This could be the day the EPA issues the Required Volume Obligations (RVOs) proposal for ethanol use in 2019 and biodiesel use in 2020. It would be subject to a comment period and faces a statutory deadline of 30 November for finalization. Suggested reforms may also be included in the EPA announcement. First is the possibility of a proposed rule that would provide a waiver, which could be included in the 2019 RVO, allowing year-round E15 sales. As has been previously discussed, such sales are currently prohibited from 1 June to 15 September due to rules that regulate evaporative volatility of fuels. Another potential reform is the much-anticipated and highly-rumored plan to reallocate small refinery waivers to the general pool of obligate...
What You Need to Know Today: Commodities were mostly lower across the board today after yesterday’s Federal Reserve meeting hinted at a potential interest rate hike later in 2026. The dollar index reached its highest level in over a year, and a strong dollar makes U.S. agricultural expor...
Tomorrow is the Juneteenth federal holiday, and the USDA, along with the rest of the federal government and the CME, will be closed, so the monthly Cattle on Feed report was released a day early. The total number of cattle on feed in feedlots with 1,000 head or more capacity on 1 June amounted...
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.