Farmers are complaining that the cost of anhydrous ammonia (NH3) has skyrocketed at the same time crops are about to go into the ground. It is difficult to feel sorry over a situation that is partially self-generated and mostly compensated. The complaint is that anhydrous prices have risen 60 percent or more since last fall, but so has the value of corn by the same amount. In fact, farmers started buying more NH3 recognizing it would net larger yields multiplied by higher prices. Moreover, they had received an infusion of cash from the government for COVID-19 and trade war compensation, making the purchases more affordable. The cost of anhydrous will likely fall as natural gas takes its post-winter season dip. Longer-term, expanded...
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.