In a recent study, Pope, Bhide, and Heady [10] found that conservation tillage, when combined with contour farming, was the most economical means of reducing erosion on most Iowa soils. They continued by indicating that on some of the more erosive soils, less intensive crop rotations, strip...

National water production functions reflecting regional weather conditions for corn, cotton, sugar beets, and wheat are derived. A least squares regression technique is used with the actual yield as the dependent variable. The independent variable is a composite of four components. These...

Water has become a major input into agriculture production in the United States. Irrigation in the Western United States has been important in crop production and will continue to be important. Irrigation is also becoming more important in areas of the southeast. The use and conservation of...

For the period of analysis, 1982 through 1987, the impacts on agriculture that result from increasing natural gas prices are examined. Two types of models are used in the analysis -- econometric and linear programming. These models are linked together so that a short-run multi-period analysis...

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Burton C. English. I am a staff economist with the Center for Agricultural Development located in Ames, Iowa. My area of expertise is in agricultural economics and policy with a special emphasis in soil conservation. I wish to thank you for inviting...

Many people have tried to analyze what the future holds for continued increases in crop yields. After studying time series of average U.S. yields for 19 crops, Lin and Seaver [6] concluded that 12 crops including corn, cotton, and wheat have reached yield plateau, and the seven remaining crops...

The purpose of this paper is to elaborate on the basic assumptions that have been made or need to be made before the solutions for the 1985 RCA, At the last Project Advisory Committee (PAC) meeting a paper put together by USDA's Basic Assumption Work Group (BAWG) was presented (APPENDIX A). This...

There is a growing tendency in the United States for decentralized public policymaking concerning agricultural production and resource use. Regional differences in climate, soil characteristics, water resource development, and input factor costs present each region with a unique situation....