Cuts Focus on Direct Payments: Leaders from the European Union member states agreed to a 960 billion-euro baseline during 2014-20, a 35 billion-euro reduction from the previous baseline. The leaders pegged direct payments to farmers to bear the largest brunt of the reduction, but a final agreement must be hammered out with the European Parliament, which is said to oppose the cuts. Meanwhile, direct payments to U.S. farmers are back on the chopping block as some members of the U.S. Congress are talking about using previously offered farm bill reductions in combination with tax increases to offset elimination of the impending sequester cuts. Brussels/Strasbourg may have more success at agreeing on plan than Washington.Currency Fraud: Politi...
Yesterday, Alberta held a referendum on whether to begin the process toward independence from Canada. With more than one million votes counted as of early Tuesday morning, around 77 percent supported remaining in Canada, and 23 percent voted to start the process of separation, according to unof...
What You Need to Know Today: Harvest pressure in the U.S. sent corn and soybeans lower as supplies increased and there were signs USDA’s upward revisions to yields in the October WASDE could be close to right. The conflict between Russia and Ukraine escalated over the weekend, with Ukrai...
Key Takeaways: India is excluding sugarcane juice, sugar syrup, and B-heavy molasses from its 2026/27 fuel ethanol procurement program to protect domestic sugar supplies, potentially shifting additional demand toward corn and rice. India’s corn consumption for ethanol has surged from jus...
From WPI Consulting
Infrastructure investment due diligence
On behalf of a Canadian oilseed processer WPI's team provided market analysis, econometric modeling and financial due diligence in support of a $24 million-dollar investment in a Ukrainian crush plant. Consistent with WPI's findings, local production to supply the plant and the facility's output have expanded exponentially since the investment. WPI has conducted parallel work on behalf of U.S., South American and European clients, both private and public, in the agri-food space.