Regional News In the first two weeks of 2026, 10 countries in the EU reported a combined total of 42 outbreaks of the H5N1 bird flu virus in commercial poultry farms. The virus was detected on 17 farms in Poland, five each in Germany, France, and Hungary, and four in Belgium. Bulgaria, Denmark, Italy, the Netherlands, and Spain have each reported at least one outbreak in 2026. Polish authorities are seeking improved economic ties with India after Polish Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Radoslaw Sikorski met with Indian officials in New Delhi earlier this week. Milk delivery volumes in the EU rose to a record high through the first 10 months of the year and were up 1.4 percent YTD at 12.2 MMT. Poland, France, and I...
What You Need to Know Today: The surprises from the USDA’s Acreage report were a sharp reduction in winter wheat area from the March Prospective Plantings estimates and a larger-than-expected increase in corn area. The Grain Stocks report offered relatively few surprises, but quarterly d...
Key Takeaways: High oleic soybeans produce oil containing 70–80 percent oleic acid, improving stability and eliminating the need for partial hydrogenation, which eliminates trans fats. There are three primary varieties of high oleic soybeans available commercially: Plenish, Vistive Gold,...
Mediterranean/Middle East/North Africa/Africa – MEA Region Oman Flour Mills has begun its 2026 purchases of locally produced wheat. The mill runs a government-supported program that it says strengthens the country’s food supply. The program is said to “improve farming practice...
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.