In the News
|
USDA To Review
Counter-Cyclical Payments to Farmers (Dow
Jones, January 31, 2007) |
| From ERS |
Managing
Risk With Revenue Insurance. Revenue insurance
may do a better job of stabilizing farm income
and may protect more farms than other risk
management tools. Crop revenue insurance offers
farmers a way to manage revenue variability
that results from yield and price risks. |
|
In the News
|
Health Advocates
Question Food Decisions in DC Schools (Washington
Post January 30, 2007) |
| From ERS |
Evaluating
the Impact of School Nutrition Programs.
ERS develops estimates of the efficacy of
school nutrition programs in improving a broad
range of dietary outcomes by comparing the
nutritional status of students and their families
during the school year with the status when
school is out. |
|
In the News
|
USDA Partners
with Arkansas on Land Conservation Program
(Reuters, January 29, 2007) |
| From ERS |
Better
Targeting, Better Outcomes. ERS study
estimated that targeting of land for the Conservation
Reserve Program (CRP) based on the Environmental
Benefits Index (rather than on soil erosion
alone) may have increased environmental benefits
associated with freshwater recreation, wildlife
viewing, and pheasant hunting. |
|
In the News
|
U.N. Calls For
Reform in Global Food Aid (Wires, January
24, 2007) |
| From ERS |
Fifty
Years of U.S. Food Aid and Its Role in Reducing
World Hunger. Indicators developed by
ERS lead to the conclusion that the aggregate
food security situation—measured by
food availability of many low-income countries—has
improved little in the last decade. Differing
objectives in food aid programs, lack of consistency
among donors’ approaches, and types
of food donated are among the factors that
limit the effectiveness of food aid. |
|
In the News
|
Bush: Corn Production
Could Limit Ethanol Growth (Reuters, January
24, 2007) |
| From ERS |
Ethanol
Reshapes the Corn Market. The expanding
U.S. ethanol sector is stimulating demand
for corn. To meet the sector’s growing
demand for corn, some U.S. corn is likely
to be diverted from exports. In the future,
corn may cease to be the main feedstock for
U.S. ethanol production if cellulosic biomass
is successfully developed as an alternative. |
|
In the News
|
Two Views of Genetically
Modified Crops (San Francisco Chronicle,
January 19, 2007) |
| From ERS |
The
First Decade of Genetically Engineered Crops
in the United States. ERS summarizes the
impact of developments in agricultural biotechnology
on seed suppliers and other biotech firms,
farmers, and consumers, as well as environmental
impacts. Adoption by farmers is widespread,
and consumer concerns about GE ingredients
vary by country. |
|
In the News
|
Conservation Group
Favors “Green” Payments to Farmers
(Reuters, January 17, 2007) |
| From ERS |
Greening
Income Support and Supporting Green. “Green
payments” refer broadly to farm payment
programs that would merge farm income support
and conservation payments. An ERS issue brief
focuses on potential tradeoffs in combining
income support and environmental objectives
in a single program. |
|
In the News
|
Corn Price Jumps
With Output Lower Than Expected (Wall Street
Journal, Chicago Tribune, January 13, 2007) |
| From ERS |
Feed
Outlook. ERS January newsletter on the
feed sector indicates a reduction in corn
and sorghum production in 2006/07. With U.S.
feed grain stocks down, forecast season-average
prices are up. |
|
In the News
|
India Competing
with U.S. for China Cotton Trade (Reuters,
January 10, 2007) |
| From ERS |
Growth
Prospects for India's Cotton and Textile Industries.
Demand for cotton and manmade fibers in India
will likely strengthen in response to rising
consumer demand in India and increased exports
of textiles and apparel following removal
of the Multifiber Arrangement that effectively
limited textile exports from developing countries. |
|
In the News
|
Brazil’s
Corn Sector Could Gain from U.S. Ethanol Demand
(Reuters, January 10, 2007) |
| From ERS |
Brazil's
Booming Agriculture Faces Obstacles. Brazil's
position as a food and agricultural superpower
could be threatened as supply-side factors
slow production growth and rising domestic
demand reduces surpluses. |
|
In the News
|
Alaska May Temporarily
Ban Farm Irrigation Wells (Omaha World-Herald,
January 10, 2007) |
| From ERS |
Irrigation
Resources and Water Costs. Irrigated agriculture
remains the dominant use of freshwater in
the United States. The nation as a whole has
abundant freshwater supplies, but an abundance
of water in the aggregate belies increasingly
limited water supplies in many areas. |
|
In the News
|
Editorial Favors
Labeling of Meat and Milk From Cloned Animals
(Columbus Dispatch, Ohio, January 4, 2007) |
| From ERS |
Economics
of Food Labeling. Economic theory suggests
that the appropriate role for government in
labeling depends on the type of information
involved and the level and distribution of
the costs and benefits of providing that information.
ERS traces the economic theory behind food
labeling and presents three case studies. |
|
In the News
|
Biodiesel From
Chicken Fat? (Washington Post, Associated
Press, January 3, 2007) |
| From ERS |
International
Trade, Biofuel Initiatives Reshaping the Soybean
Sector. Increased domestic and global
demand over the past decade continues to pull
U.S. soybean production steadily upward, prompting
producers to shift acres from wheat to soybeans.
Expanding use of corn and soybeans for domestic
biofuel production and global market trends
are likely to influence the future of the
soybean sector. |
|
