Agricultural outlook 2008-2017: highlights
This Agricultural Outlook offers an assessment of agricultural markets covering cereals, oilseeds, sugar, meats, milk and dairy products over the period 2008 to 2017. For the first time, it also includes an analysis of and projections for global biofuel markets for bioethanol and biodiesel, facilitating the discussion of interactions between these markets and those for the main agricultural feedstocks used in their production. The market assessments for all the commodities are based on a set of projections that are conditional on specific assumptions regarding macroeconomic factors, agricultural and trade policies and production technologies; they also assume average weather conditions and longer-term productivity trends. Using the underlying assumptions, the Agricultural Outlook presents a plausible scenario for the evolution of agricultural markets over the next decade and provides a benchmark for the analysis of agricultural market outcomes that would result from alternative economic or policy assumptions.