This study investigates the potential impacts of food safety outbreaks on domestic shipments, imports, and prices of the produce industry. Three case studies were analyzed to assess these potential impacts: the cantaloupe outbreak of March–April 2008, the spinach outbreak of September...

Personal digital assistants (PDA) and handheld global positioning systems (GPS) have become increasingly important in cotton production but little is known about their use. This research analyzed the adoption of PDA/handheld GPS devices in cotton production. A younger farmer who used a computer...

Although Canada has developed an effective animal identification system, and the provinces are progressing toward a system that has full traceback capabilities, the U.S. and Mexico have made little or no progress. Contemporary U.S. proposals for state initiatives will not work. In the meantime,...

Farmers are interested in knowing whether applying inputs at variable rates across a field is economically viable. The answer depends on the crop, the input, their prices, the cost of variable rate technology (VRT) versus uninform rate technology (URT), and the spatial and yield response...

Conversion of poultry litter to energy can serve as a renewable energy source and provide an alternative to land application in areas where poultry production is intensive. Economies of size may limit a farmer’s ability to economically use on-farm conversion. Capital costs can be spread...

If adoption of herbicide-resistant seed and adoption of conservation-tillage practices are determined simultaneously, adoption of herbicide-resistance seed could indirectly reduce soil erosion and adoption of conservation-tillage practices could indirectly reduce residual herbicide use and...

This paper investigates the farm-level impacts of the 1996 farm bill on the South. Focus group perceptions of risk sources, observed acreage changes, and the farm-level impact of increased price risk are evaluated. Focus group respondents ranked price and yield as the two most important sources...