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Many countries of the world have implemented subsidy programs to maintain a minimum amount of farm production especially for rice. Agricultural support programs usually cause significant fiscal burdens on government budgets. These programs can be generally categorized into decoupled and coupled programs, and one longstanding research interest of previous literature is whether these programs are decoupled or coupled with farm production practices. In Taiwan, a unique land direct payment (LDP) program to rice farms was implemented to ease severe financial burden of the price support program with government purchase. In contrast to production control programs imposing quantity restrictions on farm production, this program is voluntary for rice farms, and participants are paid at a fixed rate per hectare of farmland. This paper examines the impacts of this program on farm income and farm production practices in Taiwan. The causal effect of the program is identified based on the exogenous rollout of the policy across multiple times and areas. We construct a dataset linking nationally representative rice farm surveys over several years and administrative records on program recipients to estimate the local average treatment effect of the program. We find that the effect is 4% of farm income. In addition, program participants rely less on price support programs and produce less rice and use less fertilizer, pesticide, and machinery. Although the LDP reduces rice production, we find that it causes overall government spending on the price support and direct payment programs to increase by 8.7% after the LDP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Agricultural baselines facilitate policy and investment decisions by governments and market participants by providing long‐term projections about the farm sector. Despite their importance in shaping agricultural policy, the agricultural baselines have not been rigorously evaluated. This study evaluates the accuracy and informativeness of two widely used baselines for the US farm sector published by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute (FAPRI) in three steps. First, we examine the average percent errors of the projections and perform tests of bias. Second, we use a testing framework based on the encompassing principle to test the predictive content of the projections for each horizon, determining the longest informative projection horizon. Third, we compare the USDA and FAPRI baseline projections using a multi‐horizon framework that considers all projection horizons jointly. We find that prediction error and bias increase with the horizon's length. The predictive content of the baselines projections for most variables diminishes after 4–5 years. The multi‐horizon comparison suggests that neither USDA nor FAPRI projections have uniform or average superior predictive ability over the other for most variables. Our findings are useful for the agencies producing these baselines and for the policymakers, agricultural businesses, and other stakeholders who use them. The study contributes to the recent literature on long‐term agricultural projections and establishes the groundwork for future research inquiries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How does agricultural insurance affect the modernization of farming in low income countries? We focus on institutional contexts without formal contract enforcement, where smallholders cannot access modern inputs via markets. Instead, farmers can engage in relational contracting with traders to sell their crop and gain access to inputs (as an advance in‐kind payment). Although conventional theory assumes that insurance "crowds in" modern inputs by attenuating investment risk, we demonstrate that insurance reduces the number of farmers receiving modern inputs from traders. Insurance also reduces the quantity of inputs that traders provide to farmers who remain in a relationship. Insurance may impede the uptake of modern inputs when institutions are imperfect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As groundwater levels steadily decline in India, authorities are concerned about reducing extraction for irrigation purposes without jeopardizing food security. Very low or zero prices for electricity and water in agriculture is partly responsible for overextraction, but charging higher prices is politically not feasible. In this study, we describe the results of a pilot scheme implemented in Punjab, India, where farmers who enrolled were allocated a monthly entitlement of electricity units and compensated for unused electricity. Eight hours of uninterrupted daytime electricity supply were also provided under the scheme instead of the usual mix of daytime and night‐time supply. Analyzing data from a cross‐sectional farm household survey and instrumenting for enrollment, we find that self‐reported hours of irrigation for enrolled farmers were significantly lower than for non‐enrolled ones, with no impact on rice yields. We also find a reduction in monthly electricity consumption at electricity‐feeder level due to the pilot scheme using the synthetic control method. Our results suggest that the combination of daytime electricity provision and cash incentives for unused electricity has the potential to incentivize farmers to reduce electricity consumption and irrigation hours by at least 7.5% and up to 30% without impacting paddy yields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the impact of the 2008 Legal Arizona Workers Act on farm wage, production mix, farm capital use, and agricultural innovation using the synthetic control method. The findings indicate that the law significantly reduced farm worker population in Arizona. Farm wage is not affected by the decreased supply of farm labor because farms in Arizona reduced labor‐intensive crop production. The agricultural sector does not increase the use of farm capital and experiences a decrease in profits. Moreover, this study finds no impact on agricultural patents and research funding in Arizona. