One source of phosphorous pollution in areas of high chicken production isrunoff from fields using fertilizer from these operations. A potentialsolution is to feed chicken high available phosphorus (HAP) corn, reducingphosphorus in manure. This study examined consumer purchase likelihood ofchickens fed HAP, created traditionally or through genetic modification, andother genetically modified (GM) corn including Bt and Roundup-ready. Surveyresults from the Delmarva Peninsula found considerable interest in non-GMHAP corn, although GM HAP corn was not typically viewed as more acceptablethan other GM varieties. Overall, the marketplace appears open to productsgeared toward environmental benefits.

In the United States. 146.5 trillion Btu's of energy were used in the production and marketing of poultry products in 1974, at a cost of $550 million [4, p. 261. Processing plant operations accounted for about $130 million or 24 percent of these costs. Because of increased mechanization and higher sanitation standards, the poultry processing industry has become more energy intensive over time. Expanding volume and increased emphasis on further processed products also have contributed to greater energy use.

Second thoughts about the assigned title of this paper (Rural Development Research—One Perspective) prompted a change — there is a not too subtle implication that the “one perspective” may not be the correct perspective. Also, I had envisioned assimilating a number of perspectives attributable to others into my own – and at least attempting not to miss the target altogether. However, such would be a rather placid and inappropriate approach to the topic. Consequently, I propose to confront the topic of rural development research more directly, scrutinizing it as closely as possible, and attempting to make a contribution to a better understanding of the problems facing rural development researchers and those concerned with action programs in “rural development.”

Most studies of the economics of migration have implicitly assumed that migratory streams are homogeneous. However, migratory streams from one region to another consist of two distinct streams: a stream of first-time migrants and a stream of return migrants moving back to their area of origin. In fact, a substantial proportion of all U.S. migration is return migration, 14 percent from 1955 to 1960. Moreover, in states with histories of substantial out-migration, an even greater proportion of in-migrants are returnees, 35.4 percent between 1955 and 1960. Yet, economists have largely ignored return migration in their attempts to explain changes in the labor force.

This article proposes the parsimonious Stone-Geary utility function from consumer choice theory as a production function model. The viability of the threshold input idea is empirically demonstrated for irrigation water (and in the case of nitrogen, a “gratis” threshold) using two field trials from the famous Hexem-Heady data sets. The implications of the Stone-Geary model for tractable U-shaped average variable cost and for factor demand and product supply are explored.

This study evaluates the farmland price forecasts provided by the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago's Land Values and Credit Conditions Survey from 1991: quarter 1 (Q1) through 2016: Q1. Prior studies have demonstrated that similar surveys of agricultural bankers provide accurate predictions of the direction of future farm real estate values through qualitative forecast evaluation. This study extends the existing knowledge base by converting the qualitative responses to quantitative expectations. The quantified expectations are then subjected to additional forecast optimality tests, which suggest that the forecasts are unbiased but inefficient.

The Food Stamp Act of 1964 (with subsequent amendments) charges the U.S. Department of Agriculture with extending the benefits of the program to all households willing and eligible to participate. This duty was reinforced by a federal court ruling in 1975 (Beckel and MacDonald; Bennett et al. vs. Butz et al.).

Because of the importance of the Food Stamp Program (FSP), numerous studies have been conducted to gauge its intended effectiveness. Areas of study have included nutritional benefits of the program, impact on food expenditures, identification of ways to improve the rate of program participation, and identification of socioeconomic characteristics that may be important indicators of participation or nonparticipation in the program (for example, see Davis and Neenan; Lane; Neenan and Davis 1977, 1978; Salathe; Scearce et al.; Smith and Rowe; West; USDA, 1976, 1978).

The role of the economist in agriculture has increased in significance in the 1970s and 80s. A review of the recent history of agriculture begins with the period of stability and relative certainty of agricultural input and product prices in the 1950s. But by the 1970s, the economic impacts of the oil crisis, inflation, and orientation to free market prices of agricultural products necessitated a transition in the role and importance of the agricultural economist. Economists became vital to farmers who had to make economic decisions on appropriate cropping patterns, when and how to market products, and how to invest wisely.

A generalized Heckman model of purchase decisions incorporating perceived consumer quality attributes, ease of purchase, and familiarity with marketing outlets as factors influencing pecan purchases is estimated. Marketing efforts that encourage consumers to expand expenditures on nut products increase both the probability of pecan purchases and the amount purchased. Consumers who use all types of nuts in a wider variety of foods tend to purchase pecans more frequently. A diverse set of marketing outlets provides consumers with convenient sources for purchasing pecans and has a significant influence on the probability of pecan purchases but not the amount of pecans purchased.

Although the negative externalities of large-scale hog production have been well studied, econometric estimates of its potentially positive labor markets effects are lacking. We use the geographic shifts in large-scale hog production between 1992 and 2007 to estimate such production's effects on local farm and nonfarm labor markets. We find that every additional 1000 head at large-scale facilities in a county generates 0.57 additional large-scale hog operation jobs, 0.04 fewer small-scale hog operation jobs, 0.16 fewer nonhog-related agricultural jobs, and 0.59 additional nonfarm jobs, for a total of 0.96 jobs. Our total estimate is lower than previous ones based on input-output modeling.

