The level of nutrition spending, particularly in regard to the record year for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), has driven and will continue to drive much of the farm bill debate. However, another program under the Ag Committees' jurisdiction has also hit a record: crop insurance.The Risk Management Agency has released crop insurance data for 2011 through 19 December, showing the true extent of the drought in Texas. Of the total $7.9 billion paid out in indemnities, Texas received $2.2 billion, or 28 percent. The Lone Star State's Hale County received $76 million alone. For every dollar paid into crop insurance for the 2011 crop year, $2.04 has been paid out.Of course, part of the added cost has been the price level o...
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...
Key Market Insights Geopolitical Limbo: Geopolitical risk remained a key driver across global commodity markets today. President Trump stated that the Iran memorandum of understanding is not yet final and warned that military action could resume if negotiations fail. Both sides continue w...
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.