We use a logit adoption model with data on 941 U.S. corn producers from the 1996 Agricultural Resource Management Study to analyze the influence of land tenure on the adoption of conservation practices. We extend previous analyses by distinguishing renters according to lease type and by...

Risk management programs, such as subsidized crop insurance, affect production decisions at both the intensive (input use) and extensive(land use) margins. The production decisions in turn affect the environment. This paper reviews and synthesizes the literature linking risk management policies...

Foodborne pathogens cause millions of human illnesses annually, many resulting in death or chronic illnesses. Universal methods to evaluate microbial risks and their associated costs have yet to be developed. Typically, risk analysis and economic analysis have been carried out independently. In...

This paper develops a method to examine data on fresh produce imports from Latin America and the Caribbean into the United States from 1993-1999 to determine: 1) if there are significant differences in frequency of interceptions for a specific product for the region or a specific country within...

A modeling framework addresses manure management policies within the Chesapeake Bay watershed. Policy focus is on manure-land application at agronomic rates, as proposed under the EPA/USDA Unified Strategy. Manure-nutrient flows are assessed subject to assimilative capacity of farmland. National...

Efforts to encourage Americans to improve their diets and to eat more nutritious foods presume a wide variety of these foods are accessible to everyone. But for some Americans and in some communities, access to healthy foods may be limited. Policies to improve access to healthful foods have been...

A Chesapeake Bay Watershed manure management model estimates the minimal regional cost of land applying manure at $110 to $130 million, depending on crop producer's willingness to accept manure and the nutrient standard enforced. Annualized capital costs of existing industrial plants indicate...

Given recent concerns expressed about the structural transformation of agriculture and the health of the family farm this study provides a measure of the economic health of small and large farms at the state level. We use nonparametric frontier methods to measure and explain changes in the...

We report results from preliminary analysis of the recently constructed dataset from the Farm Service Agency, FSA 1614. FSA 1614 provides the location of the farm and the farm payment recipient for all Title I payments. This makes it possible to analyze the spatial dispersion between landowner...

USDA's Economic Research Service estimates that about 33 percent of the developing world's people suffer from insufficient food intake. Growth in agricultural productivity is critical to improvements in food security. We will examine the impact of changes in acreage and fertilizer response on...