World Perspectives
farm-inputs

Notable TFP Changes

U.S. Secretary for Agriculture Tom Vilsack and EU Agriculture Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski will be on the stage together next week at the Forum for the Future of Agriculture & Farm Europe. Mr. Vilsack has taken the position that increasing productivity is the pathway to sustainability whereas Europe is focused on mandatory reductions in certain inputs. USDA’s Economic Research Service has just issued its latest calculations of total factor productivity (TFP) for different countries. The agency’s TFP index is the ratio between inputs and outputs. If outputs grow faster than inputs, it results in a positive number relative to the 2015 baseline used in this exercise. The ratio can change year to year but for the most rece...

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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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