Like Europe, U.S. use of inputs like fertilizer slowed as genetics and technology increased in their role in production. The difference is that U.S. agricultural productivity will see substantially differernt gains in the years ahead. Partial Productivity HFFA Research completed a study for the European Plant Technology Platform that found improved plant breeding techniques over the past 15 years has boosted productivity by 16 percent or just over 1 percent per year. Importantly, seed genetics accounts for 74 percent of all productivity gains in the EU and drives a third of farmer income. Missing from the analysis is how much stronger the gains would have been had Brussels allowed the use of biotechnology in production for more than a few...
Accountability and a comprehensive approach to export programming
WPI’s team helped construct a strategic approach to develop, implement, and track promotional activities in 8 key regions across the globe for an agricultural export association. With continued progress measurement and strategic advisory services from WPI, the association has seen its ROI from investments in promotional programming increase by 44 percent over the past 5 years. Not only does this type of holistic approach to organizational strategy provide measurable results to track and analyze, it fosters top-down and bottom-up organizational accountability.
What You Need to Know Today: Grain futures fell hard overnight after the USDA’s Crop Conditions report showed better-than-expected ratings for corn and soybeans, despite difficult weather last week. The Conditions report was even more bearish in light of meaningfully beneficial rains acr...
Key Takeaways: New Mexico’s Clean Transportation Fuel Program expands demand for low-carbon fuels and creates another market for renewable feedstocks, adding incremental pressure to already limited supplies of lower-carbon inputs. Growing competition for waste-based feedstocks such as an...
As WPI reported on 17 July, the recently passed budget reconciliation bill in the House Budget Committee includes $12 billion in emergency farm assistance. This would be the seventh of the past nine years with ad hoc farm payments (FY2018, FY2019, FY2020, FY2022, FY2023, FY2024, and potentially...