WASHINGTON — US Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue and USDA chief economist Robert Johansson are among the participants scheduled to give keynote remarks at the 2018 Agricultural Outlook Forum set for Feb. 22-23 at the Crystal Gateway Marriott hotel in Arlington, Virginia.

The theme of this year’s forum is “The Roots of Prosperity.”

The distinguished speaker for this year’s forum is Akinwumi Adesina, Ph.D, president of the African Development Bank. Adesina recently was named the 2017 World Food Prize Laureate. Mehmood Khan, vice chairman and chief scientific officer at PepsiCo Inc., is scheduled to speak at the dinner on the first day of the forum.

The plenary session also will feature agriculture industry professionals involved in production, finance, marketing, input supplies and trade. Presenters include James C. Collins Jr., chief operating officer for the Agriculture Division at DowDuPont; Celia Gould, director for the Idaho State Dept. of Agriculture; Bill Lovette, president and CEO at Pilgrim’s Pride; and Joe Stone, senior vice president at Cargill.

“This gathering of leaders in agriculture is part of the USDA’s commitment to maximize the ability of the men and women of America’s agriculture and agribusiness sector to create jobs, to produce and sell the foods and fiber that feed and clothe the world, and to give them every opportunity to prosper,” Perdue said.

In addition to the plenary presentations, the forum will feature 30 sessions with more than 90 speakers and a host of agriculture-related exhibits. Among the concurrent track sessions and topics supporting this year’s theme are international markets, trade, and agricultural policies here and abroad for Brazil, Sub-Saharan Africa, and China; rural broadband; responding to hurricane disasters; animal disease outbreak preparedness; food safety; right sizing regulation; and the annual commodity outlooks and luncheons.

This will be the 94th annual Agricultural Outlook Forum. For more details click here.