Both the farm bill and FY 2018 spending authority for the federal government expire on 30 September. This means that in addition to the farm bill conference, Congress must also pass a budget for FY 2019. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) recently released some estimates of spending cuts in the budget necessary to reduce the federal debt, which today stands at 78 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) and is expected to grow to 152 percent by 2048 versus 41 percent over the past 50 years. The third benchmark for the spending targets is to have federal debt at 100 percent of GDP. If lawmakers wanted to lower debt to 41 percent of GDP by 2048, the primary budget deficit would have to be reduced to 3 percent of GDP and held there for 29...
What You Need to Know Today: Commodities were mostly lower across the board today after yesterday’s Federal Reserve meeting hinted at a potential interest rate hike later in 2026. The dollar index reached its highest level in over a year, and a strong dollar makes U.S. agricultural expor...
Tomorrow is the Juneteenth federal holiday, and the USDA, along with the rest of the federal government and the CME, will be closed, so the monthly Cattle on Feed report was released a day early. The total number of cattle on feed in feedlots with 1,000 head or more capacity on 1 June amounted...
From WPI Consulting
Weighing in on strategic realignment
WPI’s team was retained by the governing board of a U.S. industry organization to review a decision, reached by vote, to invest significant assets into the development and management of an export trading company. WPI’s team conducted a formal review of this decision and concluded that the current level of market saturation would limit the benefits of the investment. Based on WPI’s analysis and recommended actions, the board subsequently reversed its decision and undertook a strategic planning effort to identify more impactful investments. On behalf of numerous clients, WPI has not only assisted in identifying strategic paths but also advised their implementation.