World Perspectives

Indignancy Earned; Johnny One-Note; USTR Review Team

Indignancy Earned Brazilian agricultural specialists were in Europe this week trying to redirect impressions about the sustainability of their country’s agriculture. They assured the media and others that Brazil is seeking improved sustainability by integrating production, making chemical use more efficient, and adopting genetically modified crops. The latter did not help their case even if there are environmental benefits such as reduced tillage and spraying of harsher chemicals. On a per hectare basis, Brazil uses more chemicals than Europe except in the case of nitrogen. This is in part because Brazil has more biodiversity than Europe.  This is the irony of newly developing countries being judged by nations that fully exploi...

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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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