Last week, we noted an outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in a turkey flock in Indiana. Approximately 29,000 birds were euthanized. Poultry industry and government officials report being on “high alert.” There was also a case in a turkey flock in Nova Scotia. The second U.S. case was discovered in Kentucky in a broiler flock and now a second in Indiana. Investigations are ongoing about another possible case in a turkey flock in Kentucky as well. There’s also been a case in a mixed-species backyard flock in Fauquier County, Virginia. Interestingly, Fauquier is 54 miles from Washington, DC, and about 95 miles, and on the east side of the Blue Ridge Mountains, from Virginia’s commercial production reg...
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
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.