Threats and Other Silliness No threats, just opportunities. There are alternative ways to think about many things, including those perceived as threats. There could be 70 topics if one looked at all the parts of agri-food that cause fear for some people, but here are seven. Dueling Over Biotech Crops and Food Opposition to GM crops and foods is widespread and deeply entrenched in Europe, Africa and parts of Asia. Perhaps the driver that forces acceptance of GM crops will be necessity -- the necessity of feeding 10 billion people by the year 2050 while also reducing hunger and malnutrition. The Globalization of the Food Industry The recent announcement that China’s Shuanghui International Holdings Ltd is acquiring Smithfield Foo...
What You Need to Know Today: Harvest pressure in the U.S. sent corn and soybeans lower as supplies increased and there were signs USDA’s upward revisions to yields in the October WASDE could be close to right. The conflict between Russia and Ukraine escalated over the weekend, with Ukrai...
Key Takeaways: India is excluding sugarcane juice, sugar syrup, and B-heavy molasses from its 2026/27 fuel ethanol procurement program to protect domestic sugar supplies, potentially shifting additional demand toward corn and rice. India’s corn consumption for ethanol has surged from jus...
Developer's Note 24 August 2026: WPI recently completed an exercise that updated the codebase for this app and solved some of the discrepancies between our five-year average calculation and USDA's. There are a few lingering cases where early (late) starts (finishes) to the crop cycle resu...
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.