Lower corn production in India led to higher prices for end users in early October 2015, forcing starch plants to reduce capacity with poultry operators planning to do the same. The government's delayed action regarding imports has further impacted the situation. India’s Smaller Rapeseed-Mustard Crop Planting of the rabi crop continues at a slow pace and is covering a smaller area with 37.028 million hectares (mh) completed as of 4 December 2015 against 43.877 mh as of the same date a year ago. This shortfall is mainly due to poor soil moisture levels resulting from a weak monsoon as well as the delayed harvest of kharif crops such as rice and sugarcane in major production states (ex.: Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh).In India, mustard (...
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...
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.