World Perspectives

Obama Cuba Initiative to Face Congressional Hurdles

If this initiative is to move forward in any form from diplomatic relations to some sort of trade expansion over the next two years (the duration of the remaining years of Obama's term as well as the 114th Congress), it will be a complex political and policy process.With President Obama's announcement of his intent to "chart a new course on Cuba," there are a number of policy issues to be considered including: The Cuban Democracy Act of 1992 Helms/Burton legislation in 1996 Both of the above codified the embargo into statute. Thus, either the president's initiative would have to leverage democratic reforms in Cuba in order to trigger a review of the law or Congress must change the statute under these two legislative initiatives. With...

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Market Commentary: CBOT Ends Mixed on Planting Pace, Weather, South American Outlook

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May 25 Corn closed at $4.7575/bushel, down $0.06 from yesterday's close.  Jul 25 Wheat closed at $5.5025/bushel, down $0.02 from yesterday's close.  May 25 Soybeans closed at $10.35/bushel, up $0.055 from yesterday's close.  Jul 25 Soymeal closed at $299.5/short ton, down $0.8 fr...

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HPAI Waning This Spring

In 2022 and 2023, most HPAI cases affected producers during the spring and fall. The years 2024 and 2025 were different, however. The bulk of cases occurred during the winter months. Between December 2024 and February 2025, approximately 53.7 million egg layers, turkeys, and broilers were culle...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Market Commentary: CBOT Ends Mixed on Planting Pace, Weather, South American Outlook

The CBOT ended mixed on Tuesday as traders parsed through a slew of different data points. Perhaps the most influential news for the day was private crop analysts’ upward revisions to the Brazilian and Argentine corn crops, which combined with a strong start to planting the U.S. 2025 crop...

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May 25 Corn closed at $4.7575/bushel, down $0.06 from yesterday's close.  Jul 25 Wheat closed at $5.5025/bushel, down $0.02 from yesterday's close.  May 25 Soybeans closed at $10.35/bushel, up $0.055 from yesterday's close.  Jul 25 Soymeal closed at $299.5/short ton, down $0.8 fr...

livestock

HPAI Waning This Spring

In 2022 and 2023, most HPAI cases affected producers during the spring and fall. The years 2024 and 2025 were different, however. The bulk of cases occurred during the winter months. Between December 2024 and February 2025, approximately 53.7 million egg layers, turkeys, and broilers were culle...

The Future of the U.S. – China Trade War

The Washington International Trade Association held a conference today entitled, Phase 2: The Art of the Deal with China. Experts included former USTR officials, the former head of the U.S.-China Business Council, a former Obama Administration trade official, and the illustrious Asia expert Wen...

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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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