Many groups have discussed with alarm the impact of agricultural land conversion to non-agricultural uses. This research indicates little evidence that beef cow inventory has been negatively affected by land fragmentation. Average acres per transaction, total transactions, or a fragmentation...

Higher commodity price expectations have led to increases in cash lease rates nationwide. This study evaluates the farm level impacts of higher cash lease rates. Current levels of cash rents along with land tenure arrangements of specific farms are instrumental in determining the impacts of...

Increased demand for corn for ethanol production has helped push grain prices to record levels. This has increased livestock production costs, and producers have responded with changes to production systems. This paper explores the degree to which costs can be mitigated with alternative feeds,...

Animal identification has been one of the most contentious issues for the last decade in the livestock industry. More specifically, at issue is the idea of a government-sponsored identification system, although it is unclear that an identification system forced on the industry by the market...

This paper examines the impact of sex-sorted semen adoption on dairy farm level economics. Representative dairies are used to simulate the financial impacts of moving to this new technology. Key economic, financial and herd dynamics will be compared among dairies to show how the uses of...

This report analyzes whether H.R. 2646 may provide economic incentives for landlords to end current land tenure arrangements with tenants and take over management (and government payments) associated with their land. This work is a followup to Briefing Paper 01-9, Representative Farm Analysis of...

Under the December 2006 Baseline, 25 of the 65 crop farms are considered in good liquidity condition (less than a 25 percent chance of negative ending cash in 2011). Five crop farms have between a 25 percent and a 50 percent likelihood of negative ending cash. The remaining 35 crop farms have...

The beef industry in the United States consists of several distinct production levels ranging from the cow-calf producer at the lowest level to the final consumer. These sectors face varying levels of profitability, degrees of market power, conflicting goals, and price signals. Environmental...