Rep.Marlin Stutzman (R-Indiana) and Rep. Dave Brat (R-Virginia) joined all Democrats on the committee in rejecting the budget plan, which may be indicative of some Republican opposition in the House where a number of members have spoken out that the spending it contains is still too high.On Wednesday of this week, the House Budget Committee passed a FY 2017 budget resolution by a close vote of 20-17. All Democrats voted against it as did two Republicans, Representative Marlin Stutzman (R-Indiana), a member of the Agriculture Committee, and freshman Representative Dave Brat (R-Virginia), who earlier defeated then-House Majority Leader Eric Cantor in the primary. They may be indicative of some Republican opposition in the House where a number...
What You Need to Know Today: After a period of limited activity, USDA reported a sizeable 613 KMT in soybean export sales, including 330 KMT to China and 283 KMT to unknown destinations, potentially also China. The purchases represent a meaningful pickup in demand and bring China closer to ful...
Inflation is back in the driver’s seat, and agriculture is getting pulled in two directions. A stronger dollar is pressuring grains despite fresh Chinese buying, while renewed Middle East attacks lift crude oil. Higher energy prices can support commodities, but they also raise expenses an...
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.