"The first step is to ensure that we have all the facts on the table and that is the goal of this paper. My hope is that this analysis will help to focus our national conversation as we work with Congress to develop future farm policy."

This paper is the fifth and final in a series of briefing papers that assess general themes advanced at the 2007 Farm Bill Forums held during 2005 by Secretary Mike Johanns as well as related issues that have emerged in recent months. This final paper provides an overview of the major trends in the food marketplace, the strategies that farmers have employed to remain competitive, and the key driving forces shaping agricultural markets.

This paper is the fourth in a series of briefing papers that assess general themes advanced at the 2007 Farm Bill Forums held during 2005 by Secretary Mike Johanns as well as related issues that have emerged in recent months.

This paper describes the current state of rural development, discusses and evaluates current key rural development programs available to communities and individuals through the Department of Agriculture (USDA), and concludes with a discussion of general policy alternatives.

This paper discusses natural resource issues, current conservation programs administered by USDA's Farm Service Agency (FSA) and Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), and policy alternatives.

This paper describes the risks agricultural producers face, discusses current key risk management programs and tools available to producers through the private sector and government, and concludes with a discussion of program alternatives. These alternatives are generalized approaches for dealing with concerns raised about current programs.