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Journal Article
Will the wild ride for U.S. agriculture continue in 1997?
U.S. agriculture formally entered a new era in April 1996 when a new seven-year farm bill was signed into law overturning 60 years of commodity programs. The new bill set agriculture on a new course where markets, not government programs, will determine agriculture's products and its bottom line. The new path was underscored by one of the wildest years in commodity markets in recent memory. Grain prices soared to new heights, while cattle prices sank to new lows. The market swings pointed to the variations in income that agriculture may experience under the new farm bill. Nevertheless, a new ...
Journal Article
The farm recovery back on track
Journal Article
U.S. agriculture shrugs off the drought
Bolstered by strong crop prices and some continued federal assistance in 1988, U.S. agriculture effectively shrugged off the worst drought since the 1930s. The farm outlook for 1989 remains bright. Overall, U.S. agriculture should enjoy a third straight year of broad-based recovery.
Journal Article
Exploring policy options for a new rural America : a conference summary
The United States needs a new rural policy. That was the conclusion of ten policy experts and 250 rural leaders from throughout the nation who met in Kansas City for the Center for the Study of Rural America?s second annual conference on rural policy matters, Exploring Policy Options for a New Rural America. The conference examined a menu of promising policy options and also considered ways to combine these options into a more coherent overall approach to the challenges facing rural communities.> Drabenstott and Sheaff highlight the issues raised at the conference. Participants agreed that ...
Journal Article
Farm credit problems: the policy choices
Journal Article
This little piggy went to market : will the new pork industry call the Heartland home?
Throughout the 1990s, the pork industry has been at the forefront of a revolution in the structure of the U.S. food and agricultural sector. In particular, the pork industry has been rapidly moving away from its traditional structure built on hundreds of thousands of small farms selling hogs at local terminal markets to a much more concentrated "supply chain" model. Contracting is one prominent feature of supply chains, and the share of pork production grown under contract or vertical integration has jumped from a few percent in the early 1980s to around a third today. Most analysts agree ...
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Katrina and Rita : lingering effects on agriculture
Journal Article
Consolidation in U.S agriculture : the new rural landscape and public policy
The year just past was one of turbulent markets and unmet expectations for most of U.S. agriculture. Public and private attention focused mainly on the steep drop in farm commodity prices, and when the soggy markets might show signs of recovery. Yet while they captured most of the headlines, weak prices were also contributing to subtle, and some not so subtle, changes in U.S. agriculture. Taken together, these changes amounted to a new wave of consolidation that spread throughout the industry. Consolidation is certainly not new in agriculture---it has been underway for most of the 20th ...
Journal Article
Another troubled year for U. S. agriculture