World Perspectives

AMLO Plays with Fire

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) has ordered a ban on GMO corn imports by 2024, has stopped approvals of all new GMO trait applications, and is banning the use of glyphosate. Purportedly, the policies are intended to benefit Mexico’s millions of subsistence farmers, many of whom blame cheap corn imports from the U.S. for their situation. However, AMLO threatens an overall situation that is far more advantageous to his country than to the U.S.  Under NAFTA and now USMCA, Mexico persistently runs a trade surplus with the U.S., with its exports exceeding those from America by over $100 billion annually. In agriculture, the situation is even more imbalanced. Whereas U.S. agricultural exports to Mexi...

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From WPI Consulting

Forecasting developments in production agriculture

On behalf of a private U.S. agricultural technology provider, WPI’s team generated an econometric model to forecast the movement of concentrated corn production north and west from the traditional U.S. Corn Belt. WPI’s model has subsequently provided quantitative support to a multi-million-dollar investment into short-season corn variety development. WPI’s methodology included a series of interviews with regional grain elevators and seed consultants. Emphasizing outreach and communication with stakeholders who possess intimate sectoral knowledge – on-the-ground insights – is a regular component of WPI’s methodologies, made possible by WPI’s ever-growing network of industry contacts.

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