Rating the Financial Health of U.S. Production Agriculture using Synthetic Credit Rating

Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Production Economics,

Agri-Environmental Policy at the Crossroads: Guideposts on a Changing Landscape

Agri-environmental policy is at a crossroads. Over the past 20 years, a wide range of policies addressing the environmental implications of agricultural production have been implemented at the Federal level. Those policies have played an important role in reducing soil erosion, protecting and restoring wetlands, and creating wildlife habitat. However, emerging agri-environmental issues, evolution of farm income support policies, and limits imposed by trade agreements may point toward a rethinking of agri-environmental policy. This report identifies the types of policy tools available and the design features that have improved the effectiveness of current programs. It provides an indepth analysis of one policy tool that may be an important component of a future policy package-agri-environmental payments. The analysis focuses on issues and tradeoffs that policymakers would face in designing a program of agri-environmental payments.conservation programs, environmental policy, agricultural policy, policy instruments, agricultural program design, soil erosion, nitrogen runoff, Environmental Economics and Policy,

The net value added approach as a tool for integration at the micro level

There are major changes in the structure of farms and farm households, the levels of enumeration in agricultural statistics, and in the linkages between these levels. To record and enhance understanding of these developments this paper proposes use of a net value added (NVA) approach at the micro level to reflect the participation of a wide variety of stakeholders in the organization and output of farms. NVA is widely used and internationally standardized. NVA concepts can be applied at the micro level to show to which stakeholders the income of the farm is distributed. We show in the paper that stakeholder involvement and distribution of NVA differs among countries, based on economic opportunities and institutions. Being aware of such differences is relevant in the international policy context because many policies involve distributional impacts, particularly for income and wealth. Based on results, we present an agenda for future work to promote the international integration of micro economic statistics in agricultur

A REGIONAL COMPARISON OF FARM COSTS AND RETURNS AMONG TOP DAIRY PRODUCERS

The purpose of this paper is to compare costs and returns of the top dairy producers in the Upper Midwest to those in other major dairy regions of the U.S. The analysis is based on the 1989 Farm Costs and Returns Survey conducted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The top dairy farmers are defined in several ways, including: (1) highest returns to capital and management, (2) lowest total cash costs, and (3) highest milk marketings per cow

A REGIONAL COMPARISON OF FARM COSTS AND RETURNS AMONG TOP DAIRY PRODUCERS

The purpose of this paper is to compare costs and returns of the top dairy producers in the Upper Midwest to those in other major dairy regions of the U.S. The analysis is based on the 1989 Farm Costs and Returns Survey conducted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The top dairy farmers are defined in several ways, including: (1) highest returns to capital and management, (2) lowest total cash costs, and (3) highest milk marketings per cow.

Wood of the Gods: The Ritual Use of Pine (Pinus spp.) by the Ancient Lowland Maya

The recovery of pine (Pinus spp.) charcoal remains from ceremonial contexts at sites in the Maya Lowlands suggests that pine had a significant role in ancient Maya ritual activities. Data collected by the authors reveal that pine remains are a regular component of archaeobotanical assemblages from caves, sites that were used almost exclusively for ritual purposes, and that pine is often the dominant taxon of wood charcoal recovered. Comparisons with archaeobotanical data from surface sites likewise reveals that pine is common in ceremonial deposits. The authors propose that the appearance of pine remains in ceremonial contexts indicates pine was a valued element of Maya ritual paraphernalia. By basing interpretations with analogous information from ethnography, ethnohistory, iconography, and epigraphy, the use of pine during rituals is argued to be have been linked with a symbolic complex of ritual burning and offering “food” sacrifices to deities. The possibility is raised that burning pine, perhaps as torches, during some ancient rituals was similar to the modern use of candles. The diversity of ceremonial contexts yielding pine suggests that burning pine may have been a basic element of ritual activities that was essential to establish the legitimacy of ritual performances

Information Exchange and Distributional Implications of Price Discrimination with Internet Marketing in Agriculture

A price discrimination model is proposed to explain why firms provide extraneous information on Internet sites selling agricultural inputs. Whether an informative site is offered depends on price discrimination potential, which depends on how much farmers reveal heterogeneity by Internet behavior. Price discrimination is greater if information benefits are negatively correlated with farm size (or other characteristics), explaining why extraneous (not product-related) information is offered on Internet sales sites. Price discrimination adversely affects some farmers but may be beneficial on average because it generates free information. Outcomes depend on whether Internet users are aware of price differentials on the basis of clickstream information. Copyright 2006, Oxford University Press.

Using the red‐imported fire ant to study invasive species removal and reinvasion

Abstract Invasive species are a major driver of native species declines, frequently resulting in a reduction of ecosystem function. Though control of invasive species is often beneficial, it can create other ecological issues. However, studying the results can give insight into the benefits of removal and most effective management techniques. A model invasive species to test the effects of removal is the red‐imported fire ant (Solenopsis invicta, hereafter RIFA), which depredates and competes with native species. We hypothesized that following removal, RIFA would recolonize treated areas from untreated borders, resulting in reinvasion and higher densities due to elimination of competition from native species that would also be extirpated by treatments. To test our hypothesis, we compared RIFA relative abundance on large sites (>400 ha) treated with a granular insecticide (Extinguish Plus, Central Life Sciences, Schaumburg, IL) in southwest Georgia, USA. Extinguish Plus effectively removed RIFA, but the treated sites were reinvaded approximately 14 months after treatment with higher densities of RIFA than on untreated areas, potentially reflecting release from competition from native ants removed by treatments. Invasive species removal may elicit a rapid recolonization via a density‐dependent response mechanism and potentially increase abundance of the target species. Management strategies integrating temporal and spatial replication of control measures and multiple management techniques will be most successful in controlling invasive species