World Perspectives

Farm Bill Trouble; Fat Bastard

One plank in the Republican candidacy of Donald Trump for the American presidency is frustration with so-called political correctness. He would be blowing a gasket if U.S. authorities had taken the position of Britain’s Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) in a recent ruling. Farm Bill Double Trouble We have provided at least a half-dozen reasons why U.S. farm policy is in trouble going forward (see Ag Perspectives, 2 February), including its skyrocketing costs. Now an academic has put a number on the latter. Important to note for both other countries considering adoption of a crop insurance approach and corporate welfare-hating American politicians, the main farm support programs in the 2014 Farm Bill were initially projected to cost ju...

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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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