U.S. trade policy is being developed to reduce the national trade deficit, but there is one factor more important to consider than the trade balance.As discussed in yesterday’s Livestock Roundup (see Ag Perspectives, 9 February 2017), U.S. President Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Abe are now meeting in the U.S. to discuss the future of trade between the two countries. Trade policy, especially in manufactured goods, has gained a prominence in the U.S. under the Trump administration that hasn’t been seen since the 1980s. That was the era of a number of protectionist trade policies, including the Voluntary Restraint Agreement (VRA) on Japan for auto exports; an expansion of the VRA on Japan, Korea, Brazil and Europe for steel exports; impos...
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...
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.