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2009, the Thai government implemented a price insurance scheme for rice, cassava, and maize farmers. The program, which was abandoned after only two years, added to the incomes of registered farmers a non‐negative but stochastic amount that was decoupled from farmers' agricultural activities. We apply a simple machine learning algorithm based on rich panel data to control for self‐selection into the program and study its impact on small‐scale rice farmers in relatively poor Northeastern Thailand. Program participation increases rice production but also leads to shifts in investment behavior and the composition of income generating activities away from agriculture, which may be beneficial for rural development. Moreover, farmers who are initially less poor experience a substantial increase in overall income. Decreasing risk‐aversion and relieved credit constraints may be possible channels for these effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Peruvian agriculture will likely experience serious economic impacts of climate change, with changing rainfall and temperature patterns forcing farmers to confront abnormal climate conditions. In this context we study the impact of climate shocks on the agricultural practices of farmers who grow two main staples: maize and potato. We focus on four types of agricultural techniques: (a) those that reduce soil degradation, (b) those that conserve water, (c) the application of inorganic fertilizer, and (d) the application of pesticides and herbicides. We combine three rounds of cross‐sectional data from the Peru National Agricultural Survey with long‐term climate data to construct georeferenced shocks of abnormal rainfall levels and variation. Our empirical strategy controls for time‐invariant characteristics of small localities, secular time trends, and farmer and farm characteristics to estimate how shocks affect farmers' choices in subsequent growing cycles. Our findings show that: (a) farmers reduce soil conservation practices after one year of high rainfall, but multiple years of low rainfall increase adoption significantly; (b) the rate of pesticide use increases by eight percentage points following a drought year but is insensitive to multiple shock years; (c) water conservation measures are used less after high precipitation or when volatility was unusually low, and multiple years of insufficient rain tend to enhance this response; and (d) fertilizer use is less sensitive than other outcomes to weather fluctuations. These findings suggest that understanding how responsive farmers' practices are to weather shocks can inform policy design and help mitigate risks from changing weather patterns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Both environmental protection and poverty alleviation are high on the international policy agenda for developing countries. We examine whether conditional environmental cash transfer programs contribute to the social protection of the beneficiaries, using data from a randomized controlled trial on reforestation, implemented in cooperation with the government of Burkina Faso. Randomly selected farmers were invited to undertake maintenance activities to increase the survival rate of trees that were planted on degraded forest lands. Compensation, in the form of monetary payments, varied with the number of trees still alive nine months after the tree planting. The timing of the conditional payments coincided with the lean season, when most farmers needed cash for food consumption and agricultural inputs. Six months after the transfers, the recipient households reported 12% higher food consumption expenditures compared to the control group, as well as a 35 and 60% reduction in, respectively, moderate and severe food insecurity. Our data indicate that the transfers received during the lean season were not only used to address immediate consumption needs but also to invest in crop and livestock production. The investments resulted in subsequent increases in agricultural outputs and income. We thus conclude that conditional environmental cash transfers, when paid in the lean season, can not only support consumption smoothing in the short run but can also improve livelihoods in the longer run. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is considerable anecdotal evidence that farm workers who are paid by piece rate tend to "income target," or work only until they achieve a certain amount of daily income, and then stop work. We estimate reduced‐form and structural models derived from the reference‐dependent preference model of Koszegi and Rabin (2006) to test the income‐targeting hypothesis using data from the National Agricultural Workers Survey (NAWS). We find evidence that supports the income‐targeting hypothesis, in both the reduced‐form and structural econometric models. Our findings suggest that even higher piece rates may not help the widely reported shortage of agricultural labor on the intensive margin as labor‐supply curves can be backward bending. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

