Overview of the food and agricultural situation in the United States

This chapter outlines the main challenges and opportunities for the US food and agriculture sector, and the drivers of its performance, including innovation. It outlines the contribution of the sector to the economy, and the natural resource base upon which it relies. It identifies the main structural characteristics of primary agricultural and upstream and downstream industries describes the main food and agriculture outputs and markets reviews trends in farm and household income performance and analyses developments in agricultural productivity and sustainability, and their main drivers: innovation, natural resources, climate change, and structural change – which in turn are influenced by a range of policies.