House Agriculture Committee Chairman Michael Conaway (R-Texas) has floor time scheduled for the farm bill next week. A quick WPI canvass of Hill staff and commodity group lobbyists gives the odds of the bill actually being taken up at about 50/50. It all boils down to the vote count, which is going on now and has been all week. As of this morning, there were not the necessary 218 votes to pass the bill due to some Republican defections. Those renegades are mostly the conservative, budget-hawk, “Freedom Caucus” members, who total about 40. Assuming there are about 200 Republican votes, 18 Democrats (roughly 9 or 10 percent of that caucus) would need to break party lines. The more Republican votes that are lined up, therefore, th...
What You Need to Know Today: After a period of limited activity, USDA reported a sizeable 613 KMT in soybean export sales, including 330 KMT to China and 283 KMT to unknown destinations, potentially also China. The purchases represent a meaningful pickup in demand and bring China closer to ful...
Key Takeaways: Consumer spending is a key driver of the U.S. economy, and the latest retail sales data indicate that spending remains robust despite inflation. In September, total retail and food service sales rose more than 6 percent year-over-year, with food service spending up 7 percent and...
The Trump import plan for 300,000 MT of beef supplies used for ground beef, i.e., lean trim, from September through November has, according to Secretary Brooke Rollins, brought some relief to beef prices. The Executive Order states that the Secretary of Agriculture will analyze and review the m...
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.