A Beef with Beef Some U.S. senators are demanding that the Justice Department and USDA investigate why the spread between the cash and futures markets for cattle has become so wide. Instead of an investigation they could all just read WPI analysts Matt Herrington and Dave Juday as they have explained the situation in these markets. Moreover, since the delivery period on the April futures contract starts this Friday, the current $14/cwt difference will be cleared up faster than any government investigation. As Matt explains it, the whole bottleneck in the beef supply chain is the packing plant. One cannot run more head of cattle through that process than can be safely handled. The demand for beef spiked with consumer hording, forcing near-t...
What You Need to Know Today: Russia rejected calls for a ceasefire in the Black Sea, including a proposal to halt attacks on civilian shipping that could help restore grain flows from Ukrainian ports. Tyson Foods announced plans to permanently close its Joslin, Illinois, beef processing facili...
The big news in the cattle markets yesterday was Tyson Foods’ move to close two more beef plants. One of them, the Joslin, Illinois, plant was shuttered immediately after the announcement. The other, in Eagle Mountain, Utah, is a case-ready plant that does not slaughter cattle. Tyson also...
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released the Consumer Price Index (CPI) on Wednesday. In July, the CPI rose 0.1 percent, seasonally adjusted, and rose 3.4 percent over the last 12 months, not seasonally adjusted. The index for all items less food and energy, or the “core” infla...
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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.