Purdue University’s Center for Food and Agricultural Business undertook the 2008 Large Commercial Producer Survey with the goal of providing food and agribusiness firms with a clear depiction of the commercial producers—a group that purchases the majority of agricultural inputs. This survey...

Producers’ risk perceptions, as well as their empirical measurement, have been an ongoing concern for agricultural economists. Identification and categorization of producers’ risk attitudes is important in both research and extension contexts. This study explores some alternative measures of...

One of the most successful genetically modified crops is Bt corn, which has been modified to produce proteins from the soil bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt). These proteins are toxic to specific pests such as the European Corn Borer (ECB) and the corn rootworm (CRW). These Bt crops are...

Since the introduction of genetically modified (GM) crops, the commodity grain system has been under pressure to segregate GM and non-GM crops. Starting at the level of the grain handler, members of the grain supply chain have successfully used quality assurance and identity preservation...

Accurately estimating consumer preferences for new products is an arduous task made difficult by the fact that individuals tend to exhibit a number of biases when answering hypothetical survey questions. Experimental auctions have advantages over conventional methods of estimating consumer...

Pests like the larger grain borer (P. truncatus) and the maize weevil (S. zeamis) cause significant storage losses for African maize producers. The value of storage protection to a market-oriented farmer is a function of price seasonality, value loss prevention, and their opportunity costs of...

One concern regarding the growing agricultural biotechnology industry is the potential for these firms to exercise market power when pricing their innovations, which would affect the magnitude and distribution of resulting welfare gains. We argue that competition across production systems limits...

This article provides an overview of modern contract theory and discusses the implications of the theory for contracting for perennial dedicated energy crops. We discuss some of the unique challenges of contracting for dedicated energy crops used for the production of advanced biofuels and...

Purpose – For agricultural bankers, agribusiness managers, and salespeople, understanding customers and their preferences and behaviors is crucial to success. The two goals of this paper are first to identify today's distinct market segments for financial products for US crop and livestock...