The U.S. organic foods industry formally petitioned USDA this week to initiate a research and promotion program for organic, but its goals may be different than those of the checkoff programs initiated by producers of conventional agricultural commodities. Organic Government Speech The U.S. organic foods industry formally petitioned USDA this week to initiate a research and promotion program for organic. The industry had to petition USDA because under the law, "checkoff funds" assessed on farmers to pay for the effort are considered equivalent to taxes and thus a public good. In an earlier ruling on the beef checkoff program, the Supreme Court characterized it as "government speech," a distinction with importance noted below.While p...
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
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.