The state of agriculture in Argentina and the loss of export competitiveness become clearer when examined through recent data. The official inflation rate for December 2024 was reported at 2.7 percent, resulting in an accumulated inflation rate of 117.8 percent for 2024. During this period, the exchange rate for grain trading rose from approximately AR$808/USD to AR$1,032/USD, marking a 27 percent increase. Commodity prices have shifted significantly. Soybeans increased in Argentine pesos from AR$265,000 ($327/MT) to AR$285,000 ($276/MT), representing a 7.5 percent increase in local currency. Wheat rose from AR$185,000 to AR$199,000, another 7.5 percent increase, while corn prices climbed by 26 percent. These increases contrast sharply with...
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.