Over the past decade, pesticide sales in Europe have declined by 7 percent. At the same time, organic production has expanded at 5.5 percent a year and now comprises 13.8 million hectares. Over that same time, yield gains for corn, rapeseed and rice have fallen relative to the prior decade. By contrast, wheat yields increased at a faster pace, though it is a significantly lower user of pesticides than say corn or oilseeds. Proponents of organic agriculture argue the yield changes are due to climate change and the concurrent increase in droughts in Europe. Drought has increased, though more significantly in southern Europe. How and why yield growth has slowed is important to understanding prospective changes under the Food to Fork plan. If...
Russian Grain Markets: 29 June-3 July 2026 The new marketing season has officially begun in Russia, although bearish sentiment has been concentrated in the southern regions closest to the Black Sea ports, where export demand has been weakest. Delays in grain deliveries to inland elevators have...
What You Need to Know Today: The hot, dry weather forecast continues to drive strength in grain futures with corn and soybeans hitting another day of strong gains. Monday’s Crop Progress and Conditions data were in line with market expectations and showed relatively few concerns for the...
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.