World Perspectives

Deep Bench to Fight RFK; China Market Risk; Thankless Job

Deep Bench to Fight RFKBeing the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture is usually a pretty good job. It involves doling out billions of dollars, the constituency is dominated by courteous country people, and controversies tend to be minor. The person serving the longest in any Cabinet position was James “Tama Jim” Wilson at USDA for 16 years. Current USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack will have served in the position for 12 years. Henry A. Wallace served as USDA chief for eight years before being elevated to Vice President. Officially, the position is mid-tier in the presidential line of succession. But it is technically oriented, and the weakest secretaries have been those ill-suited to the job. Per Dave Juday’s discussion of who might be the next US...

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feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Market Commentary: New Year Looks Like Old Year

Traders closed out an overall lower week with more of the same. There was a new contract low in SRW, but a late rally pushed HRW slightly into the green for the day but not for the week. Traders brushed off increasing Russia-Ukraine hostilities and any risk of winterkill in wheat. It was a fift...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Summary of Futures

Mar 26 Corn closed at $4.375/bushel, down $0.0275 from yesterday's close.  Mar 26 Wheat closed at $5.065/bushel, down $0.005 from yesterday's close.  Mar 26 Soybeans closed at $10.4575/bushel, down $0.0175 from yesterday's close.  Mar 26 Soymeal closed at $296/short ton, down $3...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

New Bridge Payments Restore Profitability

On 31 December the USDA announced the per acre payment rates for the Farmer Bridge Assistance (FBA) program for producers hit by the ongoing tariffs.  Cotton and rice will receive the highest payments. On 15 December WPI estimated the upcoming payments, with cotton and rice at the top of t...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Market Commentary: New Year Looks Like Old Year

Traders closed out an overall lower week with more of the same. There was a new contract low in SRW, but a late rally pushed HRW slightly into the green for the day but not for the week. Traders brushed off increasing Russia-Ukraine hostilities and any risk of winterkill in wheat. It was a fift...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Summary of Futures

Mar 26 Corn closed at $4.375/bushel, down $0.0275 from yesterday's close.  Mar 26 Wheat closed at $5.065/bushel, down $0.005 from yesterday's close.  Mar 26 Soybeans closed at $10.4575/bushel, down $0.0175 from yesterday's close.  Mar 26 Soymeal closed at $296/short ton, down $3...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

New Bridge Payments Restore Profitability

On 31 December the USDA announced the per acre payment rates for the Farmer Bridge Assistance (FBA) program for producers hit by the ongoing tariffs.  Cotton and rice will receive the highest payments. On 15 December WPI estimated the upcoming payments, with cotton and rice at the top of t...

Happy New Year!

The WPI team extends our best wishes to you and your families for a healthy and happy New Year. Thank you for your faithful readership, we are looking forward to serving you in 2026!  Please note that our next report will be issued on Friday, 2 January as the U.S. markets are closed for th...

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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.

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