One common thread running through part of the history of grain trading has been the subject of federally set limits on the size of positions that a trader could hold in grain and oilseed futures and options. On 15 October, the CFTC finally approved a new rule regarding commodity position limits. Here’s a look at how we got here and what it means for agriculture. During the 1930’s Great Depression crop prices were low enough that many farms went under. Some farmers complained that rampant speculation in grain futures contracts traded on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) and other exchanges were depressing crop prices. Thus, in 1936 Congress passed legislation creating the Commodity Exchange Authority (CEA) as an agency of USDA t...
What You Need to Know Today: U.S. and Chinese officials are expected to discuss agriculture and non-tariff trade barriers ahead of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Washington later this month, potentially opening the door to additional U.S. agricultural purchases or improved marke...
The U.S. will observe Labor Day on Monday, 7 September. U.S. markets and the WPI office will be closed that day. The next edition of Ag Perspectives will be published Tuesday, 8 September...
Key Takeaways: Drought and changes to the multi-year trend in cow slaughter and retention have the potential to dramatically alter beef trim supplies and pricing, and WPI specifically models three different drought scenarios for fall 2026. Based on our models, WPI expects 90 percent lean...
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.