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Non-Convergence in Domestic Commodity Futures Markets: Causes, Consequences and Remedies
"During most of 2005-10, the price of expiring U.S. corn, soybeans, and wheat futures contracts settled much higher than corresponding delivery market cash prices. Because futures contracts at expiration are commonly thought to be equivalent to cash grain, this commodity price non-convergence appeared inconsistent with the law of one price. In addition, sustained non-convergence concerns market participants, exchanges, and policymakers because it can make hedging less effective, send confusing signals to the market, threaten the viability of a contract, and ultimately lead to a misallocation of agricultural resources. This report summarizes prominent theories that have been offered to explain non-convergence, including a new model that explains how the structure of a competitive delivery market can generate a positive expiring basis. The data support this delivery market theory over alternative explanations. Finally, we discuss various policy levers that have been offered to address non-convergence, as well as their likely impacts."
United States. Department of Agriculture. Economic Research Service
Adjemian, Michael; Garcia, Philip; Irwin, Scott H. . . .
2013-08
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Online Cost Calculator for Estimating the Economic Cost of Illness Due to Shiga Toxin-Producing E. coli (STEC) O157 Infections
"Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) O157 is a significant cause of foodborne illness in the United States. The Economic Research Service (ERS) estimated the economic cost of illness due to this pathogen- $405.2 million (in 2003 dollars)-using the most recent estimate (1997) of the annual number of STEC O157 cases by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and medical and cost data from the Foodborne Diseases Active Surveillance Network. CDC is currently updating its estimate of annual cases. As new information becomes available, the ERS online Foodborne Illness Cost Calculator enables users to review and modify the assumptions underlying the STEC O157 cost estimate, such as the number of cases, and then recalculate the cost, adjusted for inflation for any year from 1997 to 2006. The potential utility of the calculator was demonstrated by assuming that the incidence of STEC O157 had declined and then estimating the cost for a smaller number of cases."
United States. Department of Agriculture. Economic Research Service
2007-09
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ERS Launches Invasive Species Initiative
"An 'invasive species' is one that is alien to the ecosystem an causes harm to the economy, the environment, or human health. Unintentionally transported from one country to another, invasive species can be particularly damaging to agriculture, as recent instances of karnal bunt in wheat and Exotic Newcastle Disease in poultry have demonstrated. The rising potential for invasive pest incidents, brought about by increased global commerce, prompted ERS to launch a research program on the economics of invasive species policies and programs that affect food, agriculture, or natural resources, and are managed by the USDA. The research program, which will be supported by extramural research agreements with universities and other external cooperators, covers three critical topic areas: the economics of trade and invasive species; bioeconomic risk assessments of alternative pests and diseases; and policies to manage damage caused by invasive species."
United States. Department of Agriculture. Economic Research Service
Vasavada, Uptal; Bohman, Mary
2003-04
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United States Department of Agriculture: Economic Research Service [website]
"The Economic Research Service [ERS] is a primary source of economic information and research in the U.S. Department of Agriculture [USDA]. With over 350 employees, ERS conducts a research program to inform public and private decisionmaking on economic and policy issues involving food, farming, natural resources, and rural development. ERS's highly trained economists and social scientists conduct research, analyze food and commodity markets, produce policy studies, and develop economic and statistical indicators. The agency's research program is aimed at the information needs of USDA, other public policy officials, and the research community. ERS information and analysis is also used by the media, trade associations, public interest groups, and the general public"
United States. Department of Agriculture. Economic Research Service
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Interplay of Regulation and Market Incentives in Providing Food Safety
"This report examines the impact of process regulations mandated under the Pathogen Reduction/Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (PR/HACCP) rule by the Food Safety and Inspection Service of USDA on food safety process control. The current level of food safety found in U.S. meat and poultry food products is a result of process and performance regulations and management-determined actions brought about by market incentives. Processing regulations include sanitation and other tasks related to food safety; management-determined actions include capital investment and other actions independent of process regulations, but possibly driven by performance standards. Performance standards--regulations that allow manufacturers to reach an acceptable level of food safety in any manner they see fit--are not a subject of this report. This study used the share of samples testing positive for Salmonella spp. as a measure of food safety process control in meat and poultry processing plants and found empirically that management-determined actions account for about two-thirds of the reduction in samples testing positive for Salmonella spp., while process regulations account for about a third of the reduction. The importance of process regulation varies, but accounts for 50 percent or more of process control in about a quarter of plants, and in some plants accounts for the entire process control system."
