On Thursday of this week, USDA’s National Ag Statistics Service (NASS) will issue a relatively obscure report: Farm Computer Usage and Ownership. Questions designed to collect this data started in 1997; the report is issued every two years. It provides data on farm computer usage, including computer access, ownership or leasing, farm business use, and most importantly internet access. Rural broadband has been a much-discussed topic in recent years. In fact, the 2018 farm bill created the Task Force for Reviewing the Connectivity and Technology Needs of Precision Agriculture in the United States – which the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) launched in June of 2019, with a goal to “develop policy recommen...
What You Need to Know Today: There has already been a strong run of flash soybean sales announcements in recent weeks, but more than 1.4 MMT reported this morning is an exceptionally large single-day total with major implications for the market. If the sales to China and unknown destinations w...
On Friday, at 6:57 AM, President Donald Trump announced, via a social media post, a 90-day window during which up to 300,000 metric tons of product for ground beef could be imported outside of tariff-rate quotas—a move aimed at bringing down costs for American consumers. This is the secon...
From WPI Consulting
Weighing in on strategic realignment
WPI’s team was retained by the governing board of a U.S. industry organization to review a decision, reached by vote, to invest significant assets into the development and management of an export trading company. WPI’s team conducted a formal review of this decision and concluded that the current level of market saturation would limit the benefits of the investment. Based on WPI’s analysis and recommended actions, the board subsequently reversed its decision and undertook a strategic planning effort to identify more impactful investments. On behalf of numerous clients, WPI has not only assisted in identifying strategic paths but also advised their implementation.