Productivity Pace Pt 1

Productivity Pace Pt 1

Bob Larson
Bob Larson
I’m Bob Larson. A new report shows agriculture is lagging behind the pace necessary to meet the world’s productivity needs for 2050.

The 2021 Global Agricultural Productivity Report, out of Virginia Tech, says global productivity growth needs to accelerate at all levels to meet consumers’ needs.

The GAP Initiative’s Ann Steensland explains what they mean by “productivity” …

STEENLSAND … “Productivity grows when the amount of land, labor, fertilizer, feed, machinery, and livestock stays the same, but it produces more crops, livestock, and aquaculture products, so, it's a measurement of efficiency – that’s the easiest way to think about it.

Steensland says globally, we want to be is increasing productivity by 1.73% per year.

STEENSLAND … “Every year in the GAP Report, we use data from the USDA Economic Research Service, and we compare that and say, well, where are we compared to where we think we need to be. And this year, we are at 1.36 percent, which doesn't sound like much unless you project it out to 2050, and that gap between where we are and what we need to be at grows. And it's that gap that creates some issues for consumers, for producers, for our environment.

And that, Steensland says is really where we are concerned to see this number as low as it is.

Tune in tomorrow for more … on the changing pace of ag productivity.

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