A fuel market expert says permanent year-round sales of E15 could help reduce gas prices across the...
In the last decade, world agricultural output grew at an average annual rate of 1.94 percent per year, far slower than the 2.74 percent output growth rate over the previous decade and below the average annual rate of 2.3 percent over the last six decades (1961-2021).
The slowdown in agricultural growth was primarily tied to a slowing rate of growth in agricultural total factor productivity (TFP), which fell to 1.14 percent per year in 2011-2021 (compared with 1.93 percent per year the previous decade). TFP measures the amount of agricultural output produced from the aggregated inputs used in the production process (land, labor, capital, and material resources).
The figure shows four major sources of overall growth: bringing more land into production (holding yields fixed); extending irrigation to land; intensifying the use of capital, labor, and material inputs per unit of land; and improving TFP, which reflects the rate of technological and efficiency improvements of inputs.
EDITOR’S TAKE:
It is important to keep in mind that this article is discussing production and productivity on a global scale. Some nations simply have no more land suitable for agricultural production and others may not have the access to technologies that improve efficiency and output while lowering cost. Agriculture in the U.S. is fortunate to have the types of partnerships between land grant universities, government research agencies, private sector companies and farmer/rancher investments through their check-off programs. This combination, in conjunction with organizations dedicated to improving adoption of technology at the farm/ranch level, continues to improve production and productivity on American farms and ranches at a superior rate. While it is concerning that global productivity is slowing as the world population continues to grow, rest assured that the U.S. will continue to do its part in feeding the world. This should not only make us proud but reassure us that our farmers/ranchers will be a viable part of your customer base for decades to come!
