The number of operating wineries in the United States has doubled during thepast decade. Most of this growth has been due to a large number of entrepreneuriallandowners developing their own small acreage vineyards and trying tobranch into winemaking. However, wineries are capital-intensive...

This study examines the rapidly expanding biofuels industry and identifies challenges for producer-owned biofuel projects. The U.S. ethanol industry has been growing rapidly, and biodiesel production is poised for similar growth. Producer involvement is driven by the desire to add value to farm...

While agricultural economics literature has become rife with the economics of ethanolproduction and cellulosic ethanol feedstock production, little has been written about capitalinvestment necessary for the magnitude of industry development mandated by the EnergySecurity and Independence Act of...

Texas is the leading U.S. producer of cotton, and the U.S. is the largest internationalmarket supplier of cotton. Risks and uncertainties plague Texas cotton producers withunpredictable weather, insects, diseases, and price variability. Risk management studieshave examined the risk reducing...

Conventional water treatment facilities are the norm for producing potable water forU.S. metropolitan areas. Rapidly-growing urban populations, competing demands forwater, imperfect water markets, and uncertainty of future water supplies contribute tohigh interests in alternative sources of...

This paper examines the optimal allocation of several inputs in the context of seawater desalination by reverse osmosis (RO) as a source of municipal (or commercial or industrial) water. A cost-minimization model is developed, a production function is estimated, and sensitivity analyses are...

The economic feasibility of investing in sprinkler irrigation technology for rice production is investigated using linear programming and capital budgeting to identify the net annual benefits and net present value, respectively. Groundwater and both flat rate and volumetrically priced surface...