United States. Department of Agriculture. Economic Research Service
Ollinger, Michael; Moore, Danna L.
2009-07
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Food Safety and Imports: An Analysis of FDA Food-Related Import Refusal Reports
"This report examines U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) data on refusals of food offered for importation into the United States from 1998 to 2004. Although the data do not necessarily refl ect the distribution of risk in foods, the study found that import refusals highlight food safety problems that appear to recur in trade and where the FDA has focused its import alerts, examinations (e.g., sampling), and other monitoring efforts. The data show some food industries and types of violations are consistent sources of problems both over time and in comparison with previous studies of more limited data. The three food industry groups with the most violations were vegetables (20.6 percent of total violations), fi shery and seafood (20.1 percent), and fruits (11.7 percent). Violations observed over the entire time period include sanitary issues in seafood and fruit products, unsafe pesticide residues in vegetables, and unregistered processes for canned food products in all three industries."
United States. Department of Agriculture. Economic Research Service
Buzby, Jean C.; Unnevehr, Laurian; Roberts, Donna H.
2008-09
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Climate Change Policy and the Adoption of Methane Digesters on Livestock Operations
"Methane digesters-biogas recovery systems that use methane from manure to generate electricity-have not been widely adopted in the United States because costs have exceeded benefits to operators. Burning methane in a digester reduces greenhouse gas emissions from manure management. A policy or program that pays producers for these emission reductions-through a carbon offset market or directly with payments-could increase the number of livestock producers who would profit from adopting a methane digester. We developed an economic model that illustrates how dairy and hog operation size, location, and manure management methods, along with electricity and carbon prices, could influence methane digester profits. The model shows that a relatively moderate increase in the price of carbon could induce significantly more dairy and hog operations, particularly large ones, to adopt a methane digester, thereby substantially lowering emissions of greenhouse gases."
United States. Department of Agriculture. Economic Research Service
Key, Nigel David; Sneeringer, Stacy E.
2011-02
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Outbreak Linked to Spinach Forces Reassessment of Food Safety Practices
"On September 14, 2006, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced that consumers should not eat bagged spinach because of an outbreak of illness due to contamination with the potentially deadly bacterium Escherichia coli O157:H7. Stores and restaurants immediately cleared bagged spinach from their shelves and menus. Spinach harvesting and marketing ceased. There were no U.S. fresh spinach sales for 5 days, before FDA announced spinach from some areas was safe to consume. Spinach from the main production area of California was off the market for an additional 10 days. While spinach and other leafy greens have been associated with numerous foodborne illness outbreaks, the risk of becoming ill from spinach is low. In 2005, U.S. consumers ate 680 million pounds of fresh spinach, and the load of contaminated spinach associated with the outbreak totaled only 1,002 pounds. But leafy greens are the most likely produce category to be associated with an outbreak."
United States. Department of Agriculture. Economic Research Service
Calvin, Linda
2007-06
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Food Safety Audits, Plant Characteristics, and Food Safety Technology Use in Meat and Poultry Plants
"Food safety technology can increase a company's capacity to prevent a foodborne contamination. A food safety audit--a quality control tool in which an auditor observes whether a plant's processing practices and technologies are compatible with good food safety practices--can indicate how effectively food safety technology is being used. Fast food restaurants, grocery stores, and other major customers of meat and poultry processing plants conduct their own audits or hire auditors to assess the soundness of a plant's processing operation. Meat and poultry plants can also audit themselves as a way to help maintain process control. In this report, we document the extent of food safety audits in meat and poultry processing plants. We also examine the associations between the use of audits and plant size, firm structure, and food safety technology use. Results show that larger plants, plants subject to food safety audits, and plants that are part of a multiplant firm use more food safety technology than other plants. Plants subject to both plant-hired and customer-hired audits had greater technology use than single (plant- or customer-hired) audit plants."
United States. Department of Agriculture. Economic Research Service
Ollinger, Michael; Muth, Mary K.; Karns, Shawn A.
