We develop a conceptual model to study the impact of mandate policies on stimulating investment in cellulosic biofuel refineries. In a two-period framework, we compare the first-period investment level (FIL) under three scenarios: laissez-faire, non-waivable mandate (NWM) policy, and waivable...

Iowa's farmland consists of over 16% hay crops and pastureland, a significant portion of which is under cash rental contracts. This study investigates the comparative relationships between cash rental rates for cropped land and non-cropped land, where the latter includes hay and pastureland. We...

Feeder cattle are fattened to become fed live cattle 6 months later, and the feeder cattle stock is fixed in the short-run. Efficiency in competitive markets suggests feeder cattle prices should fully reflect feed prices and information on future fed cattle prices. Employing a long time series...

A large variety of subsidized crop insurance products are available to U.S. crop growers. Distinct and perhaps puzzling patterns in the choices of insurance products and coverage levels can be discerned. Where production conditions are better and yields are less risky then (a) higher insurance...

A large variety of subsidized crop insurance products are available to U.S. crop growers. Distinct and perhaps puzzling patterns in the choices of insurance products and coverage levels can be discerned. Where production conditions are better and yields are less risky then (a) higher insurance...

The spatial dimension of agricultural production is important when a communicable disease enters a region. This paper considers two sorts of biosecurity risk that producers can seek to protect against. One concerns the risk of  spread: that neighboring producers do not take due care in...

The use of plausible stochastic price processes in price risk analysis has allowed advances not seen in crop yield risk analysis. This study develops a stochastic process for yield modeling and risk management. The Pólya urn process is an internally consistent dynamic representation of yield...

While controversy surrounds skewness attributes of typical yield distributions, a better understanding is important for agricultural policy assessment and for crop-insurance rate setting. Day (1965) conjectured that crop yield skewness declines with an increase in nitrogen use at low levels but...