Trends in Agriculture: Sunrise and Sunset

This insider’s look at the world’s second-oldest profession will cover a wide-ranging list of trends affecting farming and agriculture as related to population, economies, and nation building across the globe. Today’s farmers face unique challenges raising livestock and crops as infrastructure declines and grain prices soar. New expectations for feed, land and water hierarchy, food security, and moral responsibility are driving forces. Technologies such as 3-D printed confections and test-tube beef vie against the “localvore,” slow-food movement, illustrating the dichotomy occurring on a much larger scale between technology and tradition. Explore the meat underground, why it will expand domestically, and the adverse affects on the supply chain.

The session will examine the continued conflict between protecting nature and raising food. Attendees will be challenged to consider where and how that next bite arrived on the plate, and how that changes in the future.