RESEARCH IN AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS--IS ANYONE LISTENING? DISCUSSION

Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies,

FARM PROGRAMS, PESTICIDE USE, AND SOCIAL COSTS

Environmental Economics and Policy,

IMPACTS OF ALTERNATIVE FARM POLICIES ON RURAL COMMUNITIES

The purpose of this study was to describe an LP/IO model for evaluating the economic impacts of alternative farm policies on rural communities and demonstrate its capabilities by analyzing the impacts of three farm policies on a rural community in Texas. Results indicate that in the noncrop sector, two groups of industries are most affected by farm policy. The first group relates to production directly (agricultural services, banking and credit, and nondurable manufacturing) and the second group relates to households (retail trade and services). Farm policies which reduce production but increase net returns cause losses for the first group while benefitting the second group. Both groups are made worse off by farm policies which reduce agricultural production and the value of output.Agricultural and Food Policy, Community/Rural/Urban Development,

Financial Conditions on U.S. Cotton Farms

For the last three years, U.S. cotton producers have been heavily dependent on ad hoc emergency disaster and market loss assistance to cash flow their operations. They have not been alone. Wheat, feed grains, oilseeds and rice producers have also been faced with low commodity prices, adverse weather and the need for substantial government assistance. Price support and direct payments by CCC for fiscal years 1998-2000 averaged $17.5 billion per year (USDA Ag Outlook). Has U.S. program crop agriculture turned the corner or will additional government payments likely be needed to sustain a vulnerable sector? This paper will focus on the outlook for the Agricultural and Food Policy Center’s (AFPC’s) representative cotton farms over the period 2001-2005. The results reported herein are drawn from AFPC Working Paper 00-4 which goes into greater depth on all 82 representative farms and ranches modeled by AFPC.Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Crop Production/Industries,

THE 2002 FARM BILL: WHAT DOES IT MEAN FOR WESTERN AGRICULTURE?

Agricultural and Food Policy,

ANALYZING PEST CONTROL STRATEGIES FOR COTTON WITH AN ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT MATRIX

Environmental Economics and Policy,

Implications of Budget Reconciliation for Commodity Programs

Agricultural and Food Policy,

USE OF PROBABILISTIC CASH FLOWS IN ANALYZING INVESTMENTS UNDER CONDITIONS OF RISK AND UNCERTAINTY

Risk and Uncertainty,

Progress Report to the TNRC for Analysis of the Economics of Atrazine Remediation for Representative Grain Farms in the Aquilla Watershed, Hill County, Texas: Subtasks 4.0-4.4

Four alternative BMPs for atrazine remediation were reported by Harmon and Wang for the study area. The BMPs involved alternative incorporation practices, tillage operations, and sediment ponds. Harmon and Wang reported no statistical difference in corn yields under the alternative BMPs. An economic analysis of four alternative best management practices (BMPs) for atrazine remediation in Hill County, Texas, was performed by the Agricultural and Food Policy Center (AFPC) at Texas A&M University. Using the farm-level economic simulation model FLIPSIM, AFPC scientists analyzed the financial effects of the alternative BMPs on the Texas Blackland Prairie representative farm. This farm consists of 2,000 dryland acres, divided among corn (600 acres), sorghum (750 acres), wheat (250 acres), and native pasture (150 acres). This farm also maintains a small beef cowherd. Regularly updated, the AFPC maintains more than 80 farms across the nation that form the basis for probabilistic-based agricultural policy evaluation.Agricultural and Food Policy, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Financial Impacts of Regional Differences in Beef Cattle Operations

The sensitivity of net cash farm income to changes in selected production variables, output prices, and input costs varies significantly across representative U.S. beef cattle operations. Larger changes in profitability result from changes in productivity and output prices than from changes in input costs.Livestock Production/Industries,