ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses important issues facing US agriculture and natural resource base as people enter a new century. Except for the residents of less developed countries, who would like to eat more, the sector of the world most likely to gain from increasing income levels of the world’s 3.5 billion people is US agriculture. Understanding preferences of consumers from around the world begins with the curriculum and degree requirements established by colleges of agriculture and natural resources. The US posture regarding free and open world trade of agricultural commodities and products is rather clear. Made possible by both transportation and electronics, global economic integration has allowed major economic change anywhere in the world to have some impact on almost any agricultural input supplier, producer, processor, or marketer. Some creative or determined person will find a way to eliminate that diseconomy, to his or her considerable profit.
