Testing soils for nutrients is expected to improve groundwater quality. However, it is unknown whether soil testing will improve groundwater quality sufficiently to decrease the demand for direct regulation of agricultural practices. Focusing on an irrigated agricultural region in eastern...

What to do about livestock odor and manure nutrients is one of the most contentious policy issues facing agriculture today. The impact of policies designed to address these issues depends, in part, on the on-farm cost of alternative manure handling facilities. This investigation considers the...

Will nitrogen soil testing improve groundwater quality enough to decrease the demand for direct regulation? This question is addressed using a dynamic simulation model of irrigated agriculture in eastern Oregon. Results indicate that soil testing reduces applied nitrogen, increases farm profits...

The Federal Grain Inspection Service changed U.S. grain standards in 1988. Insect discounts given at country elevators and at terminal elevators were analyzed to determine impacts of the new standards. Insect discounts influence grain quality by affecting insect control decisions by producers...

This paper discusses the three invited papers presented in the session titled “New Regulations Require New Solutions: Federal Provisions Governing Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations†(i.e., CAFOs). These papers provide an excellent review of current state and federal laws and an...

Student evaluation of teaching (SET) is employed as an aid in improving instruction and determining faculty teaching effectiveness. However, economic theory indicates the existence of externalities in SET scores that directly influence their interpretation. As a test of this existence, a...

Over $1.7 billion has been spent on the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) since 1985. The purpose of this study is to show that these expenditures have aided the environment. Rather than quantify changes in environmental variables, a spatial econometric model is used to test if CRP enrollments...

Determining what to pay for cash rental rates is a big problem for most farmers. Typically, crop budgets are used for this decision. However, problems arise from this approach because the average revenue contained in the budget is often not the true marginal revenue. Farm size differences...