On Friday, Russia did what the February WASDE could not, excite the grain markets. Early Friday, a Russian missile(s) headed towards Romania (a NATO country) and prompted Romanian fighter jets to scramble to intercept them. The missiles are reported to have been 22 miles outside of Romanian airspace, so the event is not technically a violation of NATO airspace. The missiles ended up being flown over Moldova (not a NATO country) and so will lessen the West’s need to respond to the incident. While the West may not have to respond (at least not immediately) to Russia’s mishap, the grain markets sure did. The obvious leader was, of course, wheat, as the event underscored the risk to grain markets that the war presents. That the eve...
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...
The U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) enters its mandated six-year review on 1 July. The original intent of the review is outlined in Article 34.7, which obligates members to: Provide recommendations and decide on appropriate actions. Extend the USMCA for another 16 years and meet aga...
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.