President Trump’s non-traditional early agenda, ranging from his pick for agriculture secretary to selection of his first official international meeting, is causing concern in the heartland and producing an unexpected trade opportunity across the Atlantic.The Trump White House issued its statement on the new “America First Energy Policy,” which said the administration is committed to clean coal technology in support of “reviving” that industry and will take advantage of the “estimated $50 trillion in untapped shale oil and natural gas reserves, especially on federal lands.” There was no direct comment on or reference to renewable energy. The statement, however, did include a mention of agriculture: “Less expensive energy will be a big boost...
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.