Grain and soy traders are in a waiting game for news on Chinese trade and NAFTA as well as the 10 May release of USDA’s WASDE. The May report may not be the most important of the year, but it will certainly be one of the most interesting with USDA’s plunge into projections for U.S. and world crop production along with supply/demand balances for 2018/19. At best, the 2018/19 numbers are educated guesswork, and they are complicated by the trade tensions with China and the unknown status of NAFTA. Rather than guessing what might happen in these areas, USDA may well decide to ignore them and assume “normal” trade. In any case, its projections will be a starting point for 2018/19’s ongoing and ever-changing analyses...
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...
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.