High food prices in 2008 and 2010 generated concern about food security in developing countries. The number of food insecure people was estimated to have jumped significantly and food assistance donors were faced with unexpectedly high procurement bills. This paper discusses how high food prices...

The paper examines empirical returns from holding thirty- and ninety-day call and put positions, and the forecasting performance of implied volatility in the live and feeder cattle options markets. In both markets, implied volatility is an upwardly biased and inefficient predictor of realized...

The goal of this report is to provide the Illinois Livestock industry with an economic snapshot of the current state of the industry. The State’s livestock and meat and dairy processing sectors significantly contribute to the state’s economy in three important ways: 1) significant economic...