The conference committee deliberations on the farm bill kicked off this week with the first meeting on Wednesday mostly dedicated to opening statements. Each of the 56 conferees (47 in the House and 9 in the Senate) had three minutes to speak about their priorities, which meant 2 hours and 48 minutes of statements took up most the three-hour meeting. As of now, the next formal meeting is unscheduled and will be on an “as needed” basis if/when it occurs. Details on many issues will be hammered out by the staffs of the House and Senate Agriculture Committees. Major issues will be addressed by the chairmen and ranking minority members of the two committees, collectively known as the “Big Four.” They include Senator Pat...
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.