This report provides background information for major US agricultural commodities, comparative statistics for nine US commodity and general farm organizations, as well as emerging themes related to interviews with each of the organizations related to how policy is pursued.

The energy impact on U.S. agriculture is evident in spring prices for fertilizer and fuel, and in some areas, tighter supplies have slowed the pace of land preperation a bit for Missouri farmers.

This report compares fertilizer and fuel prices for this spring to comparative prices for the past four years for major field crops. In addition, it provides insight into the outlook for this summer and into the prices paid index from the FAPRI's 2006 Baseline.

This report highlights production costs related to energy based resources with a particular focus on variable costs for fuel and fertilizer. This provides preliminary estimates regarding prices paid by farmers for inputs for 2006 in addition to a short-term outlook.

As producers begin to review their balance sheets after harvest, many will find the squeeze of not only lower commodity prices, but substantially higher costs. This fall outlook summarizes costs for 2005 and provides insight into anticipated costs for 2006.