ERS Data and Analysis Can Shed More
Light on Current Events
In the News
|
Farm State Lawmakers
Split on Specialty Crop Restrictions in Commodity
Programs (Congressional Quarterly, March
26, 2007) |
| From ERS |
Eliminating
Fruit and Vegetable Planting Restrictions:
How Would Markets Be Affected? ERS finds
that market effects of eliminating fruit and
vegetable planting restrictions for commodity
program participants would likely be limited
and confined to specific regions and commodities.
Eliminating restrictions would not lead to
substantial market impacts for most fruit
or vegetables, but the effects on individual
producers could be significant. |
|
In the News
|
EPA Conducting
Unannounced Inspections at Delaware Poultry
Farms (News Journal, Delaware, March 23,
2007) |
| From ERS |
Manure
Management for Water Quality: Costs to Animal
Feeding Operations of Applying Manure Nutrients
to Land. Clean Water Act regulations now
compel the largest confined animal producers
to meet nutrient application standards when
applying manure to the land. ERS’s farm-level
analysis examines onfarm technical choice
and producer costs across major U.S. production
areas. The report also includes a regional
analysis focusing on off-farm competition
for land to spread surplus manure. |
|
In the News
|
GAO Cites High
Overhead in U.S. Food Aid (Reuters, March
21, 2007) |
| From ERS |
Fifty
Years of U.S. Food Aid and Its Role in Reducing
World Hunger. Differing objectives in
food aid programs, lack of consistency among
donors' approaches to food aid, and types
of food donated—the share of higher
priced, noncereal foods, which are unlikely
to reach the poorest segment of the population,
is growing—are just a few factors that
limit the effectiveness of food aid. |
|
In the News
|
Less than a Third
of Adults Eat Enough Fruits and Vegetables
(Associated Press, March 15, 2007) |
| From ERS |
Understanding
Fruit and Vegetable Choices. ERS investigated
the economic, social, and behavioral factors
influencing consumers' fruit and vegetable
choices in a series of research briefs. Among
the findings: the variety of a household’s
vegetable purchases has been shown to depend
on the household’s income, education
level, and the number of people living in
the household. |
|
In the News
|
Ag Exports To
Surpass Record, Says Johanns (Dayton Daily
News, Ohio, March 11, 2007) |
| From ERS |
Weaker
Dollar Strengthens U.S. Agriculture. Depreciation
of the dollar has helped lift U.S. agricultural
exports to record-high levels, and combined
with strong economic growth in developing
countries has increased the competitive advantage
of U.S. agriculture and stimulated export
demand for U.S. products. |
|
In the News
|
Proposed Law Would
Clarify Manure’s Classification Under
EPA Rules (Reuters, March 8, 2007)
|
| From ERS |
Managing
Manure: New Clean Water Act Regulations Create
Imperative for Livestock Producers. Growing
numbers of livestock and poultry per farm
and per acre have increased the risk of water
pollution, in ways not adequately addressed
in the 1972 Clean Water Act. New water quality
regulations were put in place to deal with
manure management on December 16, 2002. Hog
production provides a good example of how
economic factors can affect animal industry
practices. |
|
In the News
|
Grocery Group
Predicts Higher Food Prices Stemming from
Ethanol Boom (Reuters, March 7, 2007)
|
| From ERS |
Food
Price Outlook, 2007. In 2007, the Consumer
Price Index (CPI) for all food is projected
to increase 2 to 3 percent, as retailers pass
on higher energy, transportation, and commodity
costs to consumers in the form of slightly
higher retail prices. ERS provides monthly
forecasts and analyses of the CPI for food.
|
|
In the News
|
Bill Calls for
Nutrition Standards for School Vending Machines
(Dailies, March 7, 2007) |
| From ERS |
Food
Assistance Research Brief—A Healthy
School Meal Environment. Research brief
examines how schools can foster an environment
that encourages healthy food choices by participants
in the National School Lunch Program and the
School Breakfast Program. Environmental factors
that considered important in affecting choices
include 1) nutritional quality, variety, and
acceptability of program meals; 2) meal scheduling;
3) nutrition education; and 4) sales of non-USDA
foods. |
|
In the News
|
Much of 2007 Corn
Crop Going to Ethanol, Says Research Institute
(Reuters, March 6, 2007) |
| From ERS |
USDA
Agricultural Projections to 2016. Long-term
baseline projections (to 2016) include major
agricultural commodities, trade, farm income,
and food prices. The projections assume specific
conditions for the economy, weather, global
situation, and policy and reflect large increases
in corn-based ethanol production, which affects
production, use, and prices of farm commodities
throughout the sector. |
|
In the News
|
Meat, Poultry
Producers Will Have Til 2010 To Meet Coming
USDA Labeling Rules (Reuters, March 5,
2007) |
| From ERS |
Economics
of Food Labeling. ERS traces the economic
theory behind food labeling and presents three
case studies in which the government has intervened
in labeling and two examples in which government
intervention has been proposed. |
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See
previous economics behind the headlines
|
