Back in 2013, under the U.S. sugar program, sugar refiners and processors were headed toward forfeiting more than 350,000 MT of sugar under loan, which triggered the Feedstock Flexibility Program (FFP). That program, created in the 2008 farm bill, requires USDA to purchase surplus sugar (technically prevent forfeiture), and re-sell it to bioenergy producers in order to reduce the surplus in the food use market and support sugar prices. FFP was mostly a bust across the board. Going into the program, USDA estimated that they could sell the sugar to ethanol mills for between 7 and 8 cents a pound; instead USDA netted an average of 3 cents a pound. Moreover, some of the sugar never made its way into ethanol production because ethanol producers...
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.