Winning without Trying U.S. aggies are astonished and pleased while the owners of a handful of worn out U.S.-flagged ships are baffled and angry over the transportation bill that just became law. The two sectors have fought for five decades over a Jones Act requirement that U.S. overseas food aid be delivered on U.S. ships. The Jones Act calls for 50 percent of the aid to be on U.S. vessels, but in a 1985 Farm Bill compromise, the level was raised to 75 percent in a quid pro quo to statutorily exempt from the requirement any commodity shipments financed by the GSM export credit guarantee program.On 6 July, President Obama signed into law the "Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act" that includes section 100124, returning food...
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 €...
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.