Barry Dunn is the South Dakota Corn Utilization Council Endowed Dean of Agriculture and Biological Sciences at South Dakota State University, and Director of SDSU Extension.
• Spring is a season of hope. It is appropriate that the first day of spring occurs during National Agriculture Week, March 17-23. It is a time to recognize the abundance provided by agriculture, and celebrate the opportunity it holds for South Dakota and humanity.
• As farmers once again move into the fields to plant crops, and also begin calving and lambing season, it's important to keep in mind the challenges ahead. The "Grand Challenge of the 21st Century" is to produce enough food, fiber and fuel for more than 9.5 billion people by 2050, using less land, less water and less energy than is used today, and to do it in a sustainable manner.
• This challenge reaches beyond simply feeding 2.5 billion more people. Globally, the standard of living is increasing, and diets are improving in nearly all corners of the world. The higher standard of living means that more people globally are including animal protein in their diets, increasing demand for beef, pork and turkey that are grown and processed here in South Dakota. Yet ultimately, we must double food production to meet growing populations and higher demand from global consumers.
• We've come a long way. In the 1960s, one third of the world's population was starving or near starvation. Each American farmer fed 25 people. From the tragedy

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