USDA official sees bright future for agriculture
Jason Berkes
Despite the impact of rising fuel prices and droughts, the outlook for
American agriculture this year is very good, says Gale Buchanan, chief scientist
and undersecretary for Research, Education and Economics with the United States
Department of Agriculture.
“In fact, to quote USDA’s Chief Economist Joe Glauber, ‘The outlook for
agriculture has rarely, if ever, been more favorable,’” said Buchanan at the
recent Southern Peanut Growers Conference in Panama City, Fla.
“As you all have heard, the price of both fuel and food gets mentioned quite
often in the press,” he says. “The good news is that agriculture is getting a
lot more attention. The bad news is that biofuels
production is getting too much of the blame for rising food prices. Of course,
much of the blame is on corn-based ethanol.
“The fact is there are many other factors at play including the rising cost of
inputs including diesel, pesticides, fertilizer and droughts around the world.
Higher food prices are also affected by population growth, depreciation of the
dollar and rising expectations (increases in standard of living) of many people
around the world.”
Despite these issues, he adds, it’s a challenging but exciting time for
agriculture and agricultural research, and peanuts are a part of that portfolio.
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