Tale of Trade Restrictions’ Tail China came into the U.S. market today for soybeans, but American farmers now realize they need to diversify their markets. Perhaps they’ve learned something from past trade wars. Consider the following: Soviet Grain Embargo 1) Before the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in 1979 and incurred a grain export embargo by the U.S., it was approved to import 25 MMT of American wheat and corn or 10 percent of U.S. annual production. 2) Counterintuitively, the price of wheat rose from $4.39/bushel in January 1980 when the embargo was imposed to $5.00/bushel a year later when it was removed. 3) U.S wheat exports totaled 37 MMT before the embargo, hit 41 MMT during its imposition and then rose to 48 MM...
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...
From WPI Consulting
Weighing in on strategic realignment
WPI’s team was retained by the governing board of a U.S. industry organization to review a decision, reached by vote, to invest significant assets into the development and management of an export trading company. WPI’s team conducted a formal review of this decision and concluded that the current level of market saturation would limit the benefits of the investment. Based on WPI’s analysis and recommended actions, the board subsequently reversed its decision and undertook a strategic planning effort to identify more impactful investments. On behalf of numerous clients, WPI has not only assisted in identifying strategic paths but also advised their implementation.