Due to the pandemic and limits on public gatherings, the annual Agricultural Outlook Forum will be held online in 2021, said the USDA on Wednesday. The data-filled Outlook Forum includes the first USDA estimate of the year of farm income and early projections of crop and livestock production in the coming year.
Registration for the Feb. 18-19 forum, with the theme, “Building on innovation: A pathway to resilience,” will be free, said the USDA. The Outlook Forum usually features a keynote speech by the agriculture secretary. The USDA began the Outlook Forum in 1923, and this is the first time it will be presented digitally.
The USDA announced its decision a day after the Renewable Fuels Association said the National Ethanol Conference, scheduled for Feb. 16-18, “will feature a fully digital, interactive format for the first time ever.” Several other major farm meetings, including the Commodity Classic and the American Farm Bureau Federation’s annual convention, will meet online in early 2021 because of the pandemic.