Regional News Russia’s recent strikes against Ukraine and poor progress in peace talks between the two countries in Istanbul have added “war risk” premia back into several markets, including wheat. Farmers in Spain and France were protesting, again, agricultural imports from Ukraine and South America under the MERCOSUR free trade agreement (FTA) ahead of the Ukraine FTA and a visit from Brazilian President Lula da Silva. Europe and the UK saw beneficial rains last week that offered widespread relief for the oat crops. Sweden, Germany, and the UK saw above-average rainfall that will help boost production prospects. Additionally, Spain is forecasting a huge oat crop and could be searching for export opportu...
What You Need to Know Today: The cattle market rebounded sharply this week, with January feeder cattle futures gaining $16.98/cwt and February live cattle futures advancing $7.60/cwt since last Friday. Tyson Foods' plans to restore a second processing shift at its Amarillo, Texas, facili...
Key Takeaways: The rationale for farm programs has changed significantly from their original intentions. Farmers’ incomes have grown sharply and have surpassed non-farm incomes beginning in the 1970s. Current farm programs are complex and focus on supporting risk management, environmenta...
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.