News Updates MEDITERRANEAN AND MIDDLE EAST COMMENTS A recent study on Saudi Arabia has determined that the country will have to remain dependent on other countries for its supply of grains and oilseeds. And with poultry production growing at a very fast rate -- 8 percent or 9 percent per year -- demand for corn will be up by 30 percent or so in the next three years. The major problem with having to import 100 percent of the grain supply is that price fluctuations will have a serious effect on costs and the economy. Saudi Arabia will have to be very well organized in order to cover its grain needs with of the least amount of price volatility.With Ramadan getting closer, Saudi Arabia has announced that it will be monitoring food prices to e...
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...
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.