In the 2008 farm bill, USDA was directed to promulgate regulations that prohibit packers, and livestock and poultry contractors from engaging in undue preferences for select producers and unfair practices against others. That rule was published in December 2020 and went into effect in January of this year. Today, USDA issued a statement on how it will enforce the Packers and Stockyards Act (PSA) under the new rule, promising a “significant pivot from the previous administration.” The timing of today’s release of the new enforcement policy is to “celebrate” the 100th anniversary of the PSA (originally enacted in August 1921) and to “strengthen” USDA’s enforcement while it is...
Key Market Insights The broad market is locked in on this week’s Trump-Xi meeting in Beijing, but this is no longer just a trade summit. Increasingly, the meeting is becoming tied directly to Iran, energy security, and the growing global economic fallout from disruptions through the Strai...
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.