and weaker product values. Statistical forecasts call for German crushing margins to decline from €181/MT to €...
Key Takeaways: The tariff burden rose sharply in 2025 and 2026: the effective rate on imports in HTS Chapters 1–24 increased from 1.53 percent in 2024 to 6.11 percent in 2025, before averaging 5.68 percent in January–August 2026. Headline rates tell only part of the story: exemptio...
Markets are getting into the Halloween spirit, handing out more tricks than treats. There has been some encouraging news, but it hasn’t been enough to slow the broader slide. Now buyers need to show up with something other than another “Charlie Brown” rock for the bag. Somethi...
From WPI Consulting
Accountability and a comprehensive approach to export programming
WPI’s team helped construct a strategic approach to develop, implement, and track promotional activities in 8 key regions across the globe for an agricultural export association. With continued progress measurement and strategic advisory services from WPI, the association has seen its ROI from investments in promotional programming increase by 44 percent over the past 5 years. Not only does this type of holistic approach to organizational strategy provide measurable results to track and analyze, it fosters top-down and bottom-up organizational accountability.