2011-10
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Nitrogen Management on U.S. Corn Acres, 2001-10
"Nitrogen is a critical input in agriculture, enabling farmers to produce high crop yields profitably. However, nitrogen compounds released into the environment can also be a source of environmental problems, including eutrophication and hypoxia in aquatic ecosystems, visibility-impairing haze, and the loss of biodiversity. Improved nitrogen management on cropland has been a longstanding goal of USDA conservation policy. Technical and financial assistance through programs such as the Environmental Quality Incentives Program and the Conservation Stewardship Program has promoted best management practices like applying nitrogen at agronomic rates or injecting it directly into the soil. For some sectors, such as large animal feeding operations, and in some States, nutrient management planning is mandatory. Despite such regulatory measures and government assistance, a large share of cropland does not follow nitrogen best management practices: in 2006, 65 percent of cropland (producing eight major field crops) did not follow what are considered to be nitrogen best management practices (Ribaudo et al., 2011). USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) found that improvements in at least one aspect of nitrogen management (see box, 'Criteria for Good Nitrogen Management') were needed on 86 percent of cropland rotations in the Upper Mississippi Basin, 87 percent of cropland rotations in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, 82 percent of cropland rotations in the Great Lakes watershed, and 93 percent of cropland rotations in the Ohio-Tennessee Basin (USDA, NRCS, 2010, 2011a, 2011b, 2011c). Failling [sic] to apply best management practices increaases [sic] the risk that excess nitrogen can move from the field to water resources or the atmosphere."
United States. Department of Agriculture. Economic Research Service
Ribaudo, Marc; Williamson, James; Livingston, Michael
2012-11
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Future of Biofuels: A Global Perspective
"With near record oil prices, the future of biofuel--made from plant material--is of keen interest worldwide. Global biofuel production has tripled from 4.8 billion gallons in 2000 to about 16.0 billion in 2007, but still accounts for less than 3 percent of the global transportation fuel supply. About 90 percent of production is concentrated in the United States, Brazil, and the European Union (EU). Production could become more dispersed if development programs in other countries, such as Malaysia and China, are successful. The leading raw materials, or feedstocks, for producing biofuels are corn, sugar, and vegetable oils. While rapid expansion in biofuel production has raised expectations about potential substitutes for oil-based fuels, there have been growing concerns about the impact of rising commodity prices on the global food system."
United States. Department of Agriculture. Economic Research Service
Coyle, William T.
2007-11
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U.S. Ethanol Expansion Driving Changes Throughout the Agricultural Sector
"U.S. ethanol production climbed to almost 5 billion gallons in 2006, up nearly 1 billion gallons from 2005. Despite the speed and magnitude of this increase, the industry is stepping up the pace of expansion, with production expected to top 10 billion gallons by 2009. The explosive growth of U.S. ethanol production is being felt by nearly every aspect of the field crops sector-- domestic demand, exports, prices, and the allocation of acreage among crops--as well as the livestock sector, farm income, government payments, and food prices. Additionally, issues have been raised regarding possible effects on natural resources resulting from the ethanol expansion and changes in farmers' cropping choices. Adjustments in the agricultural sector to this strong demand are underway and will continue as interest builds in renewable sources of energy to lessen dependence on foreign oil."
United States. Department of Agriculture. Economic Research Service
Westcott, Paul C.
2007-09
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Economics of Water Quality Protection From Nonpoint Sources: Theory and Practice
"Water quality is a major environmental issue. Pollution from nonpoint sources is the single largest remaining source of water quality impairments in the United States. Agriculture is a major source of several nonpoint-source pollutants, including nutrients, sediment, pesticides, and salts. Agricultural nonpoint pollution reduction policies can be designed to induce producers to change their production practices in ways that improve the environmental and related economic consequences of production. The information necessary to design economically efficient pollution control policies is almost always lacking. Instead, policies can be designed to achieve specific environmental or other similarly-related goals at least cost, given transaction costs and any other political, legal, or informational constraints that may exist. This report outlines the economic characteristics of five instruments that can be used to reduce agricultural nonpoint source pollution (economic incentives, standards, education, liability, and research) and discusses empirical research related to the use of these instruments."
United States. Department of Agriculture. Economic Research Service
Horan, Richard D.; Ribaudo, Marc; Smith, Mark E.
