World Perspectives
feed-grains wheat

Inputs Boost Production

The push by environmental activists to reduce and/or eliminate the use of pesticides and fertilizers in production agriculture may have varying impacts in individual countries but would likely reduce overall global production of cereals. This is because at the individual country level there are many other variables affecting production. Weather is chief among the external influencers of agricultural productivity, but pest and nutrient needs can also vary by geographic location, and chronologically.  Using overall global cereals production and the use of fertilizer and pesticides, there is a nearly perfect correlation. The use of fertilizer (0.95) has a slightly stronger relationship to production than pesticide usage (0.91). Soil type...

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feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

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feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

WPI Crop Progress and Conditions App (Updated 28 April)

Update for 28 April 2025: Last year, users pointed out differences between the 5-year averages reported in this app and what USDA estimates in its weekly report. The difference exists because WPI calculates average based on the last 5 years of observations for the current week. In cases where o...

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From WPI Consulting

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.

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