Second, they are being asked to produce this abundance on a shrinking natural resource base that is often subject to government regulations. Meeting these global challenges will require unleashing the production potential of world agriculture while practicing proper environmental stewardship. The ingenuity and hard work we usually associate with farmers will be essential to meet these challenges, but they will not be sufficient unless we further reform agricultural trade to create an environment that rewards risk and investment and encourages efficiencies. These negotiations give us the opportunity to substantially increase the market orientation of world agriculture. A dramatic result is precisely what the world needs to meet the challenges of providing food and fiber, in an environmentally sustainable way, for future generations.
Farmers are responsible for feeding a rapidly growing world population.
Many countries, including the United States, are working vigorously to promote technological innovations to meet the need for food and fiber in the coming years. However, as important as this work is, it is only part of the solution. These technologies and the hard work of the world's farmers need a trading environment that encourages investment and efficient production, and generates economic growth to finance production and consumption needs. Currently, American farmers are suffering through weather-related disasters and low prices. Even as we work to address these immediate concerns, long-term trends in agriculture pose serious challenges for all farmers.