General Comments The CME Group announced that its average daily volume of all types of futures contracts reached 14.9 million contracts in October 2017, up 14 percent over the same month last year. Agricultural contracts did not contribute to the increase. The average daily agricultural futures volume was 1.2 million contracts (8 percent of the total), down 1 percent from October 2016. Grain and soy futures traded higher amid fairly good volume during overnight trade. Prices stayed firm as day trading resumed and, in fact, grew firmer as the session progressed with Chicago wheat, KC wheat and soybean futures all closing with good gains and near session highs. The corn market was less enthusiastic, but it did manage to widen its daily trad...
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.