World Perspectives

Black and White; Careful What You Ask

Black and White The European Food Safety Authority concluded after extensive research on the herbicide glyphosate that no “areas of critical concern” were found when it comes to potential harmful impacts of using the substance in plant protection. German Green Agriculture Minister Cem Özdemir immediately disparaged the report, saying that, “For us, the EFSA study is a study that did not sufficiently take into account a key aspect, namely the impacts on nature.”  This is of course absurd. To address challenges by critics, EFSA extended its review by nearly a year. Environmentalists demanded EFSA analyze every charge against the chemical, no matter how inherently flawed. They threw everything they had at th...

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FOB Prices and Freight Rates App (Updated 18 March)

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 “How To”...

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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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