World Perspectives

Cooperative Evolution; Safety in Numbers; How Sweet?; CAP Cuts; Banning Competitors

Cooperative Evolution Farmer cooperatives in the U.S. were historically conflicted between serving their farmer members and operating as competitive business enterprises. The recent change in U.S. tax law favoring cooperatives comes at an odd time because industrialization in agriculture has forced many of those to in fact choose to operate like any other agribusiness. In fact, journalist Nate Wilson recently said of the Dairy Farmers of America (DFA) cooperative, “You can’t look at DFA as anything now but a corporation…it owns or controls entities up and down the entire dairy industry supply chain.” From a historical standpoint, the tax policy benefit just handed to cooperatives over other agribusinesses appears t...

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Market Commentary: Grains, Soyoil Sink in Pre-Holiday Trade; Soybeans, Cattle Strengthen

Pre-Thanksgiving trade is usually a light-volume, range-bound affair with few fireworks, but this year’s market action offered more interest than most. Corn futures indeed traded a tight range, but did so with surprisingly heavy volume that likely belies a rash of fund selling. Fund selling was...

Happy Thanksgiving

U.S. financial markets are closed for the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday on Thursday, 28 November. Consequently, WPI’s offices will be closed as well and no issue of Ag Perspectives will be published. Ag Perspectives will resume Friday, 29 November. We wish everyone a happy holiday! ...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Summary of Futures

Mar 25 Corn closed at $4.28/bushel, up $0 from yesterday's close. Mar 25 Wheat closed at $5.485/bushel, down $0.095 from yesterday's close. Jan 25 Soybeans closed at $9.8875/bushel, up $0.0525 from yesterday's close. Jan 25 Soymeal closed at $295.4/short ton, up $4 from yesterday...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Market Commentary: Grains, Soyoil Sink in Pre-Holiday Trade; Soybeans, Cattle Strengthen

Pre-Thanksgiving trade is usually a light-volume, range-bound affair with few fireworks, but this year’s market action offered more interest than most. Corn futures indeed traded a tight range, but did so with surprisingly heavy volume that likely belies a rash of fund selling. Fund selling was...

Happy Thanksgiving

U.S. financial markets are closed for the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday on Thursday, 28 November. Consequently, WPI’s offices will be closed as well and no issue of Ag Perspectives will be published. Ag Perspectives will resume Friday, 29 November. We wish everyone a happy holiday! ...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Summary of Futures

Mar 25 Corn closed at $4.28/bushel, up $0 from yesterday's close. Mar 25 Wheat closed at $5.485/bushel, down $0.095 from yesterday's close. Jan 25 Soybeans closed at $9.8875/bushel, up $0.0525 from yesterday's close. Jan 25 Soymeal closed at $295.4/short ton, up $4 from yesterday...

USTR Nominee; Changing Eating Habits

USTR NomineeTariffs are President-Elect Trumps most repeated policy focus but his selection of the next U.S. Trade Representative came nearly last. At least Jamieson Greer is a somewhat known quantity. World Trade Online says, “Stakeholders see what they want to see in Greer as USTR.” Having se...

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From WPI Consulting

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.

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