NASA has combined with Columbia University to produce a study (Geophysical Research Letters), which claims that fine particulate matter from food production creates as much PM2.5 pollution as all other human activities combined. Regulating Farm Dust U.S. EPA fought back hard against charges a few years ago that it was planning to regulate and stop dust blowing from farms. The agency was mocked by the agricultural sector for buffoonery. Now NASA has combined with Columbia University to produce a study (Geophysical Research Letters), which claims that fine particulate matter from food production creates as much PM2.5 pollution as all other human activities combined. However, regulating farm dust is now recognized as conceptually silly, and...
What You Need to Know Today: Chinese purchases of U.S. soybeans continued to accelerate, with USDA reporting another 558 KMT sold to China and 236 KMT to unknown destinations. Combined with sales announced Wednesday and Thursday, the latest purchases bring the three-day total to approximately...
As fall begins, wild migratory birds are starting their seasonal migration. That has the industry and government officials worried about the potential spread, again, of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI). Some members of Congress have called for the United States to be prepared for a pote...
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.