Growing demand for cropland products has placed intense pressure on the ability of land resources to support nature, straining public budgets to purchase environmental goods. Fixing overall agricultural output, two policy options are whether to promote more extensive and nature friendly farming...

We review some of the most significant issues and results on the economic effects of genetically modified (GM) product innovation, with emphasis on the question of GM labeling and the need for costly segregation and identity preservation activities. The analysis is organized around an explicit...

We build a partial-equilibrium, two-country model to analyze some implications of the introduction of genetically modified (GM) products. In the model, innovators hold proprietary rights on the new technology, whereas farmers are (competitive) adopters; some consumers deem food produced from GM...

We develop a new partial equilibrium, four-region world trade model for the soybean complex comprising soybeans, soybean oil, and soybean meal. In the model, some consumers view genetically modified Roundup Ready (RR) soybeans and products as weakly inferior to conventional ones; the RR seed is...

Because of the short-term nature of existing futures contracts, farmers are subject to intertemporal income uncertainty, yet price stabilization may be detrimental because it negates the benefits of (intertemporal) production flexibility. Multiyear futures, if they existed, would be preferred to...

Under current U.S. law, taxpayers can deduct up to 100 percent of their state income taxes from their adjusted gross income when calculating their federal income taxes. As a result, Iowans currently pay approximately $251 million less to the federal government than they would otherwise pay....

This paper investigates optimal trade policies for a developing, small open economy that faces international price uncertainly. Trade taxes are used to finance provision of a public good, which enters the utility function of consumers. If demands for private goods are independent of the public...

This paper analyzes economic issues that arise in devising a credible and enforceable system of identity preservation and labeling for genetically modified (GM) and non-GM products. The model represents three stages in the supply chain: farm production, marketing handlers, and final users. The...

We develop a real option model of the irreversible native grassland conversion decision. Upon plowing, native grassland can be followed by either a permanent cropping system or a system in which land is put under cropping (respectively, grazing) whenever crop prices are high (respectively, low)....

Rate setting procedures for United States crop yield and revenue insurance contracts employ methods that presume correlations to be state invariant. Whether this is true matters. If yield-yield correlations strengthen when crops are subject to widespread stress, then diversification...