Most of the increase in ethanol production in the 2008-2012 period can be attributed to the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA) and earlier federal energy legislation. The expansion in U.S. biofuel production, particularly ethanol, was the predominant cause of the elevated...

This report summarizes the financial and production records of 23 dairy farms across the Upper Peninsula (UP) of Michigan. To be included, the farms must have produced at least 50 percent of gross cash farm income from milk and dairy animal sales. The records came from Michigan State...

This paper explores whether farm land and non-land assets determine the participation of tomato growers in modern markets in Nicaragua, and how farmers’ duration as supermarket suppliers affects the farm technology they use. The methodology is based on a survival analysis approach. We use data...

This report summarizes the financial and production records of 12 Michigan swine farms. To be included, the farms must have produced at least 50 percent of gross cash farm income from one or a combination of fat hogs, feeder pigs and cull breeding hogs sales. The records came from Michigan State...

As part of an effort to estimate the potential impact of downy mildew to U.S. growers of cucumbers, this report reviews historical trends in production and markets for cucumbers including slicing and pickling cucumbers.

In spite of vast expanses of the country’s land currently being uncultivated, there is increasing evidence that a surprisingly high share of rural smallholder households face land constraints that adversely affect their productivity and ability to participate in agricultural supply chains.

Conservation farming (CF) practices are widely considered to be important components of sustainable agricultural development in Sub-Saharan Africa because of their potential to raise farm productivity and incomes while maintaining or improving soil quality and reducing vulnerability to variable...

Despite Zambia’s sustained and fairly robust agricultural growth since 2000, rural poverty levels have remained at about 80% over the past 15 years. Because over 70% of Zambia’s agricultural households are small-scale farmers cultivating less than two hectares of land, they must effectively...

1) Export diversification has long been at the centre of Zambia’s economic diversification policies. This article focuses on the coffee sector as a potentially important source of export diversification and examines its supply response to changes in various incentives. 2) Zambian coffee...

From 2010 through 2012 harvest seasons, Zambian farmers produced three consecutive maize bumper harvests. The total maize production during this period was 8.6 million metric tonness, of which 4.6 million metric tonnes was a marketable surplus (CSO/MAL various years). This far exceeded the...