The Producer Price Index (PPI), which measures the price received by producers when they sell their output, fell for the second consecutive month in January with a drop of 0.10 percent. Over the past three months, the PPI is down at an annualized rate of 0.3 percent. But the decline is being driven by the ag and energy sectors, which might be good for the overall economy, but bad for ag and energy. Food inflation was down 1.7 percent last month, and energy dropped 3.8 percent, the only two categories to fall. Even within the commodities sector, metals rose. This means everything else in the economy is seeing an increase in prices except agriculture and energy. Thus, core inflation (i.e., inflation minus food and energy) is up 2.6 percent o...
What You Need to Know Today: Russia rejected calls for a ceasefire in the Black Sea, including a proposal to halt attacks on civilian shipping that could help restore grain flows from Ukrainian ports. Tyson Foods announced plans to permanently close its Joslin, Illinois, beef processing facili...
The big news in the cattle markets yesterday was Tyson Foods’ move to close two more beef plants. One of them, the Joslin, Illinois, plant was shuttered immediately after the announcement. The other, in Eagle Mountain, Utah, is a case-ready plant that does not slaughter cattle. Tyson also...
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released the Consumer Price Index (CPI) on Wednesday. In July, the CPI rose 0.1 percent, seasonally adjusted, and rose 3.4 percent over the last 12 months, not seasonally adjusted. The index for all items less food and energy, or the “core” infla...
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.