More than half of the 815 million undernourished people in the world live in countries struggling with conflict, violence and fragility. Conflict can impact food security conditions by destroying agricultural production, distribution and markets, hindering economic growth and increasing unemployment levels. By spatially joining the general household survey (GHS) panel data for Nigeria with Boko Haram terrorist incident data, we estimate the impact of Boko Haram attacks on food security conditions. We find that an increase in conflict intensity, measured by number of fatalities, increases the number of days where the household had to (1) rely on less preferred foods, (2) limit the variety of foods eaten, and (3) limit the portion size of meals consumed. However, the number of days that households went without eating anything, a more severe measure of food insecurity, was not affected. The food consumption score is also negatively affected by conflict. We also find that the conflict‐driven food insecurity is mainly materialized through agricultural input and income shocks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the 1990s, prior to its accession to the World Trade Organization, China dramatically reduced market distortions in agriculture. We use a panel of 6,770 rural households from 1989 to 2000 to ask whether agricultural market liberalization affected rural household food security as measured by the share of calories from non-staples. Given that not all households may be able to take advantage of new market opportunities, we focus on the distributional effect of market liberalization. Unlike most previous research on the effects of liberalization, we consider the effects of liberalization on both farm and off-farm income. We find that liberalization primarily improves household food security by increasing off-farm income, and the effects vary greatly by initial food security status and producer types. While many households benefit from liberalization, some food-insecure households producing import-competing products have lower food security as a result of agricultural market liberalization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We estimate the impacts of drought, as defined by the U.S. Drought Monitor (USDM), on crop yields and farm income in the United States during the 2001–2013 time period. Our empirical strategy relies on panel data models with fixed effects that exploit spatial and temporal variability in drought conditions and agricultural outcomes at the county level. We find negative and statistically significant effects of drought on crop yields equal to reductions in the range of 0.1% to 1.2% for corn and soybean yields for each additional week of drought in dryland counties, and 0.1% to 0.5% in irrigated counties. Region-specific results vary, with some regions experiencing no yield impacts from drought, while yield reductions as high as 8.0% are observed in dryland counties in the Midwest for every additional week of drought in the highest USDM severity category. Despite this impact on crop yields, we find that additional weeks of drought have little to no effect on measures of farm income. While precipitation and temperature explain most of the variability in crop yields, we find that the USDM captures additional negative impacts of drought on yields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Crop insurance premium subsidies affect patterns of crop acreage for two reasons. First, holding insurance coverage constant, premium subsidies directly increase expected profit, which encourages more acreage of insured crops (direct profit effect). Second, premium subsidies encourage farms to increase crop insurance coverage. With more insurance coverage, farms obtain more subsidies, and farm revenue becomes less variable as indemnities offset revenue shortfalls, so acreage of insured crops likely increases (indirect coverage effect). By exploiting exogenous policy changes and using approximately 180,000 county-crop-year observations, we estimate the sum of these two effects of premium subsidies on the pattern of U.S. acreage across seven major field crops. We estimate that a 10% increase in the premium subsidy causes a 0.43% increase in the acreage of a crop in a county holding the premium subsidy of its competing crop constant. Taking into account the small share of premium subsidies in expected crop revenue, this subsidy impact is analogous to an own-subsidy acreage elasticity of 1.24, which exceeds own-price acreage elasticity estimates in the literature. One explanation for the larger acreage response to premium subsidies is that insurance causes an indirect coverage effect in addition to a direct profit effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We demonstrate how states that lifted restrictions on interstate bank expansions, thereby improving access to cheaper credit, experienced increased farm sales and net farm income. In our empirical analysis, we use nationwide county-level data from 1970 through 2001 and a difference-in-differences econometric framework, exploiting only within-state variation in banking deregulation, to distinguish the effect of an increase in bank competition from potential confounding factors. By including region-by-year fixed effects in our econometric equation, we compare changes in farm sales and expenditures in states that lift restrictions on interstate banking to changes in states that do not lift such restrictions within the same census region. Our estimates indicate that county-level farm sales increase by about 3.4% and county-level net farm income rises by $1.57 million (in 1982 dollars) after a state deregulates its banking sector by allowing interstate bank expansion. We also find evidence that farm expenditures, in particular expenditures on feed, fuel, machine and equipment rental, as well as interest payments, grew as a result of the banking deregulation. The positive impacts on farm sales, net income, and interest payments are larger in metropolitan counties than in rural counties, consistent with the notion that interstate bank entry following deregulation was concentrated in larger metropolitan markets, leading to a greater reduction in the cost of credit in those areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Livestock Gross Margin Insurance for Dairy Cattle (LGM-Dairy) is a risk management tool for protecting milk income over feed cost margins. In this article, we examine the assumptions underpinning the method used to determine LGM-Dairy premiums. Analysis of the milk–feed dependence structure is conducted using copula methods, a rich set of tools that allow modelers to capture nonlinearities in dependence among variables of interest. We find a significant relationship between milk and feed prices that increases with time-to-maturity and severity of negative price shocks. Extremal, or tail, dependence is the propensity of dependence to concentrate in the tails of a distribution. A common theme in financial and actuarial applications and in agricultural crop revenue insurance is that tail dependence increases the risk to the underwriter and results in higher insurance premiums. We present, to our knowledge, the first case in which tail dependence may actually reduce actuarially fair premiums for an agricultural risk insurance product. We examine hedging effectiveness with LGM-Dairy and show that, even in the absence of basis or production risk, hedging horizon plays an important role in the ability of this tool to smooth farm income over feed cost margins over time. Rating methodology that accounts for tail dependence between milk and feed prices extends the optimal hedging horizon and increases hedging effectiveness of the LGM-Dairy program. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the multiyear small -farmer development program in Nicaragua which was presented at an invited paper session at the 2013 annual meeting of the Allied Social Sciences Association. Particular focus is offered for the project called the Rural Business Development (RBD) program started in 2005 which helped improve farm productivity. It examines the local average treatment effect of parameters including farm income, per-capita household consumption and capital investments.

