The question of whether the United States should once again authorize acreage set-asides will be addressed now that Congress has decided to hold hearings about a possible early rewrite of farm policy. Questions about the impact of acreage set-asides on farm income and national policy goals will...

Significant economic changes have occurred in Lithuania since 1992. Major market reforms were introduced through phased liberalization of producer and consumer prices. In this study, panel data from a Lithuanian Household Budget Survey conducted during 1992-94 were used to estimate demand...

A study of equilibrium acreage allocation decisions at the farm and regional levels under risk aversion, yield uncertainty, and endogenous crop prices is undertaken in a two-crop, two-region setting. The main insight is that a partial specialization in one crop at a regional level may be an...

We develop a portfolio choice model for farmers faced with both price and production uncertainty who can hedge this uncertainty using both options and futures contracts. We then simulate the decision process of a typical Iowa farmer and derive his or her optimal options and futures position.

This paper applies maximum likelihood estimation techniques to determine suitable models for dietary intake distributions. Hypothesis test results indicate that while the gamma and Weibull models appear suitable for describing the intake distributions of some dietary components, a more flexible...

This export provides an assessment of the available data sources on wage rates and employment in the food crop sector of Indonesia. Analysis indicated that it is difficult to assess changes in real wages due to significant differences in the inflation rates measured by alternative cost-of-living...

Three measure commonly used to evaluate the consumer welfare implications of a policy change are reviewed. The notion of consumer surplus is dealt with first, followed by an assessment of the concepts of compensating variation and equivalent variation. The relationships among the three concepts...

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...