Agribusiness Industry Study Final Report

摘要

The American agribusiness industry is in the midst of a global competition that is re-defining the role of US agriculture in the world marketplace. The forces that are shaping this competition include: the integration of world agricultural markets, world-wide adoption of cutting edge technologies, and aggressive foreign government agricultural policies. In addition to these competitive forces, American agribusiness must contend with: adapting to potentially disruptive technologies such as genetically modified plants and animals, dealing with the threats of biological terrorism and invasive plant and animal species, and adapting to new market/regulatory forces brought about by the green revolution. Unfortunately, the United States Government has been slow to react. The continuation of decades of agricultural subsidies has effectively trapped many growers into producing low-value commodities. For the remainder of the agricultural industry, the government provides little help in dealing with this changing economic environment. The lack of a comprehensive agricultural government policy has left the US agribusiness sector open to attack from aggressive competitive foreign producers, and vulnerable to the uncertainties of a quickly changing marketplace.