Rural Campaign An article in the Capitol Hill news outlet Politico declares the USDA-issued document "Strengthening Rural Communities" to be "Obama's play for the rural vote." Perhaps, but it is a play for a very narrow subset of the sector. The report brags that there are now more than a quarter million organic cows, ignoring that is a very small share (2 percent) of the total herd. Moreover, it uses a base period (2000-08) that precedes the Obama Administration. There is now discussion of the productivity lag as a result of making milk with this non-science-based standard.The report also emphasizes that public agriculture research delivers returns of 10-20 times, and shows a slight recent uptick. But it matters where the money is spent...
As predicted, the Federal Reserve held rates steady at the last meeting before the midterm elections, likely in part because of the election (see WPI 19 October and 22 September). The decision comes at the tail end of a midterm election cycle that has been marked by the two parties campaigning...
Key Takeaways: WPI’s new EU rapeseed crushing margin models point to weaker processing returns over the next four months due to higher rapeseed procurement costs and weaker product values. Statistical forecasts call for German crushing margins to decline from €181/MT to €...
From WPI Consulting
Accountability and a comprehensive approach to export programming
WPI’s team helped construct a strategic approach to develop, implement, and track promotional activities in 8 key regions across the globe for an agricultural export association. With continued progress measurement and strategic advisory services from WPI, the association has seen its ROI from investments in promotional programming increase by 44 percent over the past 5 years. Not only does this type of holistic approach to organizational strategy provide measurable results to track and analyze, it fosters top-down and bottom-up organizational accountability.