The Ministerial Declaration that emerged from the recently concluded World Trade Organization (WTO) ministerial conference in Hong Kong continued the efforts of members to reform and liberalize the world cotton market “…ambitiously, expeditiously, and specifically” (WTO, 2005). The special...

The United States has issued a proposal to the world trading community outlining several steps to jumpstart the stalled World Trade Organization (WTO) negotiations on agriculture. The proposal is intended as a challenge to members of the WTO to improve market access through “ambitious tariff...

Economic Fundamentals - Real GDP growth is projected to be stable at about 2.5% per year in developed countries and be around 5% in developing nations. A more favorable exchange rate between China’s currency and the U.S. dollar may make U.S. cotton more affordable to China’s growing cotton...

The Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 was passed into law on May 22, 2008 with veto override votes in the House of Representatives and the Senate (House 2008). A difference between the 2002 and the 2008 bills is the newly instituted revenue-based counter-cyclical program called the...

This paper uses a modified policy analysis matrix (PAM) approach to assess the efficiency of cotton production in five major producing states in India. The results indicate that cotton is not efficiently produced in the second largest cotton producing state in the country. Without government...

This study attempts to summarize information on farm policies being used for seven major crops–corn, cotton, rice, sorghum, soybeans, sugar, and wheat–by a group of 21 countries representing both developing and developed nations. Overall, the study concludes that agriculture has a special...

Early season high winds and late season cool temperatures have worked together to limit the size of the High Plains cotton crop. Over the past 5 years, the High Plains2 has averaged 4.44 million bales produced each year. However, Plains Cotton Growers recently estimated the 2008 crop to be...

This is an update of CERI-SR07-01, our report on international crop policies conducted in February of 2007. Since then, the landscape for agricultural products has undergone changes due to developments related to the use of ethanol and the recent economic recession. Also, in most of the world,...