On 30 August, WPI reported on the President’s plan for a “giant package” of biofuel initiatives that would make farmers “so happy” (click here). After a White House meeting yesterday with USDA and EPA, that plan may be announced next week with the President unveiling it at an event somewhere in the Corn Belt, likely to be Iowa. The expectation from those familiar with the process is that the 2020 Renewable Volume Obligation (RVO) will be increased by 1 billion gallons through: 1. an additional 500 million gallons of conventional ethanol, which would restore an amount originally waived in the 2016 RVO that the courts ruled EPA had waived incorrectly and remanded back to the Agency for reconsideration; an...
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.