The Federal Grain Inspection Service changed U.S. grain standards in 1988. Insect discounts given at country elevators and at terminal elevators were analyzed to determine impacts of the new standards. Insect discounts influence grain quality by affecting insect control decisions by producers...

This study compares the effectiveness of five crop insurance/disaster assistance plans: an individual farm yield insurance plan similar to the current FCIC multi-peril program ; two area yield insurance plans; a farm yield disaster assistance plan; and an area yield disaster assistance plan....

A wheat acreage response function was estimated for Kansas using the Generalized Method of Moments (GMM). The results show that wheat and soybean futures prices and lagged acreage are important factors in the decision to plant wheat acreage, whereas grain sorghum and corn prices are not.

Cattle feeders appear irrational when they place cattle on feed when projected profits are negative. Long futures positions appear to offer superior returns to cattle feeding investment. Cattle feeder behavior suggests that they believe a downward bias in live cattle futures persists and that...

This analysis compares net returns of conventional and alternative agricultural cropping systems in northeast Kansas, with and without government commodity programs. The highest net return is consistently from the alternative system, wheat/clover-sorghum-soybeans. Sensitivity analysis reveals...

Nitrogen (N) fertilizer demand in relation to economic and environmental risks associated with N-fertilizer management are examined. Both nominal and environmental damage-adjusted net returns distributions are evaluated using stochastic dominance analysis. Results suggest that, in the absence of...