Can U.S. agriculture compete in the global marketplace? Resources, investment and government all play a role in the answer

摘要

Can American farmers compete? The answer seems obvious after a quarter century of growing agricultural exports, from 6.5 billion dollar in 1968 to 45 billion dollar last year. But the road to that sevenfold expansion has been tortuous, particularly during the downward slide of the 1980s when a disastrous combination of global economic forces and shortsighted domestic policies sent exports into the tank and agriculture into afunk. The experience left confidence shaken in the country's ability to compete for export business and in exports' ability to help agriculture prosper.