USDA’s 2012 Agricultural Outlook Forum, Feb. 23-24, will present 25 breakout sessions, including the annual Food Price and Farm Income Outlooks. Economist Richard Volpe with the Economic Research Service (ERS) will discuss USDA’s forecast for food price inflation, including recent historical trends in food expenditure patterns and the relationship between food prices and inflation in the general economy.
Ron Trostle, also a senior ERS economist, will explain recent patterns of food price inflation, including global growth in population and per capita incomes, increasing world per capita consumption of animal products, rising energy prices and growing global biofuel production, depreciation of the U.S. dollar, and slower growth in agricultural productivity.
Scott Faber, Vice President of Federal Affairs, Grocery Manufacturers Association will give a food industry perspective on food price inflation and strategies used by firms to manage price risk. Jason Huffman, Editor in Chief of Food Chemical News, will moderate the Food Price Outlook.
The Farm Income Outlook session for 2012 will focus on general measures of the financial well-being of the farm economy, including USDA’s official outlook for farm income, the distribution of income across farm households, and the competitiveness of the rural economy. Moderating will be Gary Blumenthal, President, World Perspectives, Inc. Joining ERS economists Timothy Park and Mary Ahearn, will be Jason Henderson, Vice President and Omaha Branch Executive with the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, who will discuss agriculture’s role in rural economic growth.
To learn more and register for the Forum, please go visit our website or Contact: Brenda Chapin, 202-720-5447