Japan Trade Deals Like U.S. agriculture, EU agriculture is hopeful for a trade deal with Japan. EU officials anticipate that a free trade agreement (FTA) with Japan will add significantly to the 4.8-billion-euro worth of food already exported there. However, a Japanese trade deal with the U.S. via the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) likely would reverse any of the FTA gains because of the types of products Europe is selling to Japanese consumers. Pork meat, cigarettes and wine are the top three sellers. U.S. pork is around 20 percent less costly, American brand cigarettes dominate the import market and New World wines are growing faster globally than European vino. The Japanese market is coveted by all agricultural exporters, but all of...
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
Accountability and a comprehensive approach to export programming
WPI’s team helped construct a strategic approach to develop, implement, and track promotional activities in 8 key regions across the globe for an agricultural export association. With continued progress measurement and strategic advisory services from WPI, the association has seen its ROI from investments in promotional programming increase by 44 percent over the past 5 years. Not only does this type of holistic approach to organizational strategy provide measurable results to track and analyze, it fosters top-down and bottom-up organizational accountability.