The Senate will return to session on Monday. Though the House will not return, debate on a fourth COVID-19 relief package will begin. This likely will be the most contentious bill; all of the basics – unemployment, business lending, food and nutrition programs, and farm payments have all been covered. Now it will come down to more philosophical and ideological issues between the Democrat majority House and the Republican majority Senate. The Senate is likely to pursue more policy-related provisions and less broad-based federal spending; the House bill is likely to double down on spending. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-California) has said that there will not be a bill without direct aid to the States; Senate Majority Leader Mitch McC...
What You Need to Know Today: Corn and soybean futures were lower to open the week, with funds still in control and in a selling mood. The upcoming WASDE report on Tuesday is also likely to feature larger corn and soybean stocks, which helped put grain futures on the defensive. Wheat futures we...
Key Takeaways: Currency exchange rates influence agricultural export competitiveness and producer profitability, even when underlying commodity prices remain unchanged. A weaker domestic currency allows agricultural exporters to receive more local currency for dollar-denominated sales, potenti...
Although inflation has remained elevated since the post-COVID surge, it steadily moderated until the past year. More to the point, today’s inflation looks very different from 2022, when the Consumer Price Index (CPI) peaked at 9 percent. During and after the pandemic, the M2 money supply...
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.