Process Standards as NTBs California’s Prop 12, which a House Agriculture Committee-passed farm bill is supposed to override, restricts the sale of pork and eggs in the state if not produced according to its restrictive standards. Such processing restrictions have long been used as nontariff barriers (NTBs) in global trade, and they are becoming more numerous at both the national and international levels. Washington is now pushing EU officials to grant American-sourced products a “negligible risk” designation under its deforestation directive. Brussels is also looking to ban the use of certain neonicotinoid-based pesticide residues on imported foods, consistent with an intra-EU restriction. The contention is that the...
What You Need to Know Today: U.S. corn condition ratings took a surprise turn for the worse in Monday’s report, with 54 percent rated good/excellent (down 3 percent). Dry weather in the U.S. Wheat Belt is stalling planting and causing concerns for the 2027 crop, in turn boosting futures...
In a letter last week to President Trump, Zippy Duvall, president of the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF), wrote that diesel prices are squeezing farmers’ margins. As Duvall wrote: Higher diesel expenses are hitting farmers at one of the most fuel-intensive times of the year —...
Beef packer margins improved to $222/head last week, up $26 from the prior week as the Choice cutout strengthened while fed cattle prices slipped lower. The cutout rose to $376/cwt while fed cattle fell to $220/cwt, strengthening packer returns. Margins remain exceptionally strong compared with...
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.