This is a comprehensive study of the growth and impact of agricultural futures market traders. The growth of financial investment in commodities has introduced participants and raised both new questions and warranted revisiting old questions; these include the impact on commodity prices, the...

No-till (NT) has been shown to reduce fuel, labor, and machinery costs compared to conventional-till (CT) but very few rice producers in Arkansas practice NT. The low adoption rate is most likely due to difficulties in management but also limited information on the profitability and risk of NT....

Replaced with revised version of paper 02/10/10.

The risk premium has risen sharply in the nation's financial markets. This is the message to be drawn from the significant rise in interest rates in recent days -- notwithstanding a stagnant economy, slowing inflation, and credit demands which, overall, are only moderate. The economy is clearly...