Economy The National Bureau of Statistics says China’s GDP grew 5 percent year-over-year in Q1 2026. Other sources contend that the Iran war has helped pull the economy out of deflation and that it is now in the middle stages of a multi-year correction. The data for the agriculture sector...
House Agriculture Committee Chairman Glenn Thompson (R-Pennsylvania) has been working with Republican leadership to build momentum for a farm bill floor vote, likely expected the week of 27 April, but that depends on other must-pass legislative priorities. The House Rules Committee meets...
Aid versus Trade Development assistance has a long and unsatisfying history. The causes of poverty were long ago identified as poor governance and the lack of rule of law. But the UN could not criticize the national leaders that form its membership, and so for decades development assistance has...
President Trump and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi announced on social media Friday that the Strait of Hormuz is now fully open to commercial vessels. Araghchi’s post said the strait will stay open for the remainder of the U.S.-Iran ceasefire. President Trump said, “the Str...
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.