Attention on Capitol Hill has already turned toward the 2018 Farm Bill, and a new paper from a conservative think tank takes a look at farm policy from the perspective of consumers and nutrition.The 2014 Farm Bill doesn’t expire until 20 months from now at the end of September 2018, but the gears are already in motion for a rewrite. Yesterday the Republicans on the House Agriculture Committee held a retreat to discuss the upcoming farm bill reauthorization; reportedly, 19 of the 25 members were present. Further, our contacts on Capitol Hill indicate that amendments on agricultural programs and spending are expected when Congress takes up the FY 2018 budget resolution later this year. Those proposed changes would be considered prior to the f...
What You Need to Know Today: The corn and soybean markets closed slightly higher in low-volume trade. The wheat market was mixed, with HRW continuing its downward trek on improved moisture. As expected, the bearish cattle on feed report drove down cattle prices and pulled hogs down with it. Mi...
Monday, 25 May is a U.S. holiday, and both the markets and our office will be closed. Please note that the next issue of Ag Perspectives will be published on Tuesday, 26 May. The WPI staff wishes everyone a safe and enjoyable holiday weekend...
USDA’s monthly cattle on feed report was released today. The total number of cattle on feed in feedlots with 1,000 head or more capacity amounted to 11.6 million head, 102 percent of last year. Source: USDA, WPI Placements were up, but part of that is attributable to persistent drought c...
From WPI Consulting
Communicating importance of value-added products
Facing increasing pressure to quantify the value of export promotion efforts to investors, a U.S. industry organization retained WPI to develop a quantitative model that better communicated the importance of exports. The resulting model concluded that value-added meat exports contributed $0.45 cents per bushel to the price of corn, increasing support for that sector’s financial support of WPI’s client. In addition to serving the red meat industry with this type of analysis, WPI has generated similar deliverables for the U.S. soybean and poultry/egg industries.