U.S. Agriculture: Challenges for the Twenty-first Century
The U.S. agricultural sector faces both opportunities and challenges in the countdown to the next century. Opportunities include expanded farm export potential that stems from foreign population and income growth, as well as more liberal trade policies. Reflecting this, the annual growth in the value of U.S. farm exports in this decade is much improved over the uneven performance of the 1980s. In addition, advances in biotechnology are improving productivity, reducing costs and providing raw farm products more neatly tailored to the needs and desires of both processors and consumers.
