FAPRI: despite bleak spots ahead, 10 year outlook is bright.

Farmers can look for lower export demand and increased worldwide supply of agricultural products to continue for at least the next two or three years -- unless weather problems change this situation. That was the outlook from economists at the Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute (FAPRI) in their March report to the agricultural committees of the US House of Representatives and US Senate.

Lower farm commodity prices and substantial increases in spending on government farming programs are seen in the early years of FAPRI's latest 10-year projection. The outlook looks brighter for seven of the 10 years, with the world economy expected to show signs of recovery. This would result in US export demand for feed grains, meats, oilseeds and their products to grow, the economists said. They emphasize that their projections assume that existing US farm policy remains stable and weather is average.

The briefing to Congress can be downloaded from the FAPRI site on the worldwide web at: http://www.fapri.missouri.edu/.