Flights of Fancy: USDA put a five-year extension on its "Farm to Fly" program intended to support the production of 1 billion gallons of aviation fuel by 2018. That would represent about 10 percent of total aviation fuel use. There are several baffling aspects to this initiative:
First, the rationale given by the agency is that it will help airlines meet Europe's inclusion of international aircraft in its emissions trading scheme, but President Obama signed a law protecting U.S. airlines against Europe's emissions tax on foreign aircrafts and there is no certainty that the UN will accomplish a compromise deal. Moreover, airline fuel use already has dropped by 10 percent while carrying more passengers. Second, USDA is blowing half its...
What You Need to Know Today: Cattle futures extended their sharp selloff Friday as weakening cash cattle prices, deteriorating feedlot profitability, and reduced packer demand continued to weigh on the market. The inability of futures to sustain a rally following last week's bullish Cattle on...
As predicted, the Federal Reserve held rates steady at the last meeting before the midterm elections, likely in part because of the election (see WPI 19 October and 22 September). The decision comes at the tail end of a midterm election cycle that has been marked by the two parties campaigning...
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 €...
