Small U.S. farms and those run by socially disadvantaged minority operators tend not to purchase insurance or to participate in insurance-type programs operated by USDA. This report traces the lack of use of such risk management measures to several characteristics of such farmers, who include...

For U.S. agriculture to continue along a sustainable path of economic development, further production increases must be generated by technologies that are both profitable and more environmentally benign. In this context, we assess the role of these green or sustainable technologies in steering...

Low skill levels among rural workers put rural manufacturing at a competitive disadvantage, according to the "skills shortage" theory. Data from the ERS Rural Manufacturing Survey, conducted in 1996, suggest that is not happening. Skill requirements are rising, but manufacturers who reported...

Over 60 percent of rural manufacturing establishments benefited from government business assistance programs (State and local tax breaks, training and technical assistance, loans, and industrial parks/enterprise zones), and 28 percent found these programs to be very important to their operations...

Nutritionists recommend a variety of vegetables, including regular servings of deep-yellow and dark-green vegetables prepared with limited amounts of fats and sugars. In contrast, the most popular vegetable choice of most Americans is fried potatoes.

We use data from the USDA's 1994-96 Continuing Survey of Food Intakes by Individuals and the 1994-96 Diet and Health Knowledge Survey to ascertain whether economic factors help explain weight differences among adults. Weight differs among demographic subgroups, and differences in specific...

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 Nutrition and Health Characteristics of Low-Income Populations study examined several eating behaviors for children and adults using 1988-94 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES-III) data. The measures provide a baseline to monitor eating behaviors of Americans, focusing...