Crawfish processors' ex ante adoption rates of three hypothetical crawfish peeling machines are assessed using a polychotomous-choice elicitation format. Adoption rates would likely range from 23% to 70%, depending upon which machine was offered and whether it was purchased or leased. Processors most likely to adopt are determined using ordered probit analysis. Likely adopters would be larger, more diversified processors with greater resources and longer planning horizons.

“Multifunctionality” emphasizes the benefit externality properties of nonfood products that coincide with agricultural commodity production, some of which also have public-good properties. However, determining the willingness to pay for local benefit externalities is seen as necessary but daunting. This paper pursues the idea that the valuation process might first start by estimating the incentives required to supply various levels of a benefit externality. With the use of carbon sequestration through the adoption of no-till cultivation as an example of a multifunctional benefit externality, mathematical programming is used to derive representative price schedules. The implication for incentive prices are examined in light of risk aversion.

Community colleges likely draw to college individuals who would otherwise not attend due to their low costs and open admission requirements. This is labeled as the democratization effect. They may also divert individuals away from 4-year to terminal 2-year college degrees (the diversion effect). This study estimates democratization and diversion effects separately for nonmetropolitan and metropolitan youth using nationally representative data and models that account for endogenous institution selection. We find the democratization effect to exceed the diversion effect of community colleges for both metro and nonmetro youth. The democratization-diversion ratio is slightly higher for urban youth.

The attraction of new industry is an ongoing concern for most local officials. Generally, local officials are aware of the private sector benefits of new jobs and income. Attention is beginning to be paid to secondary private sector impacts such as the effect of new industry on local wage rates and the problems associated with in-migration of labor to fill new jobs. Borts and Stein (Chapter 9) give a theoretical discussion of these issues.

In addition researchers and policy makers are interested in the development of models that estimate the impact of new industry on local government expenditures and revenues. Many computerized versions of local fiscal impact models are reviewed in a recently published text (Burchell and Listokin, pp. 345-59). The popularity of these models is understandable because of the potential benefits to be derived from accurate forecasts of local fiscal impact. For example, a community can determine the magnitude of a tax incentive it can offer to industry and still maintain a positive fiscal impact for local government. Zoning laws can be written to encourage land use patterns that will be efficient from the public sector's perspective if the public expenditures and public revenues associated with alternative land use patterns can be predicted. Finally, local areas may be able to demonstrate to state government that a large-scale industrial project will benefit the fiscal position of the state but be a burden to the local fiscal balance.

In context of the phrase “Rural Development”, so much a part of the current vocabulary of social scientists, the term ‘rural’ is often poorly defined and loosely used. Partly because of the great diversity in definitions of rural, both expressed and implied, a coherent and comprehensive rural development literature has not emerged. Obviously, rural development refers to the development of whatever is rural. The aim of this paper is to deal only with the question of what is rural, leaving the matter of what consitutes development to other writers.

Agriculture has seen a steady movement toward the increased use of contracts. Agricultural contracts now guide the interrelationships of parties throughout the modern production system, extending well beyond the livestock sector. With this predominance come new issues that require us to reexamine contract theory and the roles of the parties. This review examines legislation, regulations, and recent court rulings in seemingly unrelated areas that have specific relationships to the development of contracts in production agriculture: environmental law and labor law.

The product-product relationship has been a traditional subject of most production economics and farm management courses for the past two decades. Although the traditional examples of product-product optimization have come primarily from the agricultural production sector (e.g., legume-corn rotations and crop-livestock combinations), the concept is useful in analyzing the organization of any multi-product firm-including those firms which produce externalities in the form of environmental degradation.

Three concepts or ideas usually are offered as giving rise to a positively sloped or complementary range on the product transformation surface-(l) one production process uses as an input a by-product of another production process, (2) one process uses quantities of a factor that are “surplus” to another, or (3) technical interaction (production function shifts) occurs.

Events of the past two years, specifically the agricultural price explosion of 1973, have strongly emphasized the growing interdependency of countries in the production, consumption and trade in agricultural products. The illusion of a closed agricultural economy has been dealt a series of severe blows. The world monetary crisis, the dollar devaluations, and sharply increased foreign demand for U.S. commodities have suggested that there is a single world market for basic commodities.

This paper identifies optimal combinations of nitrogen in the form of urea, fresh litter and composted litter for rice production. Traditional cost minimization techniques using data from experimental results conducted at three sites in Arkansas during 1991 have been employed. Comparisons between different scenarios indicate that the trade-off between the use of poultry litter and urea nitrogen depends on such factors as soil fertility, the yield response to litter application and the relative prices of nitrogen and litter. The use of litter is more economical at high target yields than at low target yields.

The problem of scheduling input applications can be examined by extending conventional production function analysis. Using appropriately designed agricultural experiments, it is possible to estimate production function parameters with alternative specifications for input timing (and amount). A study of nitrogen applications to rice is employed to illustrate scheduling via production functions. Alternative specifications and functional forms are simultaneously examined to determine the sensitivity of economic results to these factors. Sensitivity is found to be high, and this finding is hypothesized to be critical for other approaches to input scheduling as well.