Biotechnology has had an important impact on the agricultural and food industries over the last twelve years by way of fast and extensive adoption of a few genetically modified (GM) crops. This has produced large efficiency gains, including higher yields and reduced costs of weed and pest...

This survey paper explores the literature on decoupling of farm programs that has emerged in the last 10 years. The paper identifies and assesses the various channels of potential coupling of decoupled farm payments and provides taxonomy of coupling mechanisms found in theoretical and empirical...

Based on an econometric analysis of the data obtained from a survey of meat plants (n=53 ) in Iowa in summer 2007, this paper identifies the factors impacting the meat plants’ voluntary adoption of forward and backward traceability activities. The results suggest that the ownership type...

The United States is a large net exporter of corn seeds. Seed trade, including that of corn, has been expanding, but its determinants are not well understood. This paper econometrically investigates the determinants of world demand for U.S. corn seeds with a detailed analysis of trade costs...

We quantify the emergence of biofuel markets and its impact on U.S. and world agriculture for the coming decade using the multi-market multi-commodity international FAPRI model. The model incorporates the tradeoffs between biofuel, feed, and food production and consumption and international...

We investigate factors affecting the duration of eating and food preparation among adults in single decision-maker households. Eating time is differentiated into primary and secondary eating time and further differentiated by location: at home vs. away from home. We construct a simple...

This article identifies preferences of US cow-calf producers for voluntary traceability systems to better identify the potential success of alternative voluntary traceability systems.  Results suggest that notable heterogeneity exists between cow-calf producers in their preferences and the...

This article reports tests of aggregation over elementary ground beef products and estimates composite demand elasticities. Results suggest that we obtain reliable information on consumers’ actual ground beef purchases by grouping data according to either lean percentage or brand type....

Price differences among fed cattle prices in Canada and the United States (referred to here as fed cattle basis) are important for Canadian cattle feeders, but changing government regulations in Canada and the United States have made basis more variable. This article uses transaction data from...

While modern swine production systems rely on confinement production, there are calls to reduce or eliminate the use of gestation stalls. To understand the economic aspects of this debate, this article reviews the structural evolution of the industry, the underlying legal framework in animal...