In the twenty-first century, land managers will be increasingly called upon to do more with less. Both at home and across the globe, they will be asked to produce more agricultural products, forestry products, and ecosystem services while reducing their inputs and environmental effects. This is...

This study examines how the introduction of dedicated energy crops—switchgrass and forage sorghum—may affect Arkansas’ crop allocation decisions. The study captures crop production practices at the county or crop reporting district level. Results are in a static equilibrium framework and...

To assess the value of biofuels, the environmental costs of their production must be compared with the benefits of displacing fossil fuel. This article focuses on the environmental impacts of biofuel cropping systems and calculates net greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions using life cycle analysis....

This article develops a dynamic micro-economic land use model to identify the cost-effective allocation of cropland for traditional row crops and perennial grasses and the mix of cellulosic feedstocks needed to meet pre-determined biofuel targets over the 2007-2022 period. Yields of perennial...

While biofuels may yield renewable fuel benefits, there could be downsides in terms of water quality and other environmental stressors, particularly if corn is relied upon exclusively as the feedstock. In this article, we describe a modeling system that links agricultural land use decisions in...

To develop this report, Farm Foundation drew on the insights of leaders from business, government, non-governmental organizations and academia. We began with a small group of individuals whose discussions defined the 30-year challenge in six broad categories: 1. global financial markets and...

Using biodiesel fuel to reduce emissions from diesel engines is an area of increasing interest. Many environmental benefits associated with biodiesel are not traded in markets and their estimation requires economic valuation methods applied to non-market goods and services. This paper presents...