Industry Resilience When COVID hit and food supply chains were disrupted by the shift to consuming food at home instead of from institutional providers, critics decried the lack of resilience and called for remaking the industry. However, in a matter of a few short months, processors adjusted, and few people went hungry due to the situation. The cyber-attack on JBS this week reinforced that the industry is also less fragile than the energy grid, which failed in Texas this year and had to pay off the hackers to get gasoline flowing again this spring. JBS reported that most of its facilities were up and running the next day after the attack. In fact, instead of messing with food production and processing, critics should understand that the l...
Weighing in on strategic realignment
WPI’s team was retained by the governing board of a U.S. industry organization to review a decision, reached by vote, to invest significant assets into the development and management of an export trading company. WPI’s team conducted a formal review of this decision and concluded that the current level of market saturation would limit the benefits of the investment. Based on WPI’s analysis and recommended actions, the board subsequently reversed its decision and undertook a strategic planning effort to identify more impactful investments. On behalf of numerous clients, WPI has not only assisted in identifying strategic paths but also advised their implementation.
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...