Wheat, corn and soybean prices soared this week as crop condition ratings showed much greater declines than expected in last Monday's weekly report. This week's record high temperatures almost guarantee more significant declines in Monday's ratings. The big rallies were led by talk of big and irreversible yield losses in corn and soybeans in the U.S. and in wheat in Russia and the Ukraine. There are now estimates of a sub 48 MMT Russian wheat crop, and that has big implications for Black Sea exports. Spring grain production was also reportedly cut another 10 percent in the Ukraine because of dry and hot conditions there. The slow starting Indian monsoon is also causing some concerns about groundnut production and oil productio...
Key Takeaways: President Trump announced $8 billion in additional agricultural assistance through the Harvest Fuel Relief Program, as USDA projects farm fuel and oil expenses will increase 28.8 percent in 2026. The package follows $12 billion in earlier relief, while government farm payments w...
Key Takeaways: A student group from the University of Chicago is protesting to bring back onion futures trading. Trading in onion futures was banned in 1958 following a spectacular bout of market manipulation that resulted in a corner of the physical market. The ban on onion futures led t...
Beef packer margins deteriorated to $141/head last week, down $55 from the prior week as fed cattle prices strengthened while the Choice cutout remained nearly unchanged. The cutout held near $373/cwt while fed cattle prices climbed $4/cwt to $224/cwt, narrowing processor profits. Despite the d...
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.