Farm Focus 2008

by Craig Carl in Economics, June 12, 2008

The future of agriculture, Farm Technology Days, and the question of the need to increase world food production by 50% by 2030. An interview with Mark Hagedorn of Brown County Extension in Green Bay.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon this week called for a 50 percent increase in world food production by 2030, saying that failure to feed the world’s growing population will mean civil unrest and starvation. New agriculture technology could lead the way to helping ease that situation caused by rising

food costs. Coming in July, is one of the best platforms for showcasing new developments in agriculture. Brown County, Wisconsin is host for Farm Technology Days.

I went to Mark Hagedorn, University of Wisconsin Extension Agricultural Agent for Brown County, and asked him his thoughts about several subjects regarding agriculture and its current status in our country. The following are his thoughts:

Question: Economists have predicted the economy would deteriorate into recession in 2008. Some say we’re in one, others are just attempting to predict the future. Mark, what effect has the economy had on ag business in Northeast Wisconsin?

Hagedorn: “Right at the moment, we’re seeing agriculture probably at almost an all time high in Northeast Wisconsin, particularly Brown County. Milk prices have been good, people growing corn, wheat, soybeans, these kinds of commodities are really pleased with how they’re being reimbursed for their efforts. So, obviously input costs for producing all these commodities have gone up likewise. So, the bottom line isn’t maybe quite as rosy and cheery as what you would anticipate with the proceeds they’re getting for these sales. I think probably we’re gonna have to wait and see just how commodity prices hold…the ethanol aspect, and even the state of Wisconsin, where we don’t grow as much corn as what we see in states such as Illinois and Iowa. But, it is still impacting, and as we start to get cow numbers increasing in this county, we’ve got to find the agricultural base acres to take care of the manure that these animals produce. Then, how the environment, and agriculture and our urban agricultural interface works too, all of these factors have a big impact on what we are dealing with, but I think we can be cautiously optimistic.”