In general, economic conditions have favored Iowa as a premier livestock-producing state, but at the same time, government policies have worked against Iowa's livestock-feeding industries. The authors trace Iowa's dilemma as it must decide whether to become self-sufficient in feed, or be one of...

This study of the firm under uncertainty relaxes the standard single production cycle assumption. Under realistic circumstances, a forward-looking risk-averse firm will produce more than a risk-neutral firm, and an increase in the mean-preserving price spread will increase the risk-averse firm's...

We develop a portfolio choice model for farmers faced with both price and production uncertainty who can hedge this uncertainty using both options and futures contracts. We then simulate the decision process of a typical Iowa farmer and derive his or her optimal options and futures position.

The vast majority of crop and revenue insurance policies sold in the United States are single-crop policies that insure against low yields or low revenues for each crop grown on a particular farm. This practice of insuring one crop at a time runs counter to the traditional risk management...

This analysis uses the 2011 FAPRI-CARD (Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute–Center for Agricultural and Rural Development) baseline to evaluate the impact of four alternative scenarios on U.S. and world agricultural markets, as well as on world fertilizer use and world...

This study examines aggregate county income growth across the 48 contiguous states from 1990 to 2005. To control for endogeneity we estimate a two-stage spatial error model and infer parameter significance by implementing a number of spatial bootstrap algorithms. We find that outdoor recreation...

This paper assesses the roles of various factors influencing the volatility of crude oil prices and the possible linkage between this volatility and agricultural commodity markets. Stochastic volatility models are applied to weekly crude oil, corn, and wheat futures prices from November 1998 to...

We examine four scenarios for the evolution of the biofuel sector using a partial equilibrium model of the world agricultural sector. The model includes the new Renewable Fuels Standard in the 2007 energy act, the two-way relationship between fossil energy and biofuel markets, and a new trend...

The Greenhouse Gases from Agriculture Simulation Model (GreenAgSiM) presented in this paper aims to quantify emissions from agricultural activity on a global scale. The model takes emissions into account that are directly attributable to agricultural production, such as enteric fermentation...

Biofuel subsidies in the United States have been justified on the following grounds: energy independence, a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, improvements in rural development related to biofuel plants, and farm income support. The 2007 energy act emphasizes the first two objectives. In...