Some in the biofuel community are lamenting that U.S. EPA slightly reduced the blend requirements for their prized fuel, but the U.S. Navy has announced plans to launch a carrier group using a blend of biofuel. Land Grab Defueled During the heydays of the last bull market, activist defenders of inefficient third world agriculture and the media warned regularly that China and multinationals would grab land in Africa and then export food right past hungry peasants to the numerous buyers in Beijing and Shanghai. WPI was the lone contrarian voice in books of the time such as Land Grab: The Race for the World’s Farmland. Now Deborah Brautigam has put the myth to death with Will Africa Feed China, in which she notes that it was all the product...
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.
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...