Aid Overhaul Former USAID administrator Brian Atwood, who now leads the OECD's umbrella Development Assistance Committee, says that 30 percent of the world's annual $130 billion in foreign aid may be wasted. He called for cash aid in lieu of commodities, an end to the Jones Act, ethanol, subsidies for crop production and improved coordination by donors. Edward Clay of the Overseas Development Institute says that renegotiation of the Food Aid Convention should be completed soon. Most food aid is committed to emergencies, and cash-based aid has increased as a methodology, but overall donor support for food aid has declined. (e.g. Presumably, the loss of direct income benefit from commodity aid causes a drop in public support for cash aid f...
Key Takeaways: President Trump announced $8 billion in additional agricultural assistance through the Harvest Fuel Relief Program, as USDA projects farm fuel and oil expenses will increase 28.8 percent in 2026. The package follows $12 billion in earlier relief, while government farm payments w...
Key Takeaways: A student group from the University of Chicago is protesting to bring back onion futures trading. Trading in onion futures was banned in 1958 following a spectacular bout of market manipulation that resulted in a corner of the physical market. The ban on onion futures led t...
Beef packer margins deteriorated to $141/head last week, down $55 from the prior week as fed cattle prices strengthened while the Choice cutout remained nearly unchanged. The cutout held near $373/cwt while fed cattle prices climbed $4/cwt to $224/cwt, narrowing processor profits. Despite the d...
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.