For 25 years a group of University of Missouri economists has provided commodity price projections and policy analysis to the U.S. Congress, international trade negotiators, farm groups and farmers.

On Friday, the MU Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute (FAPRI) celebrated its silver anniversary with a gathering of friends and supporters, including Missouri Senator Kit Bond and FAPRI founder Abner Womack.

Womack has turned over leadership of the unit started in 1984 to professors Pat Westhoff and Willi Meyers, co-directors of MU FAPRI. He continues as FAPRI adviser and professor in the Department of Agricultural Economics.

“Every acre of crop land in the world and every cow in the world’s herd are represented in our models,” Womack said of the analytical team he founded 25 years ago. “Our main job remains in giving unbiased facts, based on numbers. We don’t make policy recommendations,” Womack said. “We present the facts and let policymakers determine the answers. That is our strength.”

A silver edition Web site shows a policy timeline, a history of MU FAPRI, videos, letters and quotes from supporters.