Index insurance and probabilistic seasonal forecasts are becoming available in developing countries to help farmers manage climate risks in production. Although these tools are intimately related, work has not been done to formalize the connections between them. We investigate the relationship...

To identify the winners and the losers from the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) in agriculture, it is necessary to know which countries will be required to reduce which subsidies by what amounts. Rules that seem fair may actually impose very different future obligations on the...

A dynamic multicountry, multicommodity model is used to evaluate the impact of a moderate General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) agreement. The terms of this agreement are as follows. 1) Export subsidy quantities (using annual and price wedges) are reduced by 50 percent from the 1986-88...

A team of U.S. analysts visited China to assess the potential for use of distillers dried grain plus solubles (DDGS) in China's livestock sector. They examined the economics of the use of DDGS in feeds, the policy issues surrounding the use of the product, and transportation-logistic constraints...

Countries that export biofuel feedstocks such as grain or sugar and that are also importers of motor fuels will have a natural competitive advantage over other countries in the production of biofuels. Argentina is one of a very few countries that both export potential feedstocks and import...

The effect of sampling error in estimation of farmers' mean yields for crop insurance purposes is explored using farm-level corn yield data in Iowa from 1990 to 2000 and Monte Carlo simulations. We find that sampling error combined with nonlinearities in the insurance indemnity function will...

Participants in the beef supply chain have, at best, imperfect information about some quality attributes of the product (e.g., live animals, carcasses, or cuts) they are buying, handling, and/or processing and selling to their downstream customers. In many cases, the quality of the final...

Worldwide production of biodiesel is growing at a rapid pace. Arguably, the European Union (EU) is the global leader in biodiesel production, but the United States has recently expanded its production. The growth of the biodiesel industry in both regions has been fueled by a series of...

Participants in a supply chain of agricultural value-added products face significant challenges. Many of the costly distinctive traits are difficult (if not impossible) to observe even after consumption. A complicating factor, addressed here, is that in some circumstances delivered quality can...

Participants in a supply chain of agricultural value-added products face significant challenges. Many of the costly distinctive traits desired by consumers are difficult (if not impossible) to observe even after consumption. A complicating factor, addressed here, is that in some circumstances...