The South Carolina House of Representatives is considering a bill that would ban the state from buying any ground beef for school lunch that includes lean finely textured beef (LFTB) a.k.a. "pink slime." They are running into a bit of a jurisdictional problem, however, in that school lunches are paid for with federal and local taxes -- not state taxes.Ironically, the big problem for the legislators pushing the bill is that LFTB is treated with ammonium hydroxide, which is a combination of ammonia and water. If the South Carolina legislature was to push the issue of ammonium hydroxide-free school lunches, school lunches would have to give up: a lot of cheese, baked goods, caramel, pudding, processed fruits and vegetables, breakfast cereal,...
Key Takeaways: President Trump announced $8 billion in additional agricultural assistance through the Harvest Fuel Relief Program, as USDA projects farm fuel and oil expenses will increase 28.8 percent in 2026. The package follows $12 billion in earlier relief, while government farm payments w...
Key Takeaways: A student group from the University of Chicago is protesting to bring back onion futures trading. Trading in onion futures was banned in 1958 following a spectacular bout of market manipulation that resulted in a corner of the physical market. The ban on onion futures led t...
Beef packer margins deteriorated to $141/head last week, down $55 from the prior week as fed cattle prices strengthened while the Choice cutout remained nearly unchanged. The cutout held near $373/cwt while fed cattle prices climbed $4/cwt to $224/cwt, narrowing processor profits. Despite the d...
From WPI Consulting
Infrastructure investment due diligence
On behalf of a Canadian oilseed processer WPI's team provided market analysis, econometric modeling and financial due diligence in support of a $24 million-dollar investment in a Ukrainian crush plant. Consistent with WPI's findings, local production to supply the plant and the facility's output have expanded exponentially since the investment. WPI has conducted parallel work on behalf of U.S., South American and European clients, both private and public, in the agri-food space.