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...

The increase in energy prices between 2004 and 2007 has several potential consequences for aggregate agriculture in the U.S. We estimate the derived input demand elasticities for energy as well as capital, labor, and materials using the differential supply formulation. Given that the derived...

This article analyzes the impact of removing the U.S. tobacco program in both a partial and general welfare economics framework. In a partial-equilibrium framework, a consumer taxfunded quota buyout can result in producer gains, consumer losses, net losses resulting from higher prices, and...

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...

Policy analysis is complicated by the myriad of benefits and costs generated by the use of natural resources. This study develops three benefits that must be considered in the granting of a consumptive use permit for water filed by Adena Springs Ranch, east of Ocala, Florida. This ranch is...

The impact of the U.S. cotton policy depends on several interrelated factors; how input subsidies interact with producer price supports, producer price expectations, and the extent to which price supports are decoupled from production. Cotton subsidies have a direct impact on world cotton...

This paper considers how the welfare of U.S. sugar producers can be affected by the use of production controls in the presence of rising sugar imports and falling sugar prices, taking into account the negative externalities associated with U.S. sugar production. Even if production controls are...