World Perspectives
biofuel

No 1970’s Analog

The U.S. Federal Reserve is trying to accomplish a so-called soft-landing of the economy back down to a low inflation, modest growth, low unemployment scenario. An increasing number of voices are signaling their skepticism that this can be accomplished. Fed Chairman Jerome Powell even concedes that some of the factors at play “we don’t control.” When the similar problem of a slowing GDP and rising CPI occurred in the 1970’s, economist Milton Friedman said the first objective was to control inflation, and Chairman Powell has adopted the same strategy.  Like now, the 1970’s involved an oil price shock, but one of larger magnitude in real terms than the current runup in fuel costs. Unlike then, the U.S. has...

WPI on Twitter

Related Articles
feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Market Commentary: Down on the Day but Some Ups for the Week

Most of the major agricultural commodity contracts opened today’s trading session in the red and stayed that way to the close. Only feeder cattle and lean hogs managed small gains on the day. New contract lows were hit for December soyoil, September SRW and September HRW. Volume was overa...

wheat feed-grains soy-oilseeds

Summary of Futures

Dec 24 Corn closed at $4.1/bushel, down $0.1075 from yesterday's close.  Sep 24 Wheat closed at $5.235/bushel, down $0.1425 from yesterday's close.  Nov 24 Soybeans closed at $10.485/bushel, down $0.31 from yesterday's close.  Dec 24 Soymeal closed at $324.7/short ton, down $4.5...

Friday Shorts

Non-Meat: In a first, a Europe-based company has sought EU approval to market lab-grown meat, in this case fake foie gras. Some member states have already banned such products. While lab-grown meat remains expensive, and plant-based meat substitutes have faced declining popularity, the increase...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Market Commentary: Down on the Day but Some Ups for the Week

Most of the major agricultural commodity contracts opened today’s trading session in the red and stayed that way to the close. Only feeder cattle and lean hogs managed small gains on the day. New contract lows were hit for December soyoil, September SRW and September HRW. Volume was overa...

wheat feed-grains soy-oilseeds

Summary of Futures

Dec 24 Corn closed at $4.1/bushel, down $0.1075 from yesterday's close.  Sep 24 Wheat closed at $5.235/bushel, down $0.1425 from yesterday's close.  Nov 24 Soybeans closed at $10.485/bushel, down $0.31 from yesterday's close.  Dec 24 Soymeal closed at $324.7/short ton, down $4.5...

Friday Shorts

Non-Meat: In a first, a Europe-based company has sought EU approval to market lab-grown meat, in this case fake foie gras. Some member states have already banned such products. While lab-grown meat remains expensive, and plant-based meat substitutes have faced declining popularity, the increase...

livestock

June Cold Storage Report

June 2024 total red meat and poultry stocks were up slightly from May but 5.4 percent below June 2023 levels due to sharp declines in poultry and pork stocks. Total poultry stocks were down 7.8 percent year-over-year (YoY) due to reductions in broiler slaughter for the month. Total pork stocks...

Image
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.

Search World Perspectives

Sign In to World Perspectives

Don’t have an account yet? Sign Up