President Obama today unveiled his FY 2013 budget proposal. Under the plan, revenues grow by 60 percent and spending increases by 12 percent between now and 2017. The deficit drops by 54 percent, a total of $715.4 billion, over the same period. A total of $391 billion in savings comes from legislation already passed, the 2011 Budget Control Act, which capped discretionary spending and made some "program integrity" reforms.An overview of USDA program cuts is below:Other program cuts or eliminations include the Agricultural Marketing Service's pesticide and microbiological data programs, rural housing loans, international forestry, rural business development, energy assistance, community development, and rural fire assistance, among others...
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.