The Michigan Agriculture Environmental Assurance Program (MAEAP) is a voluntary environmental program (VEP) initiated in 1999 by a coalition of state government agencies and agricultural, environmental and conservation groups in Michigan. We survey Michigan livestock producers and conduct...

Implementation of the Food Quality Protection Act (FQPA) is fraught with difficulty due to the divergent perspectives and demands of stakeholders in the process. In "Part I: Agricultural Producer Concerns," the authors reviewed the concerns of food producers about potential FQPA threats to farm...

The Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act contains major revisions in farm commodity programs. This paper summarizes the major provision of legislation. Because many program implementation rules must be developed, program participants are advised to consult their local office of the...

This paper addresses the potential of the Environmental Quality Incentives Program to become the first true green payment program, one which is not directly linked to farm income goals as all conservation programs have been in the past, even in contrast to the Conservation Reserve Program and...

The U.S. House of Representatives and Senate have written farm bills that contain major revisions in farm commodity programs. Differences in these bills, House bill HR 2854 and Senate bill S 1541, must now be resolved by a Conference Committee, approved by a final vote of both houses of...

The current debate surrounding the reauthorization of the omnibus farm legislation has refocused policy makers' attention on an expanding set of public goals envision for the Farm Bill. Whereas early Farm Bills mainly addressed farm income goals, recent Farm Bills have given major attention to...

The rapidity of change has left scant opportunity for investigation of the consequences of biotechnology adoption on long-term ecosystem or economic system functioning. Economic theory suggests that, if the "Biotechnology Revolution" is left to market forces alone,there will be neglected public...