A draft proposal submitted to the EU Commission recommends a 50 percent reduction in the use of biofuels in the transportation sector after 2020. This is based on one particular argument and specifically recommends that the maximum target for liquid biofuels decline from 7 percent in 2021 to 3.8 percent in 2030. Ukrainian Rapeseed Crop Forecast for 2017 The Ukrainian consulting firm UkrAgroConsult is predicting the country’s rapeseed production will rise to 1.4-1.7 MMT in 2017 versus 1.2 MMT this year. Most of the crop is usually exported to other European countries. The firm said the plantings may increase to 844,000 hectares because of favorable conditions after being reduced to only about 450,000 hectares by poor weather in 2016. It al...
What You Need to Know Today: After a period of limited activity, USDA reported a sizeable 613 KMT in soybean export sales, including 330 KMT to China and 283 KMT to unknown destinations, potentially also China. The purchases represent a meaningful pickup in demand and bring China closer to ful...
Key Takeaways: Consumer spending is a key driver of the U.S. economy, and the latest retail sales data indicate that spending remains robust despite inflation. In September, total retail and food service sales rose more than 6 percent year-over-year, with food service spending up 7 percent and...
The Trump import plan for 300,000 MT of beef supplies used for ground beef, i.e., lean trim, from September through November has, according to Secretary Brooke Rollins, brought some relief to beef prices. The Executive Order states that the Secretary of Agriculture will analyze and review the m...
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.