The Enemy is Us Misperceptions about the agrifood sector are frustrating to everyone and understanding the cause is a huge social science endeavor. Yvonne Thaxton at the University of Arkansas says the problem is that "We believe people we know and trust." Indeed, in the age of smart phones and product test ratings, recommendations from friends are still considered the strongest driver in purchasing decisions. Of course, our friends and family may be idiots. Maureen O'Connor at New York Magazine says that Americans "viewed twelve times as many [web] pages about Miley Cyrus [VMA twerking controversy] as they did about Syria — even though the news sources published 2.4 Syria articles for every one about Miley."We each believe w...
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.