Economic Statistics and U.S. Agricultural Policy

Economic statistics can be used to inform policy as it is being designed, avoid policy design mistakes, or implement government programs once they are established into law. Oftentimes, statistics are used for all three purposes. This paper considers the relationships between statistics and agricultural policy in the case of the United States. We address first the broad historical picture of U.S. official economic statistics concerning agriculture, and then turn to selected examples that relate policies to economic statistics in more detail. The examples show diversity in the interplay between statistics and policy. As policies have become broader in scope, addressing not only farm commodity markets but also differences among farms and a widening set of activities on farms, policymakers have asked for more detailed information about the financial situation of individual farm businesses and households, sources of risk in farm returns, and production practices that affect the environment.Agricultural policy, Data collection and estimation, Economic history of U.S. agriculture, Agricultural and Food Policy, Q18, C8, N52,

The World of Organic Agriculture – Density-equalizing Map

The World Map of Organic Agriculture presents countries as proportional in size to their share of the total of world organic hectares. Such a map can be referred to as an equal-area cartogram or a density-equalising map. Equal-density cartograms are a tool for presenting a fresh view of tabulated geographic data sets. The World Map of Organic Agriculture accounts for all of the hectares of organically managed agricultural land (certified organic and in-conversion organic) reported by FiBL and IFOAM in 'The World of Organic Agriculture - Statistics & Emerging Trends 2013'. The map visually reveals relationships between the territories of the world and highlights the regional strengths and weaknesses of the global diffusion of organic agriculture. The World Map of Organic Agriculture is generated by the Worldmapper GIS algorithm developed at the University of Sheffield as a cartographic visualisation tool

Economic Contribution of the Agricultural Sector to the Arkansas Economy in 2010

This report is the seventh in a series of reports examining agriculture’s economic contribution on the Arkansas economy. Utilizing data from the United States Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), USDA Economic Research Service (ERS), USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), and Minnesota IMPLAN Group, Inc. (MIG), the economic contribution of agriculture on the Arkansas economy was estimated for the most recent year available, 2010. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by State information for Arkansas in 2010 was compared with those of other states in the Southeast U.S. to give a measure of the relative importance of agriculture in Arkansas.2 The total economic contribution of agriculture (direct, indirect, and induced effects) on value added, employment, and labor income was estimated with the Impact Analysis for Planning System (IMPLAN). The economic contributions of agricultural production and processing were estimated for agriculture as a whole and also separately for the Crops Sector, the Animal Agriculture Sector, and the Forestry Sector

Multiple Measures of the Role of Agriculture in Iowa's Economy

Agriculture plays a prominent role in Iowa's economy. There are a variety of standard measures that are commonly used to describe agriculture. Agriculture's contribution to the gross state product (GSP) is one measure, as are the number of jobs in agriculture, the amount and kind of earnings generated in agriculture, and the composition of agricultural sales. These statistics are very useful, but they are not organized to acknowledge the complex industrial inter-relationships and dependencies that exist in the state among agriculture and other industries. To isolate those relationships, we also employ more sophisticated and rigorous methods in this study to characterize Iowa's agricultural economy and the value of its linkages with the Iowa economy.

Economic Contribution of the Agricultural Sector to the Arkansas Economy in 2009

This report is the sixth in a series of reports examining agriculture’s economic contribution on the Arkansas economy. Utilizing data from the United States Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), USDA Economic Research Service (ERS), USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), and Minnesota IMPLAN Group, Inc. (MIG), the economic contribution of agriculture on the Arkansas economy was estimated for the most recent year available, 2009. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by State information for Arkansas in 2009 was compared with those of other states in the southeast U.S. to give a measure of the relative importance of agriculture in Arkansas.2 The total economic contribution of agriculture (direct, indirect, and induced effects) on value added, employment, and labor income was estimated by employing the Impact Analysis for Planning System (IMPLAN). The economic contributions of agricultural production and processing were estimated for agriculture as a whole and also separately for the Crops Sector, the Animal Agriculture Sector, and the Forestry Sector

The World of Organic Agriculture - Statistics and Emerging Trends 2009

The 2009 edition of this annual publication documents recent developments in global organic agriculture. It includes contributions from representatives of the organic sector from throughout the world and provides comprehensive organic farming statistics that cover surface area under organic management, numbers of farms and specific information about commodities and land use in organic systems. The book also contains information on the global market of the burgeoning organic sector, the latest developments in organic certification, standards and regulations, and insights into current status and emerging trends for organic agriculture by continent

Organic Farming in Europe

In this article latest developments in Europe are presented: › Current statistics › Review of the European political and legal framework for organic agriculture › EU regulation on organic farming › Policy support › Action plans › Research › Progress of the OrganicDataNetwork project › Successful policy work of IFOAM EU › Further reading › Website

Organic Agriculture Worldwide - Still on the Rise 2004

Organic agriculture has developed rapidly worldwide during the last few years and is now practised in almost all countries of the world. Its share of agricultural land and farms continues to grow. The sixth edition of an annual study that collects worldwide statistics has just been published

Organic Agriculture in Europe. Statistics 2006

The Powerpoint presentation summarizes the main European results of the global survey on organic farming 2008

From Farmers to Farm Firms - Some Recent Changes in Norwegian Politics and Implications for Agricultural Statistics

This paper was inspired by some changes in the criteria for being entitled to subsidies in Norwegian agriculture, and the changes this induced in agricultural statistics. Although the paper is concerned with Norway only, the Norwegian experiences might be of interest to a broader audience. It illustrates some of the challenges which can occur when statistics is based on register data, and the register owner make changes in the criteria and thus in the information gathered.Agricultural statistics, agricultural units, Norway, organisational forms, register data, Agricultural and Food Policy,