Meat packer margins improved for the first time in several weeks last week with gains in beef and pork prices offsetting gains in market animal values. Beef packer margins improved by $17/head last week but remain at their second-lowest levels in the past 15 years due to high fed cattle costs...
The CBOT turned higher to start the week with wheat, corn, soybeans, and soy oil, all finding their way to higher ground amid a mix of factors. The big news for the day was Moody’s weekend downgrade of the U.S. credit rating, from “triple-A” to “double-A”. That new...
Health and Human Services Secretary RFK, Jr. wants to stop demand for fake food colorings and Americans are slowing demand for fake food products. The demand for plant-based milks skyrocketed in percentage terms just a few years ago. Farm state politicians rushed to regulate the use of the word...
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.