Rice is a major cash crop in eastern Arkansas, but most rice acres are intensively cultivated and grown on rented land. No-till is an effective means of sequestering soil carbon and reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and economic incentives exist for no-till in the form of carbon credits....

The successful expansion of the U.S. crop insurance program has not eliminated ad hoc disaster assistance. An alternative currently being explored by members of Congress and others in preparation of the 2007 farm bill is to simply remove the "ad hoc" part of disaster assistance programs by...

Vaccines against several common foodborne pathogens are being developed and could substantially alter the policy tools available to address foodborne illness. However, little analysis is available to suggest how social welfare would be affected by these new vaccines. To address this void, we use...

Rankings of different risk management portfolios including Average Crop Revenue Election (ACRE), traditional government payment programs, crop insurance and hedging in futures; and optimal choices of insurance coverage levels and hedge ratios are evaluated for a representative central Indiana...

The objective of this paper is to set a complete ex-ante evaluation to support Decision Makers in designingmore efficient and effective agri-environmental contracts, through an integrated modelling of elements ofprivate and public decision making. Ex-ante comparison of policy design options in...

The U.S. Geological Survey has determined that irrigation in Arkansas’ Delta is unsustainable. This study examines how irrigation restrictions would affect county net returns to cropproduction. It also considers the effect of planting less water-intensive bioenergycrops—switchgrass and...

Legislation has prompted changes in milk price volatility. Milk price volatility impacts the producer's exposure to business risk which is compound by the firms financial risk. Financial risk is a function of the firms capital structure. In the short run it is difficult for the producer to...

This paper develops an analytical model able to represent the decisions of an individual risk averse farmer facing variability in both prices and yields. A comprehensive set of stylised risk reducing policy measures is represented. A calibration of the model is used to run Monte-Carlo...

The Dungeness is a popular food and the most commercially important crab in the western states in the U.S. Like all agricultural production, the crab fisherman face yield risks and must manage these risks. In addition to weather risk, crab fisherman may experience low yields if the crabs are...

Major externality cases are random accidents which are not adequately addressed by the deterministic environmental policy literature -­‐ that of Pigouvian taxes, abatement subsidies and cap-­‐and-­‐trade. We consider a risk-­‐neutral industry where firms control the probability...