13 African nations met in Tanzania to discuss ways of controlling aflatoxin, mainly with maize and groundnuts (peanuts). Much time was focused on the success of Aflasafe, which is said to reduce aflatoxin levels by a significant amount if applied correctly to croplands. Regional Updates MIDDLE EAST/MEDITERRANEAN COMMENTS The Turkish government announced that it has reopened the Bosphorus Strait, which is located between the Black Sea and the Mediterranean, now that the attempted coup in Turkey has ended. This is the only sea route for grain cargoes out of the Black Sea. According to Turkish authorities, the closing was only for a few hours. However, it was still long enough to build a lineup of vessels waiting to transit the 17-mile stra...
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.