World Perspectives

Rethinking Development Agriculture; Rethinking Economics

Rethinking Development Agriculture Diego Restuccia, a professor of economics and Canada Research Chair at the University of Toronto examined the total factor productivity (TFP) differences between developing countries and rich countries and found the misallocation of resources to be a significant factor in TFP. His paper, The Impact of Land Institutions and Misallocation on Agricultural Productivity, found blame lies with policies and development institutions. Smallholder farms often receive subsidized credit and subsidized inputs and yet still have low productivity. This input/output failure indicates a misallocation of resources.  Professor Restuccia utilized the Living Standards Management Study-Integrated Survey of Agriculture de...

Related Articles
feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Summary of Futures

May 26 Corn closed at $4.54/bushel, up $0 from yesterday's close.  May 26 Wheat closed at $5.8975/bushel, down $0.075 from yesterday's close.  May 26 Soybeans closed at $11.57/bushel, up $0.0175 from yesterday's close.  May 26 Soymeal closed at $311.7/short ton, down $0.5 from ye...

livestock

Greeley JBS Beef Plant on Strike

The JBS beef plant in Greeley, Colorado, went on strike yesterday. Today is day two of the labor shutdown. The Greeley plant can process about 6,000 head per day, or 5 percent of the U.S. beef supply. This is a major disruption. Notably, it comes on the heels of Tyson closing its plant in Lexin...

livestock

Livestock Industry Margins

Beef packer margins turned positive for the first time since late last year as returns improved to $53/head last week. The turnaround was driven by a strong increase in the boxed beef cutout, which rose to $388.16/cwt, while fed cattle prices declined further on the week. The threat of the labo...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Summary of Futures

May 26 Corn closed at $4.54/bushel, up $0 from yesterday's close.  May 26 Wheat closed at $5.8975/bushel, down $0.075 from yesterday's close.  May 26 Soybeans closed at $11.57/bushel, up $0.0175 from yesterday's close.  May 26 Soymeal closed at $311.7/short ton, down $0.5 from ye...

livestock

Greeley JBS Beef Plant on Strike

The JBS beef plant in Greeley, Colorado, went on strike yesterday. Today is day two of the labor shutdown. The Greeley plant can process about 6,000 head per day, or 5 percent of the U.S. beef supply. This is a major disruption. Notably, it comes on the heels of Tyson closing its plant in Lexin...

livestock

Livestock Industry Margins

Beef packer margins turned positive for the first time since late last year as returns improved to $53/head last week. The turnaround was driven by a strong increase in the boxed beef cutout, which rose to $388.16/cwt, while fed cattle prices declined further on the week. The threat of the labo...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Summary of Futures

May 26 Corn closed at $4.54/bushel, down $0.1325 from yesterday's close.  May 26 Wheat closed at $5.9725/bushel, down $0.165 from yesterday's close.  May 26 Soybeans closed at $11.5525/bushel, down $0.7 from yesterday's close.  May 26 Soymeal closed at $312.2/short ton, down $10...

Image
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.

Search World Perspectives

Sign In to World Perspectives

Don’t have an account yet? Sign Up