World Perspectives

Right View, Wrong Solution

Speaking at the World Dairy Summit, USDA Secretary Vilsack repeated his concern about the declining number of farms and farmers in America, and in a related dynamic the increasing concentration of income among larger farmers. As previously noted, a economic argument can be made for economic scale for any industry. No one says Ford, GM, and Stellantis are too big. The Secretary provides no basis for why he thinks there should be lots of smaller farms instead.  One argument he made at the Summit does have validity, and that is that farm policy should be written to prepare farms and farmers for the future. Farm bills are not written to be forward looking but rather to preserve the status quo of exiting stakeholders. The Secretary emphasi...

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From WPI Consulting

Weighing in on strategic realignment

WPI’s team was retained by the governing board of a U.S. industry organization to review a decision, reached by vote, to invest significant assets into the development and management of an export trading company. WPI’s team conducted a formal review of this decision and concluded that the current level of market saturation would limit the benefits of the investment. Based on WPI’s analysis and recommended actions, the board subsequently reversed its decision and undertook a strategic planning effort to identify more impactful investments. On behalf of numerous clients, WPI has not only assisted in identifying strategic paths but also advised their implementation.

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