There are a lot of policies and political factors weighing in on the 2012 Farm Bill. These include spending levels for the nutrition programs, the structure and costs of the risk management programs, how Southern commodities are to be treated, payment limits, the upcoming sequestration in January 2013 and whether either party really wants to focus a vote on some tough decisions (i.e. Republicans not wanting to choose between farm programs and Tea Party pressure to cut spending; Democrats not wanting to choose between nutrition programs and farm programs). But now there is a new factor: the weather. Drought and heat are quickly becoming more important than a long-term farm bill.On Friday, Senators Max Baucus (D-Montana), Kent Conrad (D-Nor...
Beef packer margins deteriorated to $141/head last week, down $55 from the prior week as fed cattle prices strengthened while the Choice cutout remained nearly unchanged. The cutout held near $373/cwt while fed cattle prices climbed $4/cwt to $224/cwt, narrowing processor profits. Despite the d...
What You Need to Know Today: Corn and soybeans were under heavy selling pressure as weaker (or at least as-expected) export demand runs into an accelerating harvest pace with more grain available in the spot market. Corn and soybean harvest progress remains below average across the U.S., espec...
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.