Roadblock Italy The new Italian government says it will not ratify the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) between the EU and Canada. It is a major agreement, but the Italians say it does too little to protect their country’s specialty foods. This does not bode well for EU completion and ratification of the more controversial trade agreement being negotiated with Mercosur. The ratification of CETA has gone through bumps before getting to Italy’s roadblock, but opposition to a trade agreement with Mercosur has been much more vocal. Instead of a roadblock, Italy is likely to have help building a wall against increased EU imports of South American beef. Lemon to a Knife Fight The Senate Agriculture Committe...
What You Need to Know Today: Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva secured reelection on Sunday, defeating right-wing Senator Flávio Bolsonaro despite trailing in the first round of voting. The surprise victory triggered a sharp selloff in Brazilian financial market...
The 2026 midterm elections are a week from tomorrow, but early voting has been taking place for weeks. At stake is control of Congress, including the House of Representatives, where all 435 seats are contested, and the Senate, where approximately one-third of the seats are up for election. Farm...
Key Takeaways: Total U.S. crop acres (excluding hay) are forecast to expand fractionally this year due to greater oilseed crop and winter wheat plantings. One of the key drivers of this year’s crop outlook is input costs, and crops with a lower cost profile have an advantage in producers...
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.