USDA To Release 10-Year Projections

WASHINGTON, Feb. 5, 2010 — The U. S. Department of Agriculture will release new 10-year agricultural projections Feb. 11 at 12:00 noon EST. “USDA Agricultural Projections to 2019” will be released on the Office of the Chief Economist Web site at: www.usda.gov/oce. USDA publishes the projections each year in February.

The report will be available in printed form February 18-19 at USDA’s 2010 Agricultural Outlook Forum in Arlington, Va. (Conference details found at: www.usda.gov/oce/forum). Copies also can be ordered from the National Technical Information Service at www.ntis.gov or 1-800-999-6779. Request document OCE-2010-1.

The long-term projections are developed by interagency committees in USDA, with the Economic Research Service (ERS) having the lead role in the preparation of the report. The new projections cover agricultural crop and livestock commodities, agricultural trade and aggregate indicators such as farm income and food prices through 2019. The projections do not represent a USDA forecast, but a conditional, long-run scenario based on specific assumptions about farm policy, the weather, the economy and international developments. Provisions of the 2008 Farm Act are incorporated into the projections and are assumed to remain in effect through 2019. Normal weather also is assumed throughout the projection period.

Source: USDA