World Perspectives

Parting Shot; Locality Pay

Parting ShotsIn an interview with DTN, outgoing USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack expressed his long-running frustration that farm spending favors larger farms and that the number of farmers and acreage are shrinking. He says the farm bill is outmoded and needs to benefit more farmers and stop the rate of attrition. However, he never says what is the optimal number, just that he doesn’t like the trend. His embrace of “local” agriculture is as outmoded as the farm bill he deplores. To be for local food supplies and for international trade is contradictory. Vilsack is correct that U.S. farm policy needs change, but not in the direction he is suggesting. Government needs to get out of price guarantees for a handful of historical crops and instea...

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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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