Face of Lobbying Changes WTO members led by India and South Africa are pushing for a waiver from Intellectual Property (IP) protections for any goods related to COVID-19. Specifically, they want to freely replicate the vaccines that have been developed by private companies like Pfizer, Moderna, and AstraZeneca. The manufacturers of these drugs argue that the hurdle to having more vaccines available is “complex logistical, engineering, and technical challenges of rapidly scaling-up their manufacture” that would not be resolved by simply giving away the technology. However, the more notable aspect of the manufacturers’ plea to the U.S. government to deny the IP waiver is the coalition it cobbled together in support of...
Weather concerns and the impacts of the war in Iran helped push wheat and corn to sharp gains Tuesday, with both markets blowing past key technical resistance levels. The weather is now coupled with geopolitical tensions that look increasingly hard to resolve, which is giving funds the perfect...
Congress is moving forward with its FY 2027 spending bills, while also still working to address FY 2026 funding for the Department of Homeland Security, which is still in a shutdown. The House Agriculture-FDA Appropriations Subcommittee marked up and passed its FY 2027 bill. The House bill prov...
The overarching concern for China is that the rising cost of energy will reduce global trade demand at the same time that countries are becoming more protectionist. Trump Visit to China President Trump’s visit to China is in just over two weeks, though some question whether the trip...
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.