Mad Cow: 2003 versus 2012 What a difference a decade makes. The discovery of a BSE-infected dairy cow in California, the fourth case in the U.S., this week is having relatively minimal impact compared to the 2003 case in the state of Washington. In 2004 the U.S. began its enhanced surveillance program for mad cow disease. Now, nine years later, the markets have worked their way through the shock and anxiety phases. There were 29 cases of mad cow disease found worldwide in 2011, down from more than 37,000 in the 1990s. The most recent discovery of BSE in the U.S. was an "atypical" case, with modified prions indicating that contaminated feed was not the source. The good news is top customers Canada, Japan and Mexico have given assurances...
Key Takeaways: President Trump announced $8 billion in additional agricultural assistance through the Harvest Fuel Relief Program, as USDA projects farm fuel and oil expenses will increase 28.8 percent in 2026. The package follows $12 billion in earlier relief, while government farm payments w...
Key Takeaways: A student group from the University of Chicago is protesting to bring back onion futures trading. Trading in onion futures was banned in 1958 following a spectacular bout of market manipulation that resulted in a corner of the physical market. The ban on onion futures led t...
Beef packer margins deteriorated to $141/head last week, down $55 from the prior week as fed cattle prices strengthened while the Choice cutout remained nearly unchanged. The cutout held near $373/cwt while fed cattle prices climbed $4/cwt to $224/cwt, narrowing processor profits. Despite the d...
From WPI Consulting
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.