If crop insurance had to operate on actuarial soundness with premiums fully paid by farmers, its value would quickly decline over time. The belief continues that without public support, agriculture would fail and everyone would starve.This year's USDA Outlook Conference carries the theme, "The Changing Face of Agriculture." In some ways, this conference reminds us of the quote by French author Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr, "plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose" - the more things change, the more they stay the same. However, there were notable things to comment upon:The Forecast: USDA's updated numbers are available to all, but the key thing, according to USDA Chief Economist Joe Glauber, is that prices will be off their previous highs wh...
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...
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.