Overview
Food and agricultural systems operate in a highly competitive
global context, and the United States is a major player
in these international markets—the U.S. share of
the global market for agricultural goods averages just
under 20 percent. Since U.S. farms produce far beyond
domestic demand for many crops, maintaining a competitive
agricultural system is critical to ensuring the economic
viability of U.S. agriculture. At the same time, U.S.
agriculture is a diverse economic sector. Differences
in commodity type, farm size, operator and household characteristics,
and even goals for farming affect the competitiveness
of individual operations and ultimately of the sector
as a whole.
In recent years, changes in the rules of trade, shifts
in domestic policy, and new developments in technology
have altered the competitive landscape of global agriculture
and the challenges facing American farmers. ERS research
focuses on these and other economic issues affecting the
U.S. food and agriculture sector's competitiveness, including
factors related to performance, structure, risk and uncertainty,
marketing, and market and nonmarket trade barriers. More
overview...
Related Briefing Rooms
Features
Global Agricultural Supply and Demand: Factors Contributing to the Recent Increase in Food Commodity Prices (July 2008) explores the many factors that have contributed to the runup in food commodity prices over the last 2 years.
Food Security Assessment, 2007 (July 2008) projects that the food security situation in 70 developing countries will deteriorate over the next decade. The estimates also indicate that the number of food-insecure people for these countries rose between 2006 and 2007, from 849 million to 982 million. Food and fuel price hikes, coupled with a slowdown in global economic growth, hinder long-term food security progress.
Recommended Readings
The Environment for Agricultural and Agribusiness Investment in India (July 2008) reports that, despite strong overall economic growth and strengthening food demand, investment in Indian agriculture and agribusiness has remained sluggish, and growth in farm output has slowed, since the early 1990s. The policy environment has grown more investor friendly since the late 1990s and private investment appears to be responding, but significant barriers remain and the pace of future reforms remains uncertain.
The Economic Organization of U.S. Broiler Production (June 2008) describes, based on a large and representative survey of broiler operations, the industry's organization, housing features, contract design, fees and enterprise cost structures, and farm and household finances. Broiler production in the United States is coordinated almost entirely through systems of production contracts, and the industry is undergoing a gradual structural change as production shifts to larger broiler enterprises.
Commodity Backgrounders addresses considerations
in domestic agricultural policy deliberations, including
market conditions, policy proposals, trade agreements,
and the interactions between policy and markets for selected
commodities.
See all recommended readings...
Recommended Data Products
Agricultural
Outlook Statistical Indicators, formerly provided
in Agricultural Outlook magazine, provide data
on individual commodities, the general economy, agricultural
trade, farm income and expenses, farm prices, food prices
and expenditures, and other statistical indicators of
the food and agriculture system.
Feed Grains Database
is a queryable database that contains monthly, quarterly,
and annual data on prices, supply, and use of corn and
other feed grains. This includes data published in the
monthly Feed Outlook and the annual Feed
Yearbook reports.
Farm Business and Household Survey
Data: Customized Data Summaries from ARMS (the Agricultural
Resource Management Survey) is a web-based data delivery
tool that provides information on farming practices, commodity
production costs and returns, the economics of the farm
business, the structure of American farming, and the characteristics
of the American farm household. This tool provides centralized
access to all ARMS data, including those previously provided
in the Farm Financial Management and Crop Production Practices
data products.
Commodity and Food Elasticities Database allows queriable searches of income, expenditure, and own- and cross-price elasticities for specific commodities and countries, which can be ranked and sorted. The elasticities are mainly from U.S. research on consumer demand published in working papers, dissertations, and peer-reviewed journals. The greatest number of demand studies are for vegetables, fruits, meat, and grocery products in the United States and China.
See all recommended data products...
Newsletters
ERS develops newsletters, many of which are issued monthly,
highlighting timely developments in U.S. and global markets.
Commodity-based newsletters include: cotton
and wool,
feed grains, oil
crops, wheat,
rice,
fruit and tree nuts,
vegetables and melons,
sugar
and sweeteners,
and livestock, dairy, and
poultry. We also issue the Outlook
for U.S. Agricultural Trade and Agricultural
Income and Finance. See the 2008
calendar of releases.
Related Links
USDA agencies and other government organizations of interest
in the area of agricultural competitiveness.
See all related links...
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