July is corn's month because that's when pollination takes place. August is soybean's month because that's when blooming and pod setting take place. This year, soybean's month will really extend into the first half of September because much of the crop was planted so late. Soybean's Month Isn't Going So Well Weather-Wise As the three pictures below show, rainfall has been far below normal for the last 30 days, the drought area across the western Corn Belt has actually expanded over the same period and the extended forecast looks very dry across most of the Corn Belt.There appears to be another issue with the potential soybean yield, as we pointed out last Friday. That issue is the reduced number of pods per plant across much of the west...
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 €...
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...
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.