Representative Kevin McCarthy (R-California) was removed as Speaker of the House this week and a new Speaker will be selected next week (if all goes according to schedule). The bottom-line question is: “what does this mean for the farm bill?” WPI reached out to some ag lobbyist contacts (both from the producer and processor sides) and posed that very question. The response was unanimous: “we don’t know.” There were, however, some insights and perspectives that we’ll weave together to come up with a good attempt at a possible answer. Note, an interim caretaker Speaker pro tempore was appointed, and he immediately called for a weeklong recess to let Members cool off and Republicans to re...
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.