The article focuses on the historical perspective on farm incomes and prosperity in the U.S. in the 21st century. It provides information on the farm sector's financial performance in terms of income and wealth, and the implications if the current farm boom ends. It includes graphs to describe farm income and returns to operators from 1910-2011 in the U.S.

The article discusses a study based on the National Agricultural Advisory Services (NAADS) program in Uganda. The objective of NAADS was to adopt profitable agricultural methods to increase income. The program is aimed at the poor who have limited physical and financial capability, skills and knowledge. The study adopts the combined approach to discusses the implications of using different sets of control groups on estimates of treatment effects of the agricultural system in Uganda.

The article focuses on the 2008 Agricultural Resource Management Survey (ARMS) conducted jointly by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)'s National Agricultural Statistics Service and the Economics Research Service (ERS). It mentions the use of a complex multivariate imputation method known as the Sequential Multivariate Imputation (STRMI) method adapted in IVEware software application. Results of the survey show relatively high mean income of farm operator households since 1996.

Measurement is a key issue in the literature on price incentive bias induced by trade policy. We introduce a general equilibrium measure of the relative effective rate of protection, which generalizes earlier protection measures. For our fifteen sample countries, results indicate that the agricultural price incentive bias generally perceived to exist during the 1980s was largely eliminated during the 1990s. Results also demonstrate that general equilibrium effects and country-specific characteristics are crucial for determining the sign and magnitude of agricultural bias. Our comprehensive protection measure is therefore uniquely suited to capture the full impact of trade policies on relative agricultural price incentives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses a study related to farmers markets, local farm produce and fairness in marketing farm produce in the U.S. It draws forth preferences through a field experiment in which people bid to buy tickets that provide monetary payouts to farmers. The results of the study are stated to highlight the facts whether concern for inequity is a factor that explains the reasons of people's preference to shop at farmers markets.

The article discusses the theory and evidence related to efficiency of income transfers to farmers in the U.S. through public agricultural research. It explores the distribution and size of welfare impacts on farm commodity programs and of agricultural research investments. The article further analyzes the persistence of underinvestment in research and development (R&D) in agriculture. It concludes that R&D is not seen as an effective instrument for income redistribution.

The article analyzes distributional and transfer efficiency of farm support policies in the U.S., related to macro-micro simulation evidences. A one percent shock to national net farm income in the country was considered for analysis. Results of the analysis show cost-effectiveness of enterprise exclusion for increasing aggregate farm income through mechanism of support and inequality reducing impact in farm household population.

The article evaluates the econometrically estimated transfer efficiency and farm household income using farm household data in the U.S. It suggests using full income of the farm household as a metric for transfer efficiency besides money income for future researches. According to the author, farm program payments can have significant impacts on the allocation of farm household time related to on-farm work, off-farm work, and leisure.

The article discusses the impact of financial crisis on the financial health of agricultural lenders. It provides information on the farm crisis of the 1980s in U.S. and compares it with the ongoing crisis. It mentions that the agricultural lenders are in a better position today to manage the decline in their income than they were in the past due to switching to cash flow-based lending, raising of capital above 1980s levels, and having high and stable earnings.

The article reports on the stationarity of climate change. Analysis of crop yields depend on the assumption of stationarity of variance while the mean changes with time. Due to climate change, mean and variance of crop yields may be changed as well as stationarity of distribution. The article examines crop yields while changing the mean and variance. It studies the stationarity of different climates and their effects on crop yields. Information on climate changes and models for their analysis are presented. An overview of the report is also provided.

