Agricultural biotechnology has been advancing very rapidly, and while it presents many promises, it also poses as many questions. Many dimensions to agricultural biotechnology need to be considered to adequately inform public policy. Policy is made more difficult by the fact that agricultural...

This study estimates the total benefit arising from the adoption of agricultural biotechnology in one year (1997) and its distribution among key stakeholders along the production and marketing chain. The analysis focuses on three biotech crops: herbicide-tolerant soybeans, insect-resistant (Bt)...

The 2002 Farm Act required USDA to implement marketing loans for the 2002-07 crops of dry peas, lentils, and small chickpeas. This provision led to expanded acreage for dry peas and lentils, crops analyzed in this study. The analysis found that marketing loans played a role in expansion for dry...

In response to energy security concerns, alternative energy programs such as biomass energy systems are being developed to provide energy in the 21st century. For the biomass industry to expand, a variety of feedstocks will need to be utilized. Large scale production of bioenergy crops could...

A quarterly econometric model of the U.S. dairy sector has been developed for use in short-to medium-term outlook and policy analyses. Simulations of the model indicate that it performs quite well both during the estimation period and during an eight-quarter interval beyond the estimation...

Over the next several years, crop prices are projected to be below to slightly above commodity loan rates. As a result, marketing loan benefits to farmers, in the form of loan deficiency payments and marketing loan gains from the commodity loan program, are likely to continue to be sizeable. The...