World Perspectives

Coronavirus Complicated Economy

On Wednesday 4 March, USDA Secretary Perdue testified before the House Agriculture Committee on the state of the farm economy, following are a few highlights: Production and input expenses (adjusted for inflation) are expected to increase year over year for the first time since 2014. Farm debt is projected to grow to $425 billion, with about 62 percent ($265 billion) in real estate and about 38 percent ($160 billion) in non-real estate.  Debt to equity forecast to be at 13.59 in 2020 – the highest level since 2003. Cash income is expected to drop in 2020; but that is based in part on higher cash income levels in 2019 from marketing crop inventories due to lower production. In all, it is a tenuous economic...

Related Articles
feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Market Commentary: Corn Bounces while Wheat, Soybeans Fall Further

Bears were once again in charge of the CBOT on Wednesday, though they temporarily relinquished control of the corn market to bulls. Funds were aggressive sellers again in soybeans, soymeal, and wheat futures amid bearish fundamentals for each of the commodities and pushed wheat to a new contrac...

Europe; Greening; AI; Ice Cream; UPFs; Algorithms

Europe Pivot Point EU leaders will hold a very pivotal meeting tomorrow covering a range of issues including the use of Russian assets and security guarantees for Ukraine, and a trade agreement with Mercosur. More importantly, their reputations are at risk. President Trump predicts Europe&rsquo...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Summary of Futures

Mar 26 Corn closed at $4.405/bushel, up $0.04 from yesterday's close.  Mar 26 Wheat closed at $5.0625/bushel, down $0.0325 from yesterday's close.  Jan 26 Soybeans closed at $10.5825/bushel, down $0.045 from yesterday's close.  Jan 26 Soymeal closed at $298.2/short ton, down $4.2...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Market Commentary: Corn Bounces while Wheat, Soybeans Fall Further

Bears were once again in charge of the CBOT on Wednesday, though they temporarily relinquished control of the corn market to bulls. Funds were aggressive sellers again in soybeans, soymeal, and wheat futures amid bearish fundamentals for each of the commodities and pushed wheat to a new contrac...

Europe; Greening; AI; Ice Cream; UPFs; Algorithms

Europe Pivot Point EU leaders will hold a very pivotal meeting tomorrow covering a range of issues including the use of Russian assets and security guarantees for Ukraine, and a trade agreement with Mercosur. More importantly, their reputations are at risk. President Trump predicts Europe&rsquo...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Summary of Futures

Mar 26 Corn closed at $4.405/bushel, up $0.04 from yesterday's close.  Mar 26 Wheat closed at $5.0625/bushel, down $0.0325 from yesterday's close.  Jan 26 Soybeans closed at $10.5825/bushel, down $0.045 from yesterday's close.  Jan 26 Soymeal closed at $298.2/short ton, down $4.2...

livestock

Livestock Industry Margins

Beef packer margins reversed sharply lower last week, swinging back into negative territory after six straight weeks of positive returns. Margins fell $145/head to –$75 as fed cattle prices rebounded $7/cwt (live basis), while the Choice cutout slipped nearly $7/cwt. The rapid compression...

Image
From WPI Consulting

Accountability and a comprehensive approach to export programming

WPI’s team helped construct a strategic approach to develop, implement, and track promotional activities in 8 key regions across the globe for an agricultural export association. With continued progress measurement and strategic advisory services from WPI, the association has seen its ROI from investments in promotional programming increase by 44 percent over the past 5 years. Not only does this type of holistic approach to organizational strategy provide measurable results to track and analyze, it fosters top-down and bottom-up organizational accountability.

Search World Perspectives

Sign In to World Perspectives

Don’t have an account yet? Sign Up