The roots of situation and outlook (S&O) analysis run deep in the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Last year marked the 71st anniversary of the founding of the Bureau of Agricultural Economics and the 70th anniversary of USDA's first Outlook Conference. And the statistical work on which outlook analysis is based goes back more than 130 years. Not surprisingly, outlook work has changed over time as American agriculture and its place in the economy and rural America have evolved. USDA's S&O program is at a turning point and will be changing markedly in coming years.