Acknowledgements Much of the substance of this report was first assembled in response to a request from Resources for the Future (RFF) for a document on "Perspectives on the Role of Technology in Determining Future Sup- plies of Food, Fiber and Forest Products in the U.S. " That request originated from a contract of the Needs Assessment Staff Group of the USDA with the RFF. The Needs Assessment Staff Group, in turn, assisted the Joint Council of Food and Agricultural Sciences (1984a) in preparation of a report to the U.S. Con- gress submitted by the Secretary of Agriculture en- titled "Summary-Needs Assessment for the Food and Agricultural Sciences, A Report to the Congress from the Secretary of Agriculture." The first version of this report also provided input via RFF and the Needs Assessment Staff Group into the "Reference Docu- ment: Needs Assessment for the Food and Agricultural Sciences" (Joint Council on Food and Agricultural Sciences, 1984b, pp. 85-90). The authors, according to their experience and judgment and with the reference material available, projected the conse- quences of present and higher levels of funding on agricultural research and technology and the capacity of the U.S. agricultural sector to produce. The manuscript was reviewed by Kenneth Farrell and Michael Brewer, RFF; by Orville G. Bentley and James H. Anderson, cochairmen of the Joint Coun- cil on Food and Agricultural Sciences; Bobby Eddleman, Director of National Agricultural Research Planning and Analysis; R. James Hildreth, Director of Farm Foundation; and Burt Sundquist, Professor of Agricultural Economics, University of Minnesota. The reviewers, in addition to providing useful comments, criticisms and suggestions, expressed the opinion that the manuscript should be published separately from the documents resulting from the RFF/USDA/Joint Council exercise. The reason for separate publication is that the report touches on sen- sitive issues involving relationships between the Agricultural Research Establishment (ARE), on one hand, and the National Academy of Sciences and the National Science Foundation, on the other. Relation- ships within the ARE and between the ARE and various activist groups are also addressed, along with suggestions for internal reorganization of units within universities. Funds for publishing the manuscript were provided by the National Center for Food and Agricultural Policy at RFF, the Michigan Agricultural Experiment Station and the Department of Agricultural Economics at Michigan State University. The Michigan Agricultural Experiment Station, through Project 442, "Economics of Agricultural Development and Economic Change," provided additional resources. The Economic Research Service also provided funds for using its World Model to make the projections from 1980 to 2030. The authors extend their thanks and appreciation to Julia McKay, who provided thoughtful editorial and word processing assistance, to Michael Lipsey for preparing the figures, and to Leslie McConkey for editorial assistance. Susan Battenfield and Chris Wolf resolved problems in the electronic transmission of the manuscript to the printer, and Shelly LaGuire pro- vided secretarial assistance. The views, findings, conclusions and recommen- dations herein are those of the authors. They should not be interpreted as representing those of Michigan State University, the Michigan Agricultural Experi- ment Station, Resources for the Future, the U.S. Department of Agriculture or the Joint Council on Food and Agricultural Sciences.