The FAO is set to release 2020 data on land clearing in Brazil but important to understanding the dynamic is its economics. University of Michigan economist Sebastian Sotelo and NYU’s Heitor Pellegrina find that Brazilians marching westward starting in the 1950’s is not unique in the human experience. The tripling of Europe’s population during the middle ages converted grasslands and forests. Western migration in the U.S. during the 18th and 19th centuries did the same. The Chinese more recently shifted from rural to eastern manufacturing and exporting centers. In the case of Brazil, the focus on soybeans, corn and beef helped to exploit comparative advantage relative to global demand. Notably, the authors fin...
A federal appeals court paused a USITC ruling against President Trump’s use of Section 122 to impose 10-percent global tariffs. A bipartisan group of 80 House members asked USTR to investigate specialty crop imports from Mexico for unfair trade practices. India notified the WT...
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.