Land development in the United States is following two routes: expansion of urban areas and large-lot development (greater than 1 acre per house) in rural areas. Urban expansion claimed more than 1 million acres per year between 1960 and 1990, yet is not seen as a threat to most farming,...

ERS recently constructed a new set of regions depicting geographic specialization in production of U.S. farm commodities. ERS will use the new regions to display results of its analyses in a broad array of venues from briefings to publications, our web site, and journal articles. This pamphlet...

While the 1999 drought has had severe financial impacts on agricultural producers in the drought regions, its impact on U.S. agricultural production has been limited. The drought will reduce commodity receipts relative to 1998 by an estimated $1.29 billion. Estimated farm net income losses,...

The Food, Agriculture, Conservation and Trade Act of 1990 included a Wetland Reserve Program (WRP). Eligibility and costs for wetland restoration were estimated using data from several large data bases. Estimated minimum costs increased from $286 million for a 1-million-acre reserve to $3.8...

Nutrients from municipal and agricultural sources are probable causes of a zone of hypoxic waters in the Gulf of Mexico. Costs of control between the two sources vary widely. We examine cost saving that could be obtained by allowing point sources to purchase nitrogen loss reductions from...