World Perspectives
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Vilsackonomics and Food Inflation

Somewhere in the White House and the USDA cage, people realized that USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack's invitation to speak to the American Coalition for Ethanol meant that Vilsack would be standing in front of a pro-ethanol crowd today, the day that USDA released perhaps the most watched WASDE in a decade. That was no mistake. In the food versus fuel debate, protecting ethanol is a priority.With USDA again slashing its corn and soybean production estimates, the severe drought has some expecting price hikes in food. Vilsack sought to mitigate this concern. "Americans shouldn't see immediate increases in food prices due to the drought," he said to the media today in Nebraska. During an interview with CNN last month, Vilsack also iterated that it...

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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.

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