WASHINGTON, May 27, 2015 – Acting Chief Economist Robert Johansson today announced the appointment of Dr. Seth Meyer as the World Agricultural Outlook Board (WAOB) Chairman. Dr. Meyer is currently a Senior Economist with the Office of the Chief Economist (OCE) on assignment to WAOB and will assume his new duties May 31, 2015.
"Dr. Meyer was selected as Chairman of the World Board," Johansson said, "because he brings to this leadership position 15 years of experience in domestic and global agricultural markets. He also served as a faculty member at the University of Missouri where his research, analytical and policy skills were very well respected and spent time abroad working at international organizations in the Philippines, Japan and Italy. His accomplishments have made his selection as Chairman an outstanding choice."
Dr. Meyer will be responsible for the monthly forecasts of the World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) report and the work of the Joint Agricultural Weather Facility. Meyer will also serve as Program Chairman for USDA's largest annual meeting, the Agricultural Outlook Forum.
Dr. Meyer joined USDA's Office of the Chief Economist in 2013 as a Senior Economist for domestic agricultural policy. Prior to joining USDA, Dr. Meyer spent the previous two years as a part of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations (UN) in the Global Perspectives Studies Unit, examining the long-term determinants of agriculture demand and the allocation of productive resources to meet that growing demand.
Dr. Meyer also spent 12 years as a researcher and faculty member with the University of Missouri's Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute (FAPRI), analyzing policies affecting grain and oilseed markets, cotton, biofuels, and agricultural commodity transportation. Meyer has authored numerous publications on these subjects, including several examining U.S. biofuel policy, and has spent time as an invited researcher at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in the Philippines; the Japan International Research Center for Agricultural Sciences (JIRCAS) in Tsukuba, Japan; and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (UN-FAO) in Rome, Italy. Dr. Meyer grew up in eastern Iowa and has a Bachelor's and Master's degree from Iowa State University and a Ph.D. in Agricultural Economics from the University of Missouri.
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