Globally Competitive Agriculture and the Midwest

On September 29, 2006 (previously scheduled for June 13, 2006), the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago and the Chicago Council on Global Affairs (CCGA) held a joint conference at the Federal Reserve Bank on the linkages between global competition in agriculture and the Midwest. This conference brought together those interested in the issues surrounding globally competitive agriculture and the Midwest economy. The goals of the conference included examining the global playing field for midwestern agriculture; exploring the implications of globalization for economic growth in the Midwest; and discussing the influence of government policies on the global competitiveness of agriculture in the Midwest.

The conference also served as a forum for the Chicago release of the forthcoming report from the CCGA Agriculture Task Force, co-chaired by Catherine Bertini, Former Executive Director, World Food Program, The United Nations; August Schumacher, Jr., Former Undersecretary of Agriculture for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services, U.S. Department of Agriculture; and Robert L. Thompson, Gardner Chair in Agriculture Policy, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The CCGA task force focused on U.S. agriculture policy and ways to promote the competitiveness of U.S. agriculture for the 21st Century.

Papers and presentations will be posted to this web site as they become available.