At a joint press conference last week between the Department of Justice and USDA, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche stated that he and Rollins were present to “... talk about our progress here at the Justice Department to hold meat packers accountable.” The structure of the beef industry is such that competitors may exchange competitively sensitive information, which the DOJ is now investigating for potential antitrust violations in the beef and cattle sectors. Blanche also made a plea for whistleblowers, stating that …we just want to make sure people realize that people in this industry realize that we’re putting money where our mouth is. We’re not asking you to come forward and then see what happens...
What You Need to Know Today: American and Mexican officials met Tuesday and will meet again Wednesday for another round of trade talks, where ag and energy will be a key topic. Another round is scheduled for 20 July. Ag groups are urging President Trump to renew USMCA for another 16 years, but...
Since the first U.S. case of New World Screwworm (NWS) was confirmed on 3 June, USDA has confirmed 12 cases. The latest was confirmed in a sheep on 12 June, with four additional cases confirmed in Texas on 11 June, three in cattle and one in a goat. The New Mexico case confirmed that the infect...
Key Takeaways: China has invested heavily in the Port of Chancay to strengthen trade links between South America and Asia. The port could reduce shipping times to China by up to two weeks and improve export competitiveness. Inland transportation infrastructure remains the primary obstacle to r...
From WPI Consulting
Illuminating the value of technical research
On behalf of a commodity producer organization, WPI evaluated the outputs from a project that featured a $5 million investment into technical research over multiple years. WPI’s team captured the results of this extensive effort and synthesized them for presentation to the organization’s governing board; among the findings uncovered and presented for the first time was the development of genomic traits proven, via rigorous testing, to provide crop yield advantages of 50 percent or more to U.S. farmers in times of drought. Capturing measurable results from long-term efforts can be challenging. Educating clients on the dynamics of success measurement when quantifiable results are not readily available requires deep client-consultant collaboration and an ability to consider both near- and long-term client aspirations with market/policy dynamics – attributes that WPI brings to every consulting engagement.