The debate over work requirements for SNAP recipients has been a hot topic since the 2014 farm bill and has percolated up in the recent debt and budget limit deal between House Republicans and the White House. Moreover, the topic is the subject of some amendments to the ag appropriations bill that prevented that measure from making it to the House floor last week. Now, a bill introduced by Senator Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) and Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) would impose a work requirement of sorts for Title I crop program payments. Grassley in particular has been a long time proponent of limiting program payments to farms. Their bill would create what the sponsors call a “hard cap” on program payments, limited to $125,000 per person,...
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
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.