Partial Food Safety: The Obama Administration finally issued part of the proposed regulations for implementing the Food Safety Modernization Act approved by Congress over two years ago. The law and accompanying regulations may increase the safety of fresh fruits and vegetables, but they are equally notable for what they do not do. For example, smaller farms and food processors may obtain qualified exemption from the law's requirements, which ought to discourage anyone from buying small and local. And it doesn't change the story for large processors since most of them already perform hazard analysis and execute preventative controls. Data from the Centers for Disease Control indicate that most foodborne illness is caused by poor s...
What You Need to Know Today: U.S. weather is getting more attention this week as conditions vary greatly across the western, central, and eastern corn belts, with the different regions battling dryness and too much rain simultaneously. The ProFarmer Crop Tour began today in Indiana and Nebrask...
Unlike the 2022 fertilizer shock, today’s disruption is rooted less in rerouted trade flows and more in damaged production capacity, raw material constraints and uncertain recovery timelines. That makes this a longer-duration risk for U.S. agricultural producers and retailers who must sec...
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.