Speaking at the World Dairy Summit, USDA Secretary Vilsack repeated his concern about the declining number of farms and farmers in America, and in a related dynamic the increasing concentration of income among larger farmers. As previously noted, a economic argument can be made for economic scale for any industry. No one says Ford, GM, and Stellantis are too big. The Secretary provides no basis for why he thinks there should be lots of smaller farms instead. One argument he made at the Summit does have validity, and that is that farm policy should be written to prepare farms and farmers for the future. Farm bills are not written to be forward looking but rather to preserve the status quo of exiting stakeholders. The Secretary emphasi...
What You Need to Know Today: Russia rejected calls for a ceasefire in the Black Sea, including a proposal to halt attacks on civilian shipping that could help restore grain flows from Ukrainian ports. Tyson Foods announced plans to permanently close its Joslin, Illinois, beef processing facili...
The big news in the cattle markets yesterday was Tyson Foods’ move to close two more beef plants. One of them, the Joslin, Illinois, plant was shuttered immediately after the announcement. The other, in Eagle Mountain, Utah, is a case-ready plant that does not slaughter cattle. Tyson also...
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released the Consumer Price Index (CPI) on Wednesday. In July, the CPI rose 0.1 percent, seasonally adjusted, and rose 3.4 percent over the last 12 months, not seasonally adjusted. The index for all items less food and energy, or the “core” infla...
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.