1999-11
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Food Traceability: One Ingredient in a Safe and Efficient Food Supply
"Food traceability is in the news--in articles ranging from food safety and bioterrorism to the consumer's right to know. Recent news stories have focused on tracking cattle from birth to finished product to control the risk of mad cow disease, on tracking food shipments to reduce the risk of tampering, and on traceability systems to inform consumers about food attributes like country of origin, animal welfare, and genetic composition. Traceability is not only newsworthy, but investment worthy too. Food producers have voluntarily built traceability systems to track the grain in a cereal box to the farm and the apples in a vat of apple juice to the orchard. However, traceability is just one element of any supply-management or quality/safety control system. What exactly is traceability, how does it work, and what can it accomplish? Most important, does the U.S. food supply have enough of it? Our examination of U.S. food traceability systems involved research into the market studies literature, interviews with industry experts, and site visits in which we interviewed owners, plant supervisors, and/or quality control managers in fruit and vegetable packing and processing plants; beef slaughter plants; grain elevators, mills, and food manufacturing plants; and food distribution centers. In some cases, we accompanied auditors for USDA procurement programs and were shown the firm's complete traceability records."
United States. Department of Agriculture. Economic Research Service
Golan, Elise H.; Krissoff, Barry; Kuchler, Fred
2004-04
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Food Safety Innovation in the United States: Evidence from the Meat Industry
"In this report, we investigate the factors that motivate firms to invest in food safety innovation and identify government policies supporting such motivation. We begin with an overview of the economic literature on innovation in which we examine the core drivers of innovation in the economy. We then conduct a theoretical analysis of the strength of these core drivers for motivating investments in food safety innovation. We hypothesize that the core drivers of innovation are relatively weak for food safety. We test this hypothesis with evidence from a recent survey of U.S. meat and poultry slaughter and processing plants and two case studies of food safety innovation. We find that industry has developed a number of mechanisms for overcoming weaknesses in the food safety incentive structure and for stimulating food safety innovation. We build on industry experience to suggest government policies that may best support food safety compliance and innovation."
United States. Department of Agriculture. Economic Research Service
Golan, Elise H.; Roberts, Tanya; Salay, Elisabete
2004-04
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International Trade and Food Safety: Economic Theory and Case Studies
"Food safety regulations and the perception of risk are different among countries. This can lead to persistent trade frictions and even reduce food trade. These differences may also lead to increased dialogue between countries, with improved food safety systems the result. Although little disruption to trade has occurred for food safety reasons (considering the total volume of food trade), trade issues or crises related to food safety are wide ranging. These issues and crises challenge policymakers and industries to both protect domestic food supplies and nurture international markets. Meanwhile, consumers in developed countries are demanding safer food. Risk reduction measures and quality certification programs can not only pre-empt food safety crises, but can better position exporters in emerging overseas markets. However, coherency between trade and food safety goals requires public intervention and investment and/or private costs... This report presents ERS research on the interaction between food safety and international trade. Food safety challenges are mounting and crises like "mad cow disease" are becoming more pronounced. Growth in world food trade means that U.S. consumers are more dependent on the food safety measures used in other countries and that there are greater opportunities for U.S. food exports. This research was performed by examining the conceptual relationships between food safety and international trade and by examining the meat and poultry, produce, food/animal feed crop, and seafood sectors for trends in trade, food safety regulation, and the resolution of incidents and disputes related to both."
United States. Department of Agriculture. Economic Research Service
Buzby, Jean C.
2003-11
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Consumer Demand Sparks the Growth of Quality Assurance Schemes in the European Food Sector
"Concerns over food quality and safety have led to the growth of quality
assurance schemes that provide technical requirements for production and processing and provide inspection and monitoring to assure compliance. The schemes, increasingly prevalent in the U.K. livestock and meat industry, will impact market structure, international competitiveness, and trade...This chapter reports on the emergence of food quality assurance schemes in the United Kingdom as an illustration of the trend in Western Europe. It explains the reasons for the emergence of these schemes and analyzes the characteristics of the schemes in terms of the product attributes that the schemes' provisions aim to affect. Lastly, it discusses the potential economic and market impacts of quality assurance schemes and evaluates their potential trade impacts. The article focuses on those schemes that have arisen in the livestock and fresh meat sector; however, the implications may apply equally to schemes covering other sectors."