The article examines the relationship between agricultural profits and farm household wealth in the U.S. It determines whether or not there is convergence of rates of return on farm assets across states over time. The article derives a system of equations that explains interlinkages between the various components of a farm household's wealth at some point in time. It uses those equations to empirically assess income and wealth patterns across regions, farm sizes, and commodity specializations. The three components of income contributing to wealth are profits from farm output, off-farm income, and capital gains on assets. Although U.S. farm sector returns are converging over the 1960-2002 period and across regions, farm profits still vary widely by farm type, farm size, location, and by other factors. Changes in farm and non-farm capital have differential impacts on farm wealth by farm location and by farm size. Researchers have found evidence that farm size affects both farm wealth and profits, and that the relative impacts of the "farm size" variable vary across these three regions, indicating differences in profitability across the different commodities produced in each region.

The article investigates the determinants of land-use decisions made by farmers in an upland area of the Philippines. The goal is to quantify land-use responses to economic signals, especially agricultural prices, and thereby to shed light on the impacts of policies affecting such prices. Researchers use a decade-long panel of farm-level data on agricultural practices and prices. They find that prices do indeed matter to upland land-use decisions, and thus that policy reforms, such as those required by accession to the WTO, may be influential if indirect determinants of land-use patterns in these politically and environmentally sensitive areas. labor in nonfarm sectors. The Philippines is now an important supplier of labor-intensive goods such as garments, electrical machinery and components, and of services such as call centers, to world markets. Expansion of these labor-intensive industries applies upward pressure to low-skill wages and encourages out-migration by members of farm families, both directly for employment, and indirectly for education and training.

When the indemnity schedule is contingent on the farmer's price and individual yield, an optimal crop revenue insurance contract depends only on the farmer's gross revenue. However, this design is not efficient if, as is the case with available contracts, the coverage function is based on imperfect estimators of individual yield and/or price. The producer's degree of prudence and the extent of basis risks have important influences on the optimal indemnity schedule. In this broader context, optimal protection is not provided by available U.S. crop insurance contracts and may include combinations of revenue insurance, yield insurance, futures, and options contracts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Analyzes data on low incomes among agricultural farmers in the United States since 1950. Economic growth in agriculture; Causes of farm income growth; Connection between variables underpinning income from farming and the growth of farm-household income.

Highlights a study which sought to evaluate the effect of farm income variability, on the off-farm labor supply decisions of a sample of Kansas farmers and their spouses. Application of Tobit estimation techniques; Reference to research by W.E. Huffman and M.D. Lange and by D. Lass and C.M. Gempesaw; Details on an empirical framework and econometric procedures; Conclusion reached based on the study.

Compares the benefits of cash and in-kind export subsidies. Factors affecting the subsidies' ability to enhance real farm income; Effect of nonrecourse loan programs on the impact of cash and in-kind subsidies.

This paper analyzes the potential for using a market to shift water from irrigation to hydropower use in periods of low river flow in the Snake River basin of Idaho. The water could be used for irrigation in most years but in dry years would be very valuable for firming up electric power supplies. A model of crop growth and water use was utilized to estimate farmer responses and resulting farm income losses due to market-restricted irrigation water supplies. Results indicate that estimated hydropower benefits are ten times > estimated lost farm income, so the proposed water market should be economically feasible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Barry's research on farm real estate returns suggests that when farm assets are viewed as a part of the nation's wealth portfolio, returns are not persistently low, as is commonly asserted in policy debates. This paper extends Barry's research by explicitly accounting for the effects of uncertain inflation, using a broader market proxy, and lengthening the sample period. The results suggest farm real estate offers only slight (not substantial) premiums above those for systematic risk, contributes little systematic risk to a well-diversified portfolio, and exhibits substantial risk due to uncertain inflation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Provides information on social accounting matrices (SAM). Application of SAM in the United States agricultural sector; Economic significance of agricultural sector of exchange rates; Characteristic structure relating to the circular flow of income.

Traces the historic changes in the dependency of rural communities on farm and nonfarm sources of income in the United States. Importance of farm and nonfarm sectors to rural economy; Changes in personal income; Regional differences in farm earnings dependency; Information on farm-dependent counties.

