A WTO agriculture committee meeting revealed why it will be difficult to get the Doha negotiations back on track. Naturally Wrong Recently installed Federal Judge William H. Orrick of Northern California ruled in a plaintiff's favor that General Mills' marketing a product as "natural" when it contains approved biotech ingredients would "plausibly suggest that a reasonable consumer would be misled." Biotech antagonists have begun suing food companies that label products "natural" when they contain biotech, but the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is expected to soon issue guidance asserting "that a food containing genetically engineered ingredients does not constitute a material change to the product." Indeed, an ingredient produced via c...
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.