Worldwide, a segment of consumers can afford to pay substantial price premiums for very high quality agricultural products with attributes those consumers value. At the same time, many U.S. farmers are producing these high-quality products but are not using market mechanisms that allow them to...

New Zealand has used country-of-origin labeling (COOL) as a "country brand" to differentiate New Zealand lamb in international markets and increase consumer awareness of this lamb as a high-quality imported product. The case of New Zealand lamb is especially interesting as an unsubsidized...

The projected expansion in U.S. corn-based ethanol production over the next several years has created concern that large surpluses of distillers grains may result. Most of the distillers grains currently being produced are consumed by the domestic livestock and poultry industries, especially the...

As worldwide consumer demand for high-quality products and for information about these products increases, labels and geographical indications (GIs) can serve to signal quality traits to consumers. However, GI systems among countries are not homogeneous and can be used as trade barriers against...

The stringent guidelines for producing, harvesting, and shipping certified non-hormone treated beef for the European Union create additional costs that greatly reduce the competitiveness of U.S. beef. What had once been a large market for beef variety meats and then a niche market for...

Since 1992, the European Union has protected high-quality agricultural products based on geographical origin using designations of geographical indications (GIs). U.S. producers and processors can obtain a type of trademark called a certification mark, which provides similar protections to that...

Trade in livestock and livestock products between the U.S. and Canada has become controversial in recent years. This paper focuses of some of the factors that have given rise to this change in trade patterns between the two countries. Hayes and Clemens describe meat and live animal trade in both...

It has become obvious to many observers that China will need to import feed grains or livestock products to achieve consumer diets similar to those of the developed world. The first part of this report discusses the supply and demand situation for the Chinese pork market through 2007. The second...

Projections of U.S. ethanol production and its impacts on planted acreage, crop prices, livestock production and prices, trade, and retail food costs are presented under the assumption that current tax credits and trade policies are maintained. The projections were made using a multi-product,...

The ongoing growth of corn-based ethanol production raises some fundamental questions about what impact continued growth will have on U.S. and world agriculture. Estimates of the long-run potential for ethanol production can be made by calculating the corn price at which the incentive to expand...