agricultural outlook forum

USDA’s 2013 Agricultural Outlook Forum, “Managing Risk in the 21st Century,” will be held at the Crystal Gateway Marriott Hotel in Arlington, Virginia, on Feb. 21-23.  Speakers will include USDA policymakers and 85 distinguished experts in the fields of international trade, insurance, forestry, conservation, risk management, transportation, energy, nutrition, local foods, and food safety. The Forum continues to feature the traditional USDA commodity supply and demand and food price outlooks.

USDA’s Agricultural Outlook Forum provides students with a unique opportunity next February to meet leaders and discuss timely issues at the forefront of America’s agriculture.  In 2007, the Agricultural Outlook Forum Student Diversity Program was launched for junior-senior baccalaureate students to attend the event.  Former winners say the Forum broadened their horizons as they focused on careers in agriculture.  For the first time, graduate students may now also apply.

USDA’s 2013 Agricultural Outlook Forum to be held Feb. 21-22 in Arlington, Virginia, targets students in agricultural disciplines, nutrition and food science or pre-veterinary studies from Land-Grant Colleges and Universities, Hispanic-Serving Institutions, and American Association of State Colleges of Agriculture and Renewable Resources institutions.

As rural Americans look for new ways to compete globally in the areas of renewable energy production, business expansion and job creation, one factor that is often taken for granted is the availability of a ready supply of water.  In much of America, with the exception of parts of the West, water has often been thought of as accessible as the air.  Those attitudes are changing.

After 6 p.m. February 24, USDA’s 2012 Agricultural Outlook Forum speaker presentations will be available online.  The Forum, which occurs annually, was a celebration of USDA’s 150^th anniversary, featuring eight former Secretaries of Agriculture discussing the future of agriculture with Secretary Vilsack.

Following a morning plenary session featuring eight former Secretaries of Agriculture and Secretary Vilsack’s keynote speech, the USDA’s annual Outlook Forum will begin the programs breakout sessions featuring more than 80 speakers.  The sessions will focus on a broad range of topical issues related to agriculture and global food security; foreign trade, financial markets, and economic development; conservation; energy; climate change; food safety; food hubs; extension programs; and next generation farmers.

Twenty-four university students will attend USDA’s 2012 Agricultural Outlook Forum Feb. 23-24.  The students are the recipients of corporate and USDA sponsorship aimed at promoting the education of the next generation of agriculturalists.  The Forum titled, “Moving Agriculture Forward,” is USDA’s largest annual event and will be held at the Crystal Gateway Marriott Hotel in Arlington, Virginia.  “USDA welcomes the next generation to participate in the Forum so they might see opportunities to excel to even greater heights in their careers,” said Secretary Vilsack.

This year, sponsoring corporations and USDA agencies include: CHS, Inc.; Farm Credit; USDA’s Economic Research Service, Agricultural Research Service, and Natural Resources Conservation Service.

A historic gathering of former Secretaries of Agriculture will commemorate USDA’s celebration of the Department’s 150th anniversary and founding in 1862.  On February 23 at the 2012 Agricultural Outlook Forum, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack will moderate a plenary panel of eight former Secretaries of Agriculture invited to speak on “Agriculture: Visions of the Future” at the Crystal Gateway Marriott Hotel in Arlington, Va.

USDA’s 2012 Agricultural Outlook Forum on Feb. 24 will present five choices for outstanding speakers at the Friday luncheons.  Donnie Smith, President and CEO of Tyson Foods, Inc. will address “Perspectives on U.S. Meat and Poultry Production;” Thomas Dorr, President and CEO, U.S. Grains Council, will speak on the topic of “Food 2040.”  Gary Matteson, Vice President, Young, Beginning, Small Farmer Programs and Outreach, The Farm Credit Council, will address “Farming’s Future: The Next Generation of Farmers.”  José A.

USDA’s 2012 Agricultural Outlook Forum, Feb. 23-24, will present 25 breakout sessions, including three sessions focused on U.S. agriculture and the weather.  In the session Innovations to Minimize Crop Loss in a Changing Climate, Oregon State University will demonstrate their PRISM Spatial Climate Knowledge System which accounts for spatial variations in climate.  Speakers will be Christopher Daly, Director of the PRISM Climate Group and David Hannaway, Professor, Department of Crop and Soil Science, Oregon State University.  Rick Mueller, Head of the Spatial Analysis Research Section for USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service, will also present a new analysis tool called Cropscape.

On February 12, President Lincoln’s birthday, let’s take a moment to appreciate the many impressive accomplishments that our Nation's 16th President achieved during his four years in office.  Many of those accomplishments have a direct tie-in to the success of American agriculture. Lincoln’s birthday is especially important to us because 2012 is the 150^th anniversary of USDA.  Lincoln signed into law an act of Congress establishing the department in 1862.