The USDA recently redirected the Market Access Program (MAP) to allocate all branded products export promotion funds to small firms and cooperatives. The redirection was, in part, a response to reports by the General Accounting Office that were critical of past allocations of export promotion...

Count data models that incorporate the existence of excess zero observations were employed to estimate minimum demand thresholds for rural Wisconsin retail sectors. It was found that single- and double-hurdle models improved the estimation of rural retail minimum demand thresholds.

A financial training program designed by Cooperative Extension specialists was provided to over 2,000 USDA/FSA borrowers from the Northeast during the period 1994-1999. Key to the success of the workshops was an in-depth, user-friendly curriculum that evolved over time, eventually replacing...

Based on survey data on Bulgarian and Hungarian crop and dairy farms, a double-peaked distribution of technical efficiency is observed. Several factors explain differences in efficiency. Human capital matters not only through age and education, but also through gender as farms with a higher...

Multivariate probit analysis of BMP adoption, based on Louisiana sugarcane producer data, indicates that education and cost-sharing programs are effective means of increasing adoption rates. Results also indicate that contemporaneous correlation exists within and between management measures,...

A hedonic price model suggests that flooding and erosion hazards, and the actions taken against them, are major determinants of property values in American coastal areas. A zoning ordnance against new construction within the 60-year erosion hazard area would increase property values and perhaps...

This paper uses environmental risk assessment as a nutrient management planning tool to determine the best set of actions to control nutrient nonpoint source pollution in the horticultural industry. The framework minimizes costs subject to obtaining an environmental risk management score at or...

This paper develops an option value model to examine the extent to which output price uncertainty creates incentives to adopt two interrelated components of site-specific technologies sequentially. It analyzes how the impact of uncertainty on the sequential adoption decision differs across...

Optimal cross hedge ratios are estimated for a number of grain by-products used as livestock feed. Risk associated with these cross hedge ratios is measured to determine if cross hedging reduces grain by-product price risk. Results provide useful risk management guidelines for livestock and...

This paper examines the spatial elements of marketing grain. The decision of " where" to market has been ignored due to data limitations and lack of necessity. The author will incorporate localized probability distributions of price/basis in an Excel spreadsheet using @RISK which will evaluate...