Top U.S. Agriculture Official delivers keynote address at 12th South African Agricultural Outlook Conference

by Moagisi Letlhaku | Staff Writer | September 6, 2012

Jerry Norton explains that reduced supply, due to the drought, had driven global maize prices to record levels and this should prove an incentive to southern hemisphere planters.

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) World Agricultural Outlook Board chairperson of the Interagency Commodity Estimates Committee (ICEC) for grains, Jerry Norton, arrived in South Africa last week for a trip that included a keynote presentation at the 12th South African Agricultural Outlook Conference on September 4 in Pretoria.

Norton oversees the development of wheat and feed grains forecasts for the monthly World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) report. At the conference he spoke on “The Global Outlook for the Supply and Demand for Grains” and provided key information on the global corn and wheat supply and demand situation.

His visit to South Africa comes at a time when both locally and globally, there has been a lot of discussion and speculation about the impact of the U.S. drought on global grain supplies. Norton addressed an audience of approximately 300 attendees, including farmers, agricultural business and industry experts, international organizations, government representatives, academics, commercial banks and media.

Also: El Nino gives SA farmers shot at US markets. Ethel Hazelhurst. Business Report. 09/04/2012