Trump Suspends Phosphate CVDs
On Monday, the Trump Administration suspended the countervailing duties (CVDs) on phosphate fertilizer imports from Morocco via Executive Order. The CVDs were imposed in 2021 by the Biden Administration and were subject to a routine five-year sunset review. According to the Agricultural and Foo...
Senate Farm Bill, Prop 12, and NWS Update
Proposition 12: The National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) has advocated for a fix to Proposition 12, the California animal welfare law, in the Senate farm bill. The House version of the farm bill included a fix, but the Senate bill, based on the discussion draft released by Chairman John Boozm...
Senate Farm Bill and $11 Billion Supplemental Appropriation Request
On Wednesday, the White House submitted a national security supplemental spending request for $87.6 billion. The majority of the request includes funding for the conflict in the Middle East, but there are agricultural provisions as well. The supplemental funding package includes more than $11 b...
USMCA Renewal Prospects
When the USMCA was renegotiated in 2020, it added a sunset review process under which all three countries — the U.S., Mexico and Canada — are to meet on 1 July to indicate whether they want to renew the pact for another 16 years. That deadline is coming up in nine days, and Trump ha...
New Agreements on Iran War and EU Tariffs, Questions Remain
The U.S. and Iran announced a framework peace deal. Crude oil futures dropped to $83.08, the lowest since early March. The breakthrough comes as President Trump said that if Iran failed to reach a deal, he would order renewed military attacks. An LNG tanker chartered by India’s Petronet c...
Policy Roundup: NWS, Section 122 Tariffs, and Dairy Producer Agenda
New World Screwworm Another day, another case of New World Screwworm. USDA has reported nine cases of New World Screwworm (NWS) in the U.S. Of the nine reported cases, eight are located across four counties in Texas—Edwards, Gillespie, La Salle, and Zavala. Of the eight cases in Texas, si...
Then, Now and Next - Final Thoughts
Why read this? Because Mark Twain correctly noted that “History doesn’t repeat itself, but it often rhymes.” One of the most successful commodity traders and an eventual analyst at WPI was Bob Kohlmeyer. He was a history major from Princeton. After 47 years of profession...
E15 Moves to Senate
In January of this year, the House passed House Resolution 375, which established an E15 Rural Domestic Energy Council and directed the council to investigate the sale of E15, to develop legislative solutions, and to submit those solutions to Congress. E15 legislation was included in a short-te...
EU Sovereignty Ruse; Imbalanced Views; USMCA Voices
EU Sovereignty Ruse For years politicians talked like banty roosters about Europe’s soft power leadership, with American leaders hoping that a strong EU would multiply the U.S. power equation. Then Donald Trump ascended to power and called Europe a Potemkin village, infuriating Brussels t...
More Cases of Screwworm in Texas Confirmed
The USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has confirmed two new cases of New World Screwworm (NWS). One was in Zavala County, Texas, the site of the first case. That case was found in a one-month-old calf, 5.6 miles from the first incident, and the quarantine effort in...
Screwworm Updates; Executive Action on Import Enforcement; Bullish Jobs Report
Newworld screwworm Update The detection of New World screwworm (NWS) in Texas on Wednesday has been volatile for the cattle markets. The confirmation came on Wednesday evening, and the futures market opened sharply lower on Thursday. Market participants cited unknowns about cattle supplies and...
Man Behind the Curtain; Asia Reversal; Better Mousetrap
Man Behind the Curtain Hypocrisy is a feature and not a bug in politics, but it still deserves no mercy. EU trade minister Maros Sefcovic told Chinese Vice Commerce Minister Li Chenggang that Europe’s trade deficit with the Middle Kingdom is "unsustainable." He urged Li to address it even...
Trump Suspends Phosphate CVDs
On Monday, the Trump Administration suspended the countervailing duties (CVDs) on phosphate fertilizer imports from Morocco via Executive Order. The CVDs were imposed in 2021 by the Biden Administration and were subject to a routine five-year sunset review. According to the Agricultural and Foo...
Senate Farm Bill, Prop 12, and NWS Update
Proposition 12: The National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) has advocated for a fix to Proposition 12, the California animal welfare law, in the Senate farm bill. The House version of the farm bill included a fix, but the Senate bill, based on the discussion draft released by Chairman John Boozm...
Senate Farm Bill and $11 Billion Supplemental Appropriation Request
On Wednesday, the White House submitted a national security supplemental spending request for $87.6 billion. The majority of the request includes funding for the conflict in the Middle East, but there are agricultural provisions as well. The supplemental funding package includes more than $11 b...
USMCA Renewal Prospects
When the USMCA was renegotiated in 2020, it added a sunset review process under which all three countries — the U.S., Mexico and Canada — are to meet on 1 July to indicate whether they want to renew the pact for another 16 years. That deadline is coming up in nine days, and Trump ha...
New Agreements on Iran War and EU Tariffs, Questions Remain
The U.S. and Iran announced a framework peace deal. Crude oil futures dropped to $83.08, the lowest since early March. The breakthrough comes as President Trump said that if Iran failed to reach a deal, he would order renewed military attacks. An LNG tanker chartered by India’s Petronet c...
Policy Roundup: NWS, Section 122 Tariffs, and Dairy Producer Agenda
New World Screwworm Another day, another case of New World Screwworm. USDA has reported nine cases of New World Screwworm (NWS) in the U.S. Of the nine reported cases, eight are located across four counties in Texas—Edwards, Gillespie, La Salle, and Zavala. Of the eight cases in Texas, si...
Then, Now and Next - Final Thoughts
Why read this? Because Mark Twain correctly noted that “History doesn’t repeat itself, but it often rhymes.” One of the most successful commodity traders and an eventual analyst at WPI was Bob Kohlmeyer. He was a history major from Princeton. After 47 years of profession...
E15 Moves to Senate
In January of this year, the House passed House Resolution 375, which established an E15 Rural Domestic Energy Council and directed the council to investigate the sale of E15, to develop legislative solutions, and to submit those solutions to Congress. E15 legislation was included in a short-te...
EU Sovereignty Ruse; Imbalanced Views; USMCA Voices
EU Sovereignty Ruse For years politicians talked like banty roosters about Europe’s soft power leadership, with American leaders hoping that a strong EU would multiply the U.S. power equation. Then Donald Trump ascended to power and called Europe a Potemkin village, infuriating Brussels t...
More Cases of Screwworm in Texas Confirmed
The USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has confirmed two new cases of New World Screwworm (NWS). One was in Zavala County, Texas, the site of the first case. That case was found in a one-month-old calf, 5.6 miles from the first incident, and the quarantine effort in...
Screwworm Updates; Executive Action on Import Enforcement; Bullish Jobs Report
Newworld screwworm Update The detection of New World screwworm (NWS) in Texas on Wednesday has been volatile for the cattle markets. The confirmation came on Wednesday evening, and the futures market opened sharply lower on Thursday. Market participants cited unknowns about cattle supplies and...
Man Behind the Curtain; Asia Reversal; Better Mousetrap
Man Behind the Curtain Hypocrisy is a feature and not a bug in politics, but it still deserves no mercy. EU trade minister Maros Sefcovic told Chinese Vice Commerce Minister Li Chenggang that Europe’s trade deficit with the Middle Kingdom is "unsustainable." He urged Li to address it even...