The US hog and dairy sectors are increasingly shifting production toward western states away from more traditional production regions in the east. In contrast, production levels in the fed-cattle sector have increased over the last three decades only in the three main producing states. One...

This paper identifies and synthesises strategic opportunities and challenges facing New Zealand’s sheep meat and beef sector over the next 10 to 15 years. A Delphi surveydraws on the sector’s collective knowledge and identifies areas of consensus anddivergence of opinion. Using the results...

Multi-Agent Simulation (MAS) models are intended to capture emergent properties of complex systems that are not amenable to equilibrium analysis. They are beginning to see some use for analysing agricultural systems. The paper reports on work in progress to create a MAS for specific sectors in...

The greenhouse sector has reinvented itself as a technologically advanced and relatively environmentally friendly industry over the past 15 years. However it remains a high energy user. Two recent surveys have highlighted the potential impact on greenhouse grower costs of the proposed emissions...

We used the well-being evaluation method, a technique for measuring individual utility, to study how people in the wildland urban interface of Colorado (USA) felt about their lives before and after two wildfire scenarios. Variables such as age, family size, fire frequency, and house value were...

High rates of commercial fertilizer and animal manure application on cropland have been identified as an important cause of ground and surface water degradation in many areas of the country. Suggested remedies are often based on the idea that fertilization levels are economically irrational for...

Since the enactment of the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001, owners and operators of farms and ranches have opportunities to evaluate new estate planning strategies for the transfer of farm businesses to subsequent generations. However, with provisions of the Act to be...

This paper uses microlevel data from the Agricultural Resource Management Survey to examine the changes in the distributions of household wealth and to assess the role farm subsidies play, among other factors, in affecting these distributions. The empirical analysis relies on the concept of the...

Research on environmental regulation’s effects on economic activity has largely focused on manufacturing, ignoring one of the major polluters in the U.S. – commercial agriculture. As livestock production has become increasingly mobile, regulation has become an important criterion in firm...

The paper discusses an ex ante evaluationof the derogation on the Nitrates Directive for Flanders,Belgium, which is a case of intensive but highlyproductive livestock areas. The aim is to develop anaccurate simulation model to detect small differences inmanure surpluses caused by changes of...