This study examines the systematic risk present in major crops for the United States and three corn-belt states. An index of commodities is used in conjunction with cash receipts to generate dynamic estimates of the systematic risk for each crop and state. In our study, we find that beta...

A survey was used to gauge consumer preferences toward four fresh pork attributes: juiciness, tenderness, marbling, and leanness. The survey elicited consumer willingness-to-pay a premium for an improvement in these attributes. Approximately one-half of the respondents were willing to pay some...

This study examines the linkages between farmland returns and other market forces including the returns to alternative investments, agricultural sector activity, non-farm real estate, and macroeconomic conditions over the period 1973–2008. The study applies factor-augmented vector...

The importance of heterogeneity of animal attributes in livestock production is assessed. Preliminary results indicate that variance and skew measures of attributes may be becoming more important over time.

The emergence of Dried Distillers Grains with Solubles (DDGS) as a viable feedstuff for swine producers coincides with escalating feedstuff prices, increased DDGS production and changes in processing resulting in increases in available nutrients in DDGS. Evaluation of the nutritional and market...

Since 2003, direct payments have accounted for a signifi cant portion of farm program payments. If direct payments were eliminated, many agricultural producers would be affected, both through the loss of income and potential declines in land values and rental rates. This report considers the...