United States. Department of Agriculture. Economic Research Service
Bredahl, Maury E.; Northen, James; Boecker, Andreas
2001-05
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Economic Research Service: Briefing Room: Agriculture Biotechnology [website]
Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, this site offers the latest in publications, products, research, news, and related topics for biotechnology.
United States. Department of Agriculture. Economic Research Service
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Next-Generation Biofuels: Near-Term Challenges and Implications for Agriculture
"The Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA) of 2007 mandates a tripling in U.S. biofuel use to 36 billion gallons by 2022. Achieving this goal will depend on rapid expansion in next-generation biofuels, primarily from cellulose. The EISA mandates expanded use of cellulosic biofuel to 16 billion gallons in 2022, on a trajectory to surpass corn ethanol use under the Renewable Fuel Standard. Advanced conversion technologies will be used to create next-generation biofuels from widely available, largely nonfood biomass, including wood waste; crop residues; dedicated energy crops such as switchgrass, energy cane, and biomass sorghum; municipal solid waste; and algae. While some next-generation processes that yield biobutanol or petroleum- equivalent fuels will use corn and other first-generation feedstocks, overall next-generation biofuels likely will have less direct impact on food crops than first-generation biofuels."
United States. Department of Agriculture. Economic Research Service
Coyle, William T.
2010-05
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Food Loss: Questions About the Amount and Causes Still Remain
"ERS [Economic Research Service] defines food loss as the amount of food available for human consumption--after removing bones, pits, peels, and other nonedible parts--that is not consumed for any reason. It includes moisture loss and cooking shrinkage; loss from mold, pests, or inadequate climate control; and food waste. Food waste is a subcomponent of food loss, and examples include edible food discarded by retailers due to color or appearance and plate waste thrown away by consumers. While ERS researchers have estimated the amount of food loss that occurs in U.S. grocery stores, restaurants, and homes, the waste portion of this loss has not been calculated because of data limitations." From the "Highlights" section: "[1] ERS estimates that 31 percent, or 133 billion pounds, of food available for consumption at the retail and consumer levels in the United States in 2010 went uneaten. [2] Two-thirds of this 133-billion-pound loss occurred in homes, restaurants, and other away-from-home eating places, and one-third occurred in grocery stores and other food retailers. [3] Potential strategies to reduce food loss include improvements in food packaging, more efficient inventory management in grocery stores and restaurants, and having consumer education campaigns."
United States. Department of Agriculture. Economic Research Service
Buzby, Jean C.; Wells, Hodan Farah; Aulakh, Jaspreet
2014-06-02
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Economic Assessment of Policy Options to Reduce Agricultural Pollutants in the Chesapeake Bay
From the research report's Abstract: "In 2010, a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) was established for the Chesapeake Bay, defining the limits on emissions of nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment necessary to reverse declines in the Bay's quality and associated biological resources. Agriculture is the largest single source of nutrients and sediment in the watershed. We use data on crop and animal agriculture in the watershed to assess the relative effectiveness of alternative policy approaches for achieving the nutrient and sediment reduction goals of the TMDL, ranging from voluntary financial incentives to regulations. The cost of achieving water quality goals depends heavily on which policy choices are selected and how they are implemented. We found that policies that provide incentives for water quality improvements are the most efficient, assuming necessary information on pollutant delivery is available for each field. Policies that directly encourage adoption of management systems that protect water quality (referred to as design-based) are the most practical, given the limited information that is generally available to farmers and resource agencies. Information on field characteristics can be used to target design-based policies to improve efficiency."
United States. Department of Agriculture. Economic Research Service
Ribaudo, Marc; Aillery, Marcel P.; Savage, Jeffrey
2014-06
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Global Agricultural Supply and Demand: Factors Contributing to the Recent Increase in Food Commodity Prices
"World market prices for major food commodities such as grains and vegetable oils have risen sharply to historic highs of more than 60 percent above levels just 2 years ago. Many factors have contributed to the runup in food commodity prices. Some factors reflect trends of slower growth in production and more rapid growth in demand that have contributed to a tightening of world balances of grains and oilseeds over the last decade. Recent factors that have further tightened world markets include increased global demand for biofuels feedstocks and adverse weather conditions in 2006 and 2007 in some major grain- and oilseed-producing areas. Other factors that have added to global food commodity price inflation include the declining value of the U.S. dollar, rising energy prices, increasing agricultural costs of production, growing foreign exchange holdings by major food-importing countries, and policies adopted recently by some exporting and importing countries to mitigate their own food price inflation. This report discusses these factors and illustrates how they have contributed to food commodity price increases."
