House Agriculture Committee Chairman David Scott (D-Georgia) has indicated that negotiations for the farm bill will start in the very early weeks of 2022. Climate and nutrition programs will be the cornerstone of Scott’s and the Democrat Majority’s draft, but with a tenuous political hold on control of the House of Representatives it is not clear what direction the farm bill might take. The farm bill expires in 2023, and mid-term elections are in 2022. The conventional wisdom is that the Republicans will take the House, though the elections in about 11 months are an eternity away in political timelines, and anything can happen. The Senate, which is split 50/50, is up for grabs, but there is less consensus on the out...
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.