CAP Reform At the insistence of the net contributors to the budget in Brussels, the EU's Council of Ministers issued a recommendation for at least 5.65 billion euros in Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) expenditure cuts during 2014-20, which is contrary to the plans of the EU Commission. France immediately objected and the Commission argued that austerity will hurt the Continent's economic recovery. The two sides meet at a special summit later next month to duke it out. If the cuts are not made, it could add pressure for changes in the reform proposal package to placate the losers. Politicians Versus Economists While both President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney are espousing the primacy of manufacturing jobs, the regu...
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...
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.