Inflation is hitting agriculture hard. The cost of inputs like seed, fertilizer, and chemicals are rising much faster than core inflation. Because corn is more input intensive, this spring may see fewer acres planted to the crop than soybeans. While stocks fare poorly in inflationary periods, the rush of investment into commodities may not be a cure-all. The correlation of the price of corn to CPI changes is not great, which is why investment analysts advise capping investments in commodities at 3 percent of a portfolio. Duke University’s Campbell Harvey cautions that even gold is not a great hedge against inflation unless viewed over a very long period. In 1974, general inflation jumped to 11.1 percent, and the price of corn r...
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
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.