Economics

John Graettinger, Director Food Chain Affairs, Merck Animal Health, aims to address the question of "Will consumers accept new agriculture technologies?" Mr. Graettinger states that consumers do not understand what agricultural technologies exist today and how they work.

Mr. Graettinger offers several examples on how the names of many technologies are not well formed and scare consumers. Mr. Graettinger suggests several changes and challenges people to frame the customer's needs into the messages companies share.

Brian Jones, Responsible Sourcing Manager, Nestlé North America Procurement, talks about sustainability and the trends that are driving the conversations within Nestlé.

Mr. Jones closes with several key points: Nestlé has recognized the need to sharpen it’s focus on sustainability and Nestlé is committed to measuring and reporting its progress.

Paul Bredwell, Vice President of Environmental Programs, U.S. Poultry & Egg Association, opens with an admission that the poultry business is late to the table with sustainability solutions.

Mr. Bredwell shares what is being done today to develop, launch, and execute sustainability programs. Mr. Bredwell closes with an outline of what will happen next and what key performance indicators will be used.

Roger Cady, Global Sustainability Lead, Elanco, shares an opening view of what sustainability is and is not. He believes the idea of sustainability will not go away and must be meet head on. Mr. Cady provides information on what consumers believe and care about.

The challenges? Sustainable practices must be a continuous process whose management must take in the ideas of tradition and change to be effective. Mr. Cady closes with the idea that raising the standard of living for farmers must be measured, whose data is incorporated into the sustainability continuous process.

Ambassador Darci Vetter, Chief Agriculture Negotiator, Office of the United States Trade Representative, provides perspective on the recent trade conversations around the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Ambassador Vetter outlines the issues and challenges of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and why it is important to the USA.

Water Resources More focus on water is occurring at the consumer level, driving action at the policy and commercial use level. Below are several stories and resources to help the conversations toward developing water solutions for everyone.