Macroeconomics Food Prices Fall Again, Pace Quickens as Cost of Pork Drops Further The steep drop in pork prices since mid-spring kicked into overdrive during the summer, which resulted in the average cost of food dropping for the third consecutive month. With the average cost of pork down year-on-year by 44.9 percent, the average cost of food fell in August by 4.1 percent. That marked the steepest decline since April 2017. In addition to pork prices, the cost of fresh vegetables was down 1.5 percent from a year ago. Meanwhile, prices for cooking oil, dairy products, eggs, and fresh fruit continued to increase, but their upticks were smaller than the previous months with increases of 6.8 percent, 1.8 percent, 13.9 percent, and 5 percent,...
Illuminating the value of technical research
On behalf of a commodity producer organization, WPI evaluated the outputs from a project that featured a $5 million investment into technical research over multiple years. WPI’s team captured the results of this extensive effort and synthesized them for presentation to the organization’s governing board; among the findings uncovered and presented for the first time was the development of genomic traits proven, via rigorous testing, to provide crop yield advantages of 50 percent or more to U.S. farmers in times of drought. Capturing measurable results from long-term efforts can be challenging. Educating clients on the dynamics of success measurement when quantifiable results are not readily available requires deep client-consultant collaboration and an ability to consider both near- and long-term client aspirations with market/policy dynamics – attributes that WPI brings to every consulting engagement.
Russian Grain Markets: 29 June-3 July 2026 The new marketing season has officially begun in Russia, although bearish sentiment has been concentrated in the southern regions closest to the Black Sea ports, where export demand has been weakest. Delays in grain deliveries to inland elevators have...
What You Need to Know Today: The hot, dry weather forecast continues to drive strength in grain futures with corn and soybeans hitting another day of strong gains. Monday’s Crop Progress and Conditions data were in line with market expectations and showed relatively few concerns for the...