Focuses on issues related to agricultural policy in the United States. Significance of agricultural policy to economics; Principle of political economy; Economic indicators affected by agricultural policy; Impact of policy on the distribution of income and welfare; Causes on the decline in farm income.

This paper seeks to identify the economic and political factors that produce state financial support for agricultural research and extension. State demand for research and extension services is found to be influenced not only by the level of farm income and population but also by measures of intergovernmental influence and the political effectiveness of farmers. Federal grants have "price" effects which stimulate state spending; the reapportionment of state legislatures mandated by the U.S. Supreme Court had a negative effect, while the ability of farmers to elect other farmers to the legislature increases state support for research and extension. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discusses the measurement of net farm income and rate of return to investment in agriculture. Problems associated with the measurement of returns; Overview of economic measures of historical rates of return; Difficulty in the measurement of farm income.

The paper illustrates the use of experimental design in simulation modelling. Income growth prospects for small farms in northern Nigeria are examined under deterministic and stochastic conditions. A partial factorial design is employed to assess the impact on growth of resource endowment, stochastic yields and returns, consumption behavior, and enterprise opportunities. Analysis of variance on the deterministic results indicates that the key determinants of financial performance are stochastic events and family size and resource endowment. Capital accumulation under stochastic returns is slower than under fixed average returns. The value of a multi-year model is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines the contribution of agricultural exports to national employment and income in the United States (U.S.). Trends in agricultural exports; Efforts of the U.S. government to expand overseas markets; Link between agricultural exports and overseas sales.

Responds to comments on a study which proposed an asset valuation model that characterizes the relationship between asset earnings and market value in the agricultural sector. Information on the basis of the asset valuation model; Errors in calculating growth rates for unadjusted asset values; Implications of farm programs and export promotion.

The effects of credit policy and fertilizer subsidy on farmers' input choices, production, and income are examined with a multiseason decision-making model. Stochastic production technology, risk-neutral and risk-averse decision rules, short-term savings/consumption behavior, and a dual financial market are considered. Results indicate the risk-neutral rule is more consistent with actual choices than risk-averse rules. Estimated yields increased 21% to 30% from joint credit and fertilizer subsidies. Benefits are greater on irrigated than on rainfed farms. A substantial default rate in the institutional market reduces credit program benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For nearly five decades Congress has attempted to legislate both higher farm incomes and soil conservation. A national, interregional, demand-endogenous, separable programming model is used to analyze the potential of alternative policies to achieve simultaneously the dual goals of increased farm income and reduced soil erosion. The analysis indicates that a conservation-oriented land retirement policy can be designed to achieve an increase in net farm income equivalent to a traditional general land retirement policy, while simultaneously achieving significant reductions in gross soil erosion, chemical input use, and direct government program costs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Federal agricultural commodity programs generally have been assumed to reduce the income risk for farm firms, but limited empirical research exists on this proposition. This paper presents a study of the impact of the Food and Agriculture Act of 1977 on income risk for a representative farm in Georgia. The model is used to derive an E-V frontier for a firm not participating in the program and for the same firm that is participating in the program. Results indicate that participation dominates nonparticipation except for higher level of expected net income. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Analyzes the role of Title III of the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 in enhancing the earning capacity of small farm households in the U.S. Objectives of the legislation; Factors influencing future member benefits; Present values of public sector project costs at stated discount rates; Distribution of benefit components among respondents by income quintile.

The 1967 Water Code requires equalization of water rights per hectare in each "homogeneous farming area." Analysis of a typical area using linear programming models of representative farms indicates that equalization of water allocations per unit of land would result in regressive income redistribution, whereas the optimum economic reallocation would result in progressive income redistribution. Aggregate income gains in either case would not exceed 5%. Given the extreme inflexibility of the existing water distribution system, the transactions costs of changing water allocations would probably exceed benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents information on a study which examined the effect of a negative income tax on farm work and income in the United States. Methodology; Results of the study.

The widely used estimates of annual capacity depreciation for selected types of farm producer capital published by the USDA rest on the assumption that the amount of capital consumed annually equals a constant fraction of the existing capital stocks. This study demonstrates, through the use of agricultural engineering data, that the productive capacity of farm tractors deteriorates in a concave rather than the convex pattern suggested by present US DA estimates. The implications for studies estimating aggregate production functions based on factor shares or farm investment demand equations are discussed. Finally, recommendations for change to selected sector economic accounts are made. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]