A Farm Foundation debate today on prospects for the next farm bill, post the election of Donald Trump, brought much enlightenment and a variety of opinions.A Farm Foundation debate today on prospects for the next farm bill, post the election of Donald Trump, brought much enlightenment. The prescription from the activist left, represented by the Environmental Working Group (EWG), has not changed – more regulation of farming and fewer subsidies. EWG Vice President Scott Faber warned that when it comes to complaints from activists about the food system, “You cannot put the genie back in the bottle.”Daren Bakst of the Heritage Foundation softened the far right’s demand from the 2014 Farm Bill that the nutrition program and farm supports move th...
Key Takeaways: Lamb and goat tariffs protect market share, not prices. The flock is too small to respond quickly, and the burden depends on origin: 12.5 percent on Australia and New Zealand, reportedly 37.5 percent plus the base rate on China. Wool is most exposed via the export side. The U.S...
Illuminating the value of technical research
On behalf of a commodity producer organization, WPI evaluated the outputs from a project that featured a $5 million investment into technical research over multiple years. WPI’s team captured the results of this extensive effort and synthesized them for presentation to the organization’s governing board; among the findings uncovered and presented for the first time was the development of genomic traits proven, via rigorous testing, to provide crop yield advantages of 50 percent or more to U.S. farmers in times of drought. Capturing measurable results from long-term efforts can be challenging. Educating clients on the dynamics of success measurement when quantifiable results are not readily available requires deep client-consultant collaboration and an ability to consider both near- and long-term client aspirations with market/policy dynamics – attributes that WPI brings to every consulting engagement.