Every day many farmers tackle challenges brought about by swift upheavals in patterns of supply and demand, affecting choices about what to produce, which markets can be accessed and under what conditions, and influencing decisions about how best to manage multiple forms of risk. Furthermore, many already benefit from, or stand to benefit from, rising agricultural commodity prices resulting from wriggly demographics, increasing average incomes, swings in diets, low food stocks, high energy prices and more frequent, hasty or now recurrent alterations in climate; others, however, such as those who are net consumers, may face significant new challenges. Rapid transmission and contagion of trends, signals and all phenomena affecting farmers in a deeply integrated world economy make it imperative that policies and international regulatory frameworks on trade be carefully adapted to take into consideration the needs of the full range of stakeholders affected.