World Perspectives

Bogus Problem; Radicalism Backlash

Bogus Problem Reinforcing the problem asserted by USDA’s political leadership, the Economic Research Service highlighted Census of Agriculture data showing that most losses of farms over the past decade have been small operations, while there was an increase in the largest sized farms. Secretary Tom Vilsack views this as wrong and seeks a policy solution so that all sized operations can survive. But three-quarters of the farms that failed had $10,000 or less in annual sales, and the bulk of the rest had less than $250,000 in sales.  Even the average nonfarm business with no employees has four times the sales of the small farms that are failing. And the average nonfarm business with four employees has $387,000 in annual sales. T...

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From WPI Consulting

Infrastructure investment due diligence

On behalf of a Canadian oilseed processer WPI's team provided market analysis, econometric modeling and financial due diligence in support of a $24 million-dollar investment in a Ukrainian crush plant. Consistent with WPI's findings, local production to supply the plant and the facility's output have expanded exponentially since the investment. WPI has conducted parallel work on behalf of U.S., South American and European clients, both private and public, in the agri-food space.

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