While many agricultural commodities are experiencing a boom in demand and prices, orange juice consumption has plummeted worldwide. Global demand over the past decade has fallen by 12.6 percent. U.S. consumption has dropped by 29 percent over that period and Europe, the largest consumer of the juice, has seen a 26.7 percent decline in consumption. Even China, which has expanded its demand for most commodities, has reduced demand by 2.5 percent. Fortunately, production has also declined, that part of that has been due to the disease citrus greening. The result is that prices have been rising the past couple of years. Still, this is the rare agricultural industry that is losing customers. ...
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.
Can we really expect a bushel of corn to carry an environmental passport throughout the entire food system? One that reliably documents its carbon footprint, biodiversity impacts, water use, soil carbon, and other environmental attributes all the way from the farm field to the consumer? This is...
Key Takeaways: Despite little progress in a U.S.-Iran framework for a peace deal or an agreement itself, vessel transits are picking up in the Strait of Hormuz (SOH). On Wednesday morning, Kpler reported 31 verified vessel transits of the SOH in a positive sign of increased activity in t...
WPI Grain Prices and Freight Rate App Note: you can also visit the app directly by clicking here. Supplemental Information The section below offers a concise view of the options available in the current version of the WPI FOB Price and Freight Rate app, along with a short “...