World Perspectives

Meat Fight on the Election Menu

Meat packing has now become part of the 2020 U.S. presidential campaign. Presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden declared worker conditions in these plants “inhumane and downright immoral.” Not that he has likely ever stepped into a packing plant, but his party has lost some its traditional cache with labor. Mr. Biden said he believes workers in these plants should receive a $13/hour bonus on top of their regular pay, which would mean doubling average pay and boosting meat costs by 53 percent. The multi-billionaire investment guru Warren Buffett is also calling for slaughter plant wage increases. Note that industry labor costs are significantly lower in Argentina and Brazil.  Advocacy groups are not stopping at wages, the...

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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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