Ag Secretary for USDA USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack's heavily reported comments at last week's Farm Journal Forum were at once instructive and disappointing. On the positive side, he is correct in asserting that the agriculture sector is defensive and needs to learn how to better communicate with the majority of Americans who live in urban areas. The secretary should know that the effort actually already has begun since it involves the use of checkoff funds overseen by USDA. However, a "proactive" message need not mean capitulation to radical groups like the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS). He argues that efforts to rebuff regulations and animal welfare are alienating the rest of the country, but most urbanites are oblivious and...
What You Need to Know Today: U.S. weather is getting more attention this week as conditions vary greatly across the western, central, and eastern corn belts, with the different regions battling dryness and too much rain simultaneously. The ProFarmer Crop Tour began today in Indiana and Nebrask...
Unlike the 2022 fertilizer shock, today’s disruption is rooted less in rerouted trade flows and more in damaged production capacity, raw material constraints and uncertain recovery timelines. That makes this a longer-duration risk for U.S. agricultural producers and retailers who must sec...
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.