Wrong Problem, Wrong People WTO director General Pascal Lamy announced the creation of a "WTO Panel on Defining the Future of Trade." Lamy lamented that "yesterday's solutions simply cannot be applied to the problems we face today." However, the problem is not a need for different solutions -- the solution for a world trade organization to pursue continues to be trade liberalization. Rather, the problem is the evolution of geopolitics. No longer is it a matter of finding consensus amongst a half-dozen rich countries but instead finding common ground amongst multiples of that number. Hopefully, the panel will focus on the right problem. One limiting factor is the panel's composition, which includes the ever so politically correct and conc...
What You Need to Know Today: Declining crop conditions ratings and shaky results from the Pro Farmer crop tour sent grains sharply higher on Tuesday. The Pro Farmer tour in Ohio pegged the state yield at 180.18 BPA, about 5.5 BPA below the tour’s 2025 estimate. Similarly, the Pro Farmer...
Based on a Depression-era statute, President Trump imposed 50 percent tariffs on $20 billion of exports to the U.S., or about 5.2 percent of the $383 billion worth of goods the U.S. imported from Canada in 2025, according to U.S. Census Bureau data. Of that total, about $39.3 billion was agricu...
Key Takeaways: Brazil’s growing role in global agriculture is accompanied by a major vulnerability: the country imports approximately 88 percent of its fertilizer needs. High natural gas costs and development challenges have limited domestic nitrogen and potash production despite Brazil&...
From WPI Consulting
Weighing in on strategic realignment
WPI’s team was retained by the governing board of a U.S. industry organization to review a decision, reached by vote, to invest significant assets into the development and management of an export trading company. WPI’s team conducted a formal review of this decision and concluded that the current level of market saturation would limit the benefits of the investment. Based on WPI’s analysis and recommended actions, the board subsequently reversed its decision and undertook a strategic planning effort to identify more impactful investments. On behalf of numerous clients, WPI has not only assisted in identifying strategic paths but also advised their implementation.