There has been a plethora of economic data reports this first week of November, plus a Federal Open Market Committee (FMOC) meeting of the Federal Reserve. Here is a recap of the data and news, and some take-aways. The trade deficit grew to a record $80.9 billion in September. Imports were up and exports were down as anyone anecdotally following the shipping container availability and port congestion issues would have easily guessed. There is a good news/bad news perspective. The good news is imports into the U.S. are up because the U.S. economy is recovering faster from COVID than most countries. Fundamentally, that means demand in the U.S. is higher than demand in the rest of the world. Economic gains come from U.S. businesses’ ov...
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
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.