World Perspectives

Flawed Metrics

Yet another flawed study criticizes large scale farms and wrongly equates them with greater environmental damage. Kimberly Nicholas of the Lund University Centre for Sustainability Studies (LUCSUS) says that most EU agricultural subsidies go to intensively farmed areas that cause the most environmental damage and already have higher incomes. Meanwhile, smaller farms and poorer regions that are “climate-friendly” are insufficiently funded. Cross-referencing the Yale University Environmental Performance Index with farm size reveals the opposite. Not only do larger farms more efficiently utilize resources, they have the capital to invest in environmental mitigation and have greater reputational risk that discourages bad behavior.&n...

WPI on Twitter

Related Articles
feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Market Commentary: CBOT Falls on Stronger Dollar, Technical Trade; NOPA Crush Sets Record

The CBOT was mostly lower to start the week with a rising U.S. dollar and favorable weather for the U.S. and South America pressuring values. Some jitters over the weekend developments in the Middle East also kept markets on the defensive, though crude oil prices slipped lower despite the incre...

Farm Bill and Prop 12 Federal Preemption

House Agriculture Committee Chairman Glenn Thompson (R-Pennsylvania) has stated that he will move a farm bill draft out of committee in May; the Ranking Minority Member, David Scott (D-Georgia) has indicated that he’ll work with Thompson to have a bipartisan timeline to work on the legisl...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

WPI Crop Progress and Conditions App (Updated 15 April)

Update for 1 April 2024: Last year, users pointed out differences between the 5-year averages reported in this app and what USDA estimates in its weekly report. The difference exists because WPI calculates average based on the last 5 years of observations for the current week. In cases where ob...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Market Commentary: CBOT Falls on Stronger Dollar, Technical Trade; NOPA Crush Sets Record

The CBOT was mostly lower to start the week with a rising U.S. dollar and favorable weather for the U.S. and South America pressuring values. Some jitters over the weekend developments in the Middle East also kept markets on the defensive, though crude oil prices slipped lower despite the incre...

Farm Bill and Prop 12 Federal Preemption

House Agriculture Committee Chairman Glenn Thompson (R-Pennsylvania) has stated that he will move a farm bill draft out of committee in May; the Ranking Minority Member, David Scott (D-Georgia) has indicated that he’ll work with Thompson to have a bipartisan timeline to work on the legisl...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

WPI Crop Progress and Conditions App (Updated 15 April)

Update for 1 April 2024: Last year, users pointed out differences between the 5-year averages reported in this app and what USDA estimates in its weekly report. The difference exists because WPI calculates average based on the last 5 years of observations for the current week. In cases where ob...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Summary of Futures

May 24 Corn closed at $4.315/bushel, down $0.04 from yesterday's close.  May 24 Wheat closed at $5.5175/bushel, down $0.0425 from yesterday's close.  May 24 Soybeans closed at $11.5825/bushel, down $0.1575 from yesterday's close.  May 24 Soymeal closed at $338.5/short ton, down $...

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