ERS’s study on cost savings in U.S. apple production is a good look at an industry adjusting to scarcity in labor markets. Washington State is by far the top producer, and they have long depended on the H2-A visa program for workers—an estimated 50,000 annually--not only for harvest, but for all manner of field operations and processing procedures. One effort to reduce costs is to build trellised orchards that present a “fruiting wall”. In this system, ladders and baskets are replaced by a moving platform that travels (slowly) down evenly spaced rows of trees that are shaped carefully to form a veritable wall of fruiting limbs. Current research is devoted to the development of robotic harvest...
Key Market Insights The broad market is locked in on this week’s Trump-Xi meeting in Beijing, but this is no longer just a trade summit. Increasingly, the meeting is becoming tied directly to Iran, energy security, and the growing global economic fallout from disruptions through the Strai...
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.