The authors survey various types of GMO (genetically modified organism) corn and soybeans, including both pest-resistant and herbicide-resistant varieties, and then evaluate the extent to which farmers have begun to use GMO crops. Figures cited include percentages of acres planted with GMO...

To address the growing problem of environmental degradation from livestock operations, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has sponsored a multidisciplinary project called Livestock and the Environment: A National Pilot Project (NPP). This report details the linkages among the policy space,...

Dairy farming in the United States has been characterized by very dynamic trends over the past half century, including a substantial regional shift in dairy farm locations. This report identifies the factors that have influenced the location decisions of dairy operators, and uses standard legit...

Driven by the expanding production of biofuels, the linkage between the agricultural and energy markets is evolving, and that has changed the market for agricultural commodities dramatically. These developments in agricultural markets consequently shifted the distribution of domestic grains and...

Feeder cattle are fattened to become fed live cattle six months later. The U.S. feeder cattle industry is intensively competitive, so that market efficiency suggests feeder cattle prices should fully reflect feed prices and information on future fed cattle prices. Employing a long time series...

A new approach is under way for the research agenda of environmental valuation. Rather than treating stated preference (SP) and revealed preference (RP) as competing valuation techniques, analysts have started to view them as complementary, where the strengths of each approach can be used to...

The economics of geographical indications (GIs) is assessed within a vertical product differentiation framework that is consistent with the competitive structure of the agricultural sector with free entry/exit. It is assumed that certification costs are needed for GIs to serve as (collective)...

This paper addresses the economic feasibility and impacts on U.S. agriculture of establishing a biomass crops industry capable of producing 8 quads methanol or 9.4 quads ethanol by the year 2030 from grasses grown as biomass feedstocks. The results suggest that such an industry could become...

In this paper, we examine command-and-control (CAC) policies and market-based instruments (MBI) in the context of the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP). The CRP, an MBI in the form of subsidies, is by far the largest agro-environmental policy implemented to date. We compare the environmental...

Traditional time series models assume a constant conditional variance. Realizing the implausibility of this assumption, Bollerslev proposed Generalized Autoregressive Conditional Heteroscedasticity (GARSH) processes, which are characterized by nonconstant conditional variances. In this paper,...