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Journal Article
The quiet revolution in the U.S. food market
Journal Article
Agriculture rides out the storm
Harsh weather pummeled U.S. agriculture in 1993, destroying crops and threatening a downturn in the farm economy. But while the rough weather took a large toll from many farmers, others prospered. Overall, the industry ended the year in solid financial condition.> Barkema and Drabenstott explain why agriculture is well-positioned for a better year in 1994. With a return to normal weather, crop production should rebound. Higher crop prices, pushed up by lean crop inventories, may reward farmers for bringing larger crops to market. But higher crop prices will also push up feed costs for ...
Journal Article
The changing U.S. pork industry: a dilemma for public policy
Journal Article
The farm recovery back on track
Journal Article
The farm slump eases
Another big package of government financial aid cushioned the farm slump in 2000 but did little to lift agriculture's spirit. Overall, the industry's major financial indicators stayed remarkably healthy. Farmers delivered more red meat and poultry to supermarkets than ever before, and strong consumer demand in the robust U.S. economy boosted livestock prices and profits. But another big crop swamped still sluggish global markets, and weak crop prices held down farm incomes. In the end, help from Washington propped up the industry's financial indicators for the third consecutive year.> Barkema ...
Journal Article
A new vision for agricultural policy
After six decades of evolution, U.S. agricultural policy may be about to enter a revolution. Ever since farm programs were created in the 1930s, farm policy has generally evolved along predictable lines. To be sure, over the past decade policy has tended to move in a market direction, but the goals and policy instruments remain amazingly akin to those put in place during the Great Depression. Now, federal fiscal discipline may cause the nation to rethink an antiquated farm policy and replace it with a much leaner, more targeted policy to answer the nation's food needs for the next century.> ...
Journal Article
U.S. agriculture: review and prospects
An old maxim holds that too much of a good thing can be bad for your health. That maxim pretty well sums up U.S. agriculture's predicament in 1994. The nation's crop producers produced record harvests and livestock producers sent record amounts of meat to the nation's meat counters. The abundance of food, however, brought the industry back to its traditional problem--record supplies bring low prices. Hence, farm income declined in 1994. Fortunately, most farmers and ranchers had healthy balance sheets to cushion the fall.> Drabenstott and Barkema review the farm economy in 1994 and consider ...
Journal Article
The U.S. farm export boom: how will it be shaped by global infrastructure?
A recent surge in U.S. agricultural exports has triggered a wave of optimism about the industry's prospects in the world food market. At the root of the industry's recent export gains are rapidly growing populations and incomes across Asia and Latin America. Adding fuel to U.S. agriculture's newfound optimism is the recent emergence of China--the world's most populous nation and most rapidly growing economy--as a net importer of food.> The world food market may not live up to current expectations, however, without substantial investment in food processing and distribution infrastructure in ...
Journal Article
The farm economy turns down
Journal Article
Tenth District economic developments
The Tenth District economy posted a healthy gain in 1995, although growth slowed from the vigorous tempo of the year before. The district slowed sharply in the spring, but activity rebounded somewhat later in the year, in a pattern similar to that in the national economy. The district's main economic engines in 1994--construction, manufacturing, trade, and services--downshifted to a more moderate pace of growth in 1995. Activity in the district's energy industry remained sluggish, due to weak prices for crude oil and natural gas; and financial losses in the cattle industry held down the ...