USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack today testified on the state of the rural economy before the House Agriculture Committee. Much of the testimony was on emergency and relief actions provided by USDA during the historic drought of 2012; however, Vilsack did also press for a comprehensive farm bill -- which he called a food, farms and jobs bill -- to be passed this year.Of course, the job of producing a farm bill became more difficult since the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) on 1 March released an updated cost estimate of the Senate-passed and House Agriculture Committee farm bills. According to a letter to Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Debbi Stabenow (D-Michigan), the "reduction to (baseline spending) would be significantly smaller tha...
Key Takeaways: Brazil confirmed a Newcastle disease outbreak at a commercial turkey farm in Santa Catarina on 18 October, raising concerns about potential disruptions to poultry exports despite the outbreak being confined to a single facility thus far. Mexico and Malaysia have imposed nationwi...
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...
From WPI Consulting
Weighing in on strategic realignment
WPI’s team was retained by the governing board of a U.S. industry organization to review a decision, reached by vote, to invest significant assets into the development and management of an export trading company. WPI’s team conducted a formal review of this decision and concluded that the current level of market saturation would limit the benefits of the investment. Based on WPI’s analysis and recommended actions, the board subsequently reversed its decision and undertook a strategic planning effort to identify more impactful investments. On behalf of numerous clients, WPI has not only assisted in identifying strategic paths but also advised their implementation.