United States. Department of Agriculture. Economic Research Service
Trostle, Ronald
2008-07
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Economic Impacts of Foreign Animal Disease
"This report presents a modeling framework in which epidemiological model results are integrated with an economic model of the U.S. agricultural sector to enable estimation of the economic impacts of outbreaks of foreign-source livestock diseases. To demonstrate the model, the study assessed results of a hypothetical outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD). The modeling framework includes effects of the FMD episode on all major agricultural products and assesses these effects on aggregate supply, demand, and trade over 16 quarters. Model results show a potential for large trade-related losses for beef, beef cattle, hogs, and pork, though relatively few animals are destroyed. The swine and pork sectors recover shortly after assumed export restrictions end, but effects on the beef and cattle sectors last longer due to the longer cattle production cycle. The best control strategies prove to be those that reduce the duration of the outbreak. While export embargoes lead to losses for many agricultural sectors, they also increase domestic supplies and lower prices, benefiting domestic consumers. Total losses to livestock-related enterprises over 16 quarters range between $2,773 million and $4,062 million, depending on disease intensity level, duration of the outbreak, and the response scenario. After seven quarters, production of all commodities returns to pre-disease levels in our hypothesized scenario."
United States. Department of Agriculture. Economic Research Service
Lee, John G.; Paarlberg, Philip L.; Seitzinger, Ann Hillberg
2008-05
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Recent Estimates of the Cost of Foodborne Illness Are in General Agreement
"Estimates of the economic cost of foodborne illness play an important role in guiding food safety policy. Two 2012 studies of the cost of foodborne illness in the United States--one conducted by researchers from ERS and the University of Florida and the other by a researcher from Ohio State University--agree on which foodborne pathogens are the costliest in terms of medical care, lost time from work, and losses due to premature death. The studies find that 'Salmonella' (nontyphoidal) and 'Toxoplasma gondii' are the first and second costliest foodborne pathogens, followed by 'Listeria monocytogenes', Norovirus, and 'Campylobacter'. Together, these five pathogens account for over 85 percent of the estimated costs for illnesses caused by the 14 major foodborne pathogens. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that these 14 pathogens are responsible for over 95 percent of foodborne illnesses, hospitalizations, and deaths for which the pathogen cause is known."
United States. Department of Agriculture. Economic Research Service
Anekwe, Toby; Hoffmann, Sandra A. (Sandra Ann)
2013-11-18
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Despite Improvements in International Food Security, Nutritional Adequacy of Diets Falls Short of Targets in Many Countries
"The overall food security situation in 76 countries analyzed in ERS's [Economic Research Service] 'International Food Security Assessment, 2013-23' showed significant improvement over the past decade. On average, the number and share of food-insecure individuals declined sharply. On an aggregate level, calorie consumption in the countries studied exceeded the nutritional standard of 2,100 calories per person per day, and consumption of the basic macronutrients, carbohydrates, fat, and protein, increased markedly. However, these aggregate measures mask significant variations among countries and among income groups within countries. In a number of countries, consumption of fat and protein fell short of the nutritional target, and many individuals in the lowest income groups were unable to meet the daily target of 2,100 calories per person. The improvements observed in overall food security come mainly as a result of rapid income growth in developing countries. If this growth continues, those countries and income groups that currently fall short of the nutritional target may also show improvements in those measures."
United States. Department of Agriculture. Economic Research Service
Meade, Birgit; Rosen, Stacey L.
2013-11-18
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International Food Security Assessment, 2014-2024
"Food insecurity in the 76 low- and middle-income countries included in this report is expected to improve between 2013 and 2014. The 76 countries are classified by the World Bank as receiving or have received food aid and are experiencing or have experienced food insecurity. The number of food-insecure people is projected to fall 9 percent, from 539 million in 2013 to 490 million in 2014. Over the longer term, the food security situation is projected to deteriorate as the share of population that is food insecure moves from 13.9 percent in 2014 to 14.6 percent in 2024. Food-insecure people are defined as those consuming less than the nutritional target of roughly 2,100 calories per day per person. Despite improvements over the years, Sub-Saharan Africa is projected to remain the most food insecure region in the world."
