World Perspectives
feed-grains

War of Words; Wasted Breath; Power of Trade Agreements

War of Words The U.S. and China never miss a chance to criticize the other in international fora and that includes meetings in Geneva. At the WTO’s 15th trade policy review of the U.S., Chinese Ambassador Li Chenggang said, "Clearly, the United States is a destroyer to the multilateral trading system." That is rich coming from China, a country that used significant government policies and subsidies to become the world’s largest exporter.  The U.S. supports the trading system by importing 17.6 percent of all traded goods and services, more than any other country and 17 percent more than China.  The EU was more supportive, crediting Washington with playing a defining role in shaping the global trading system, which is...

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feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Market Commentary: Yield, Acreage Increases Sink Corn, Soybeans

The CBOT came under heavy selling pressure following the January WASDE as USDA unexpectedly increased U.S. corn acreage and yields. The USDA also added area to the soybean harvested and made a bearish cut to U.S. wheat demand, moves which sent all of the major commodity futures markets sharply...

India Holds Out; USMCA Friction; AI and Ag

India Holds Out The most disappointed of U.S. trading partners has to be India. It has long held hope that it would succeed China as the largest foreign supplier to the American market. It is a natural foil to China, which has been politely designated by Washington as a strategic competitor and...

energy

Venezuela Oil Situation and Oil Price Impacts

The world woke up on Jan. 3 to news of the arrest of Nicolas Maduro, the self-proclaimed president of Venezuela. Few expected this move from the U.S. administration, but in hindsight it may not have been surprising. The Biden administration had placed a $25 million bounty on Maduro through the...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Market Commentary: Yield, Acreage Increases Sink Corn, Soybeans

The CBOT came under heavy selling pressure following the January WASDE as USDA unexpectedly increased U.S. corn acreage and yields. The USDA also added area to the soybean harvested and made a bearish cut to U.S. wheat demand, moves which sent all of the major commodity futures markets sharply...

India Holds Out; USMCA Friction; AI and Ag

India Holds Out The most disappointed of U.S. trading partners has to be India. It has long held hope that it would succeed China as the largest foreign supplier to the American market. It is a natural foil to China, which has been politely designated by Washington as a strategic competitor and...

energy

Venezuela Oil Situation and Oil Price Impacts

The world woke up on Jan. 3 to news of the arrest of Nicolas Maduro, the self-proclaimed president of Venezuela. Few expected this move from the U.S. administration, but in hindsight it may not have been surprising. The Biden administration had placed a $25 million bounty on Maduro through the...

feed-grains

WASDE Corn - Jan 2026

USDA’s Jan estimate for 2025/26 U.S. corn is for larger production and higher feed residual usage to result in greater ending stocks: Corn production is estimated at 17.0 billion bushels, up 269 million on a 0.5-bushel increase in yield to 186.5 bushels per acre and a 1.3-million acre ris...

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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.

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