Flighty Farm Proposal U.S. Senator and Democratic presidential candidate Cory Booker (D-New Jersey) is getting attention in populist corners for his proposed Farm System Reform Act that would place a national moratorium on “factory farms.” The act does not define “factory” farms though it would also phase out large CAFO’s, as defined by EPA, by 2040. Booker declares that “Large factory farms are harmful to rural communities, public health, and the environment” but provides no data to support the assertions. On a per unit of production basis, scale producers are unlikely to be more harmful to health or the environment. The Act would also end competition amongst growers seeking to sell livestock to p...
What You Need to Know Today: Commodities were mostly lower across the board today after yesterday’s Federal Reserve meeting hinted at a potential interest rate hike later in 2026. The dollar index reached its highest level in over a year, and a strong dollar makes U.S. agricultural expor...
Tomorrow is the Juneteenth federal holiday, and the USDA, along with the rest of the federal government and the CME, will be closed, so the monthly Cattle on Feed report was released a day early. The total number of cattle on feed in feedlots with 1,000 head or more capacity on 1 June amounted...
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.