United States. Department of Agriculture. Economic Research Service
Rosen, Stacey L.; Meade, Birgit; Fuglie, Keith . . .
2014-06
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Immigration Policy and Its Possible Effects on U.S. Agriculture
"The 112th Congress is considering a variety of proposed changes to U.S. immigration law as it relates to foreign-born farmworkers. Some of these proposals would create additional opportunities for persons from other countries to work legally in U.S. agriculture, while others would use different methods to enforce existing U.S. immigration restrictions. Any of these proposals, if enacted, is likely to have a substantial impact on U.S. agriculture and the market for hired farm labor. Labor is a major input for many agricultural sectors, and persons not authorized to work legally in the United States constitute a large share of the farmworkers employed by U.S. agriculture."
United States. Department of Agriculture. Economic Research Service
Zahniser, Steven; Dixon, Peter; Hertz, Tom
2012-06
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Grassland to Cropland Conversion in the Northern Plains: The Role of Crop Insurance, Commodity, and Disaster Programs
"Native grasslands in the U.S. Northern Plains, particularly those located in the Prairie Pothole Region, are excellent breeding habitat for migratory birds. The conversion of grassland to crop production could damage this habitat and affect bird populations. We focus on three questions: How fast are grasslands being converted to cropland in the United States and especially in the Northern Plains? Can a temporary (5-year) ban on crop insurance purchase for converted grassland slow grassland to cropland conversion? More broadly, what has been the role of crop insurance and other farm programs in grassland to cropland conversion? We find that: (1) roughly 770,000 acres (1 percent) of 1997 rangeland acreage in the Northern Plains were converted to cultivated crops by 2007; (2) a 5-year ban on crop insurance purchase for converted grassland could slow but is unlikely to stop grassland to cropland conversion; and (3) the benefits of crop insurance, disaster assistance, and marketing loans increased cropland acreage by about 2.9 percent between 1998 and 2007."
United States. Department of Agriculture. Economic Research Service
Claassen, Roger; Carriazo, Fernando; Cooper, Joseph C.
2011-06
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Traceability in the U.S. Food Supply: Economic Theory and Industry Studies
"This investigation into the traceability baseline in the United States finds that private-sector food firms have developed a substantial capacity to trace. Traceability systems are a tool to help firms manage the flow of inputs and products to improve efficiency, product differentiation, food safety, and product quality. Firms balance the private costs and benefits of traceability to determine the efficient level of traceability. In cases of market failure, where the private sector supply of traceability is not socially optimal, the private sector has developed a number of mechanisms to correct the problem, including contracting, third-party safety/quality audits, and industry-maintained standards. The best-targeted government policies for strengthening firms' incentives to invest in traceability are aimed at ensuring that unsafe or falsely advertised foods are quickly removed from the system, while allowing firms the flexibility to determine the manner. Possible policy tools include timed recall standards, increased penalties for distribution of unsafe foods, and increased foodborne-illness surveillance."
United States. Department of Agriculture. Economic Research Service
Golan, Elise H.; Krissoff, Barry; Kuchler, Fred
2004-03
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U.S. Food Safety Policy Enters a New Era
"A series of highly visible foodborne illness outbreaks in recent years helped create the political momentum to pass the most extensive reform of the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) food safety authority since 1938. The Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), signed into law in January 2011, reflects a systematic approach to food safety management shaped by science, industry, and government over the past two decades. As FDA's Deputy Commissioner recently explained, the FSMA shifts the focus of FDA activities from 'catching food safety problems after the fact to systematically building in prudent preventive measures across the food system, from the farm to the table.' While the FSMA directly affects only FDA authority, its implementing regulations and policies are likely to influence food safety practices throughout the Federal Government and the food and farm sectors. More efficient regulation could reduce the burden of new programs on producers and consumers while helping to ensure that food safety goals are met. ERS [Economic Research Service] research conducted over the past two decades provides a number of lessons that can help identify efficient and effective means of implementing the Act."
United States. Department of Agriculture. Economic Research Service
Hoffmann, Sandra A. (Sandra Ann)
2011-12
