Why read this? Because Mark Twain correctly noted that “History doesn’t repeat itself, but it often rhymes.” One of the most successful commodity traders and an eventual analyst at WPI was Bob Kohlmeyer. He was a history major from Princeton. After 47 years of professional work, 32 as an analyst for World Perspectives, I can attest that things change and they stay similar, but they do not stay the same. Farm Policy: My first career position was on Capitol Hill when President Carter invoked a grain embargo against the Soviet Union. I am now going out to pasture with Russia, now a major grain exporter, and with U.S. grain exports lagging partially due to a trade war with China. I am witnessing work on my ninth (...
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.