Last week, we had another authoritative forecast about the future.

This time, it was the combined wisdom of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations and the Paris-based OECD.

There is nothing that surprising in the volumes of graphs, tables and analyses of the various sectors.

Both organisations employ clever people on high salaries and the competence and thoroughness shines through. So, what were the take home messages, at least for me?

In much of the developed world, there are fewer babies being born than are needed to sustain the present population

The world population is still growing, but more slowly and getting older.

In much of the developed world, there are fewer babies being born than are needed to sustain the present population. Japan and Russia are the standout examples, but China and much of Europe, especially Spain and Italy, fall into this category. Africa is the exception.

Parts of the world are getting richer and with wealth comes increased consumption of desirable foods. For some, desirable means healthy, nutritious and satisfying in term of taste and texture.

For others, it means sweet, sugar-laden and easily digested.

With farmers’ weak bargaining power in the food chain, this has meant a continuous decline in the prices farmers receive for their output

We have been living through an era of extraordinary growth in agricultural productivity, in terms of output per acre, output per animal and output per person employed in the farming sector so food supply is not a crucial issue.

With farmers’ weak bargaining power in the food chain, this has meant a continuous decline in the prices farmers receive for their output.

This trend of reducing farm prices has been a feature of economic life since horse power was replaced by engines and genetics and soil fertility became better understood and more widely applied.

The increased wealth of a growing proportion of consumers is leading to increased meat consumption, especially in the developing world. However, the point is made several times through the report that most of this extra meat consumption will be in the form of poultry rather than red meat, because, as the authors put it, “of poultry’s perceived health and environmental benefits”.

The red meat industry is failing lamentably in projecting a favourable image in line with its nutritional benefits, and farmers are paying the price

There is no judgement made as to whether the perception is true or not, but nobody can doubt that the perception is real and is fostered by those against the production and consumption of red meat – despite the numerous recommendations from food safety authorities and nutritionists on the importance of red meat in the diet, especially of young children and expectant mothers.

The red meat industry is failing lamentably in projecting a favourable image in line with its nutritional benefits, and farmers are paying the price through reduced returns and uninformed public criticism. For the future, dairying is forecast to be the product that best maintains its price level.