The California minimum wage issue will, predictably, have broader economic impacts. The alarming development, however, is that this is becoming a national matter, much like many other trends that started in the state.California Governor Jerry Brown could make farm labor history again. After previously being approved in the State Senate by a vote of 21-14, legislation to provide farm workers with mandatory overtime pay was passed yesterday in the Assembly by a 44-32 vote; it now sits on Brown’s desk awaiting his action. The state’s first four-time governor signed legislation giving farm workers collective bargaining rights during his second term (He was elected in 1974 and 1978 before successfully running again in 2010 and 2014). According t...
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...
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.