Debate around the reauthorization of the U.S. farm bill is focused on the legislation’s two major functions, domestic food assistance and farm price supports. The former involves Republicans trying to reduce the most generous portions of what amounts to 81 percent of farm bill spending, and others trying to reign in the amount of money received by the largest farm operators. That is a slight over-simplification, but the farm support debate deserves a larger discussion about context. Opponents of the derisively framed “factory farming” are arguing that food security is national security, and small farms are the answer. The National Family Farm Coalition takes it a step further and opines that the answer to global hunger is...
WPI Grain Prices and Freight Rate App Note: you can also visit the app directly by clicking here. Supplemental Information The section below offers a concise view of the options available in the current version of the WPI FOB Price and Freight Rate app, along with a short “How To”...
Key Takeaways: Dry bulk freight markets are higher this week as activity in Asia and off the ECSA picks up. President Trump extended the Jones Act waiver for another 90 days this week, allowing foreign-flagged vessels to transport oil and other goods between U.S. ports. A container...
From WPI Consulting
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.