b'Dan Basse Recaps 2023 Agriculture Economy, Looks Toward to 2024Wars and weather take center stage; U.S. dollar declines.Aimee NielsonEACH YEAR,the most well-attended sessions at ASTAsThe debt of the United States is about $33 trillion, rising to Field Crop Seed Convention are economist Dan Bassesnear $40 trillion within the next three years, he said. Thats Agriculture Economy Report and the Majors Panel, whichsomething I believe is going to put the dollar under pressure.brings together senior leaders from the Big Four to talk aboutClimate is another big challenge. Basse explained that record-the year ahead.low river levels on the Mississippi River and Brazils Amazon River Dan Basse, an economist with AgResource Company, offeredpresent trade and transportation challenges. Additionally, low his annual update on the 2023 global agricultural market, withlevels at the Panama Canal spell trouble all around. detailed predictions for 2024 to shed light on what global mar- As we look at the world as it sits today, Im becoming more kets have in store for the seed industry in the year ahead. concerned about climate change and what it means about feed-Basse talked about current global conflicts, especially theing the world going forward, Basse said. Russian invasion of Ukraine, and Israel and Hamas, and how theBasse also spoke about China and its importance to the world escalation of these two theater wars will have a lasting impact oneconomy. agriculture. But perhaps even more of a factor is the decreasing We need to remember that China is our biggest agricultural value of the U.S. dollar.customer with $35 billion a year in ag trade, he said. L-R Dan Basse, economist for AgResource Company; Eric Boeck, Syngenta Seeds North America regional director; Tim Glenn, vice president Corteva Agriscience Seed Business Unit; Jagresh Rana, Bayer Global Business Development and Licensing and Tom Schuler, vice president BASF Global Strategic Marketing, Seeds and Traits.26/ SEEDWORLD.COMJANUARY 2024'