Remarkable changes have occurred over the years in the domestic andinternational economic environment of the fruit and vegetable industry.These changes are partly driven by the North American Free Trade Agreement,nutrition policies, and development and enforcement of new food safetystandards. The articles in this invited session examined the effect of thesedrivers and their implication on the future competitiveness of the southernfruit and vegetable industry.

The “Aggie Bond” program was established in the 1980s to provide beginningand low-equity farmers access to capital. The bonds, which pay tax-exemptinterest, may be used by qualifying famers for purchases of farm real estateand equipment. Using Aggie Bond data collected from states and Census ofAgriculture data spanning 25 years, we examine whether the program has hadan impact on farm entrance, land ownership, and the size of operation. We donot find strong evidence that the program led to an increase in theproportion of beginning farmers; however, we find limited evidence theprogram helped beginning farmers become full land owners as well asincreased the rate of growth in the proportion of beginning farmers who arefull land owners.

Given the geography and agroclimatic conditions of the Southeast, coupledwith continued population expansion from in-migration, local foods marketsmay be a promising niche market for some farms in the region. The Southeasthas more small farms than any other U.S. region. Using farm-level data, weaddress the question of how successful southeastern farms engaged in directsales to consumers differ from other farms. We also include a case study ofa marketing association in the panhandle of Florida. In both analyses, wefocus on the role of the supply chain for direct sales in explaining farmreturns.

To capitalize on potential opportunities presented by growing consumerdemand for locally grown foods, farmers need insight into significantmotivations and behavioral characteristics of consumers in their region.This article aims to evaluate the characteristics of southeastern urbanconsumers who purchased food directly from producers. Novel study findingsinclude the impact of disease incidences that occurred in respondent andrelated family members, a more accurate understanding of U.S. agriculture,relatively higher levels of concern about U.S. food safety, and greaterphysical activity levels, which are significant motivators of increasedlikelihood to purchase direct from producers.

The three articles in this invited paper session investigate challenges andopportunities for agricultural producers in the southeastern United States.Two of the articles focus on the increasing demand for locally produced foodand offer insight into potential marketing opportunities that this growingdemand may provide for beginning or young farmers. The third article centerson financing options that are available to beginning farmers and evaluatesthe use of Aggie Bonds as a financing source for beginning farmers.

Agriculture's significant global contribution to greenhouse gas (GHG)emissions has spurred consumer and retailer interest in GHG mitigation andmay lead to incentive programs for producers to lessen GHG emissions. Alongthose lines, a producer choice is the use of embedded seed technologydesigned to enhance the marketable portion of yield through improveddisease, weed, and pest management with the same or lower use of inputs.This article examines commonalities and differences across three recentstudies on rice, sweet corn, and cotton, which addressed the impacts ofembedded seed technology on yield, input use, and GHG emissions. Embeddedseed technology can be any method of improving the physical or geneticcharacteristics of a seed. These seed enhancements can include physiologicalquality, vigor, and synchronicity (consistency across seedlings in time ofemergence and size) through traditional breeding, hybrid breeding, orbiotechnology.

Historically, market situation and outlook has often included some form ofprice forecast. Recent volatility in agricultural commodity markets ismaking price forecasts challenging and at times less reliable. In addressingthis price volatility, changes in agricultural markets are highlighted alongwith price forecasts: pre- and postincreased market volatility. Given theserecent challenges, the future of Extension agricultural commodity marketingis discussed.

Natural causes (such as droughts), non-natural causes (such as competinguses), and government policies limit the supply of water for agriculture ingeneral and irrigating crops in particular. Under such reduced water supplyscenarios, existing physical models reduce irrigation proportionally amongcrops in the farmer's portfolio, disregarding temporal changes in economicand/or institutional conditions. Hence, changes in crop mix resulting fromexpectations about risks and returns are ignored. A method is developed thatconsiders those changes and accounts for economic substitution and expansioneffects. Forecasting studies based on this method with surface water inGeorgia and Alabama demonstrate the relative strength of econometricmodeling vis-à-vis physical methods. Results from a study using this methodfor ground water in Mississippi verify the robustness of those findings.Results from policy-induced simulation scenarios indicate water savings of12% to 27% using the innovative method developed. Although better irrigationwater demand forecasting in crop production was the key objective of thispilot project, conservation of a valuable natural resource (water) hasturned out to be a key consequence.

The new Farm Bill could lead to significant changes for commodity producers.The potential impact of these changes on cotton producers is examined. Inparticular, the difference between the existing Direct and Counter-CyclicalPayment Program and the new Stacked Income Protection Plan (STAX) for cottonproducers is discussed. An illustrative example is provided to show howpayments to cotton producers could potentially differ for a specific yearunder various programs. Detailed information on STAX calculations and a STAXpayment calculator is included to assist with the development of Extensionprograms targeted to cotton producers, landowners, and bankers.