brenda chapin

USDA’s 2012 Agricultural Outlook Forum, Feb. 23-24, will commemorate the 150th anniversary of USDA’s founding in 1862.  Secretary Tom Vilsack will moderate a panel of former Secretaries of Agriculture ─ Ed Schafer, Senator Mike Johanns, Ann Veneman, Dan Glickman, Mike Espy,  Clayton Yeutter, John Block, and Bob Bergland.  This unprecedented gathering of former Ag Secretaries will discuss the topic “Agriculture: Visions of the Future.”

For more than 65 years, the Oxford Farming Conference has built up a reputation as the most important of its kind in the UK and Europe. And this year, USDA Chief Economist Dr. Joseph Glauber will speak on the outlook for agriculture in light of the major global, climate and resource challenges facing agricultural producers over the next 40 years.

His presentation will occur during the meeting’s first session titled “Farming's Place in an Uncertain World” on Wednesday January 4th. The 2012 conference will be held on the January 3-4-5 at the Examination Schools at Oxford University, Oxford, England.

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. 

USDA’s 2012 Agricultural Outlook Forum, Feb. 23-24, will present 25 breakout sessions, including the international trade-focused sessions: “Export Opportunities and Competition in Brazil, Russia, India, and China (BRIC) Countries” and “Trends in Agricultural Development & Trade in the Americas.”

A historic gathering of former Secretaries of Agriculture will occur at the 2012 Agricultural Outlook Forum. Secretary Tom Vilsack will moderate a plenary panel of former Secretaries of Agriculture invited to speak on “Agriculture: Visions of the Future.”  At least six of the last eight Secretaries will participate on the panel. The Forum will be held February 23-24, 2012, at the Crystal Gateway Marriott Hotel in Arlington, Va.

Secretary Vilsack will deliver the Forum keynote address at USDA’s annual meeting titled “Moving Agriculture Forward.”  Twenty-five breakout sessions with more than 80 speakers 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.  The Forum continues to feature USDA’s agricultural economic outlook and the commodity supply and demand and food price outlooks.

USDA’s annual Agricultural Outlook Forum, Today’s Strategies & Tomorrow’s Opportunities, will be held February 24-25, 2011, at the Crystal Gateway Marriott Hotel in Arlington, Virginia.

Secretary Tom Vilsack will deliver the Keynote Address.  The Distinguished Plenary Panel will be moderated by Christine Cochran, President of the Commodity Markets Council, and focus on the economy, managing risk, and broadband in rural communities.  The four panelists and their topics include:  Nariman Behravesh, the Chief Economist, IHS Global Insight, speaking on “The Global Economy;” Charles Whitman, the Founder and CEO of Infinium Capital Management, speaking on “Managing Risk and Electronic Trading;” Pete Nessler, President of FCStone LLC, speaking on “Managing Risk in a Complex World;” and Michael Copps, Commissioner of the Federal Communications Commission, speaking on “Broadband in Rural Communities.”

Another impeccable line-up of speakers, led by Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, has been announced for the 2011 Agricultural Outlook Forum. Titled “Today’s Strategies & Tomorrow’s Opportunities,” the Forum will be held February 24-25, 2011, at the Crystal Gateway Marriott Hotel in Arlington, Va.  The Plenary Panel speakers include:

Moderator—Christine Cochran, President, Commodity Markets Council; Nariman Behravesh, Chief Economist, IHS Global Insight on Critical Issues Shaping the Global Economic Outlook; Charles Whitman, Founder and CEO, Infinium Capital Management on Electronic Trading and the Globalization of Grain Markets; Pete Nessler, President, FCStone, LLC on A Brokerage Firm’s Approach to Risk Management; Michael Copps, Commissioner, Federal Communications Commission on Opening the Internet to the Rural Community.