Tonight, President Biden will deliver the State of the Union (SOTU) address. There are always prognostications on what the President will, or won’t say, and what he should or should not say during his address to Congress. No doubt, the President will highlight the latest jobs report, and other highlights of his coming agenda. But more relevant, here is our list of big picture issues worth watching for because they have an angle on agriculture. First, the debt limit. The new Republican majority in the House has drawn a line in the sand about not passing a “clean” debt limit. For anything to move, it has to include some budget cuts, which House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-California) says are intended to address run away spen...
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...
The U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) enters its mandated six-year review on 1 July. The original intent of the review is outlined in Article 34.7, which obligates members to: Provide recommendations and decide on appropriate actions. Extend the USMCA for another 16 years and meet aga...
From WPI Consulting
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.