The past 20 years have brought significant changes in the structure and competition in the U.S. food marketing system. Warehouse club stores, drugstores, and other nontraditional foodstores have increased their share of food sales, leading traditional food stores to compete to retain their share of consumers’ food purchases.
U.S. hog production has shifted rapidly to fewer and larger operations that specialize in a single phase of production and use production contracts. Substantial productivity gains for hog farms, particularly specialized hog-finishing operations, have resulted in reduced costs of production and contributed to lower prices for hogs at the farm gate. Technological innovation and increasing farm size each explain about half the gains in hog farm productivity between 1992 and 2004.
As the total U.S. agricultural labor force has declined over the past century, hired farmworkers have become a larger proportion of all farmworkers and are especially important in the production of fruit, tree nuts, vegetables, and horticultural crops. Hired farmworkers earn lower incomes and face harsher working conditions compared with all other U.S. wage and salary workers. Because an estimated half of hired farmworkers lack legal status to work in the U.S., legislative reforms of immigration policies could have an impact on the sectors employing them.
Argentina and Uruguay are increasingly important suppliers of beef in global markets. Key to both countries’ success in international markets are certification and traceability programs, which have been improved in response to recent cattle disease outbreaks. Grass-based production systems and bans against feeding meat and bone meat to cattle have help allay importers’ concerns about bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE).
Amber Waves presents the broad scope of ERS’s research and analysis. The magazine covers the economics of agriculture, food and nutrition, the food industry, trade, rural America, and farm-related environmental topics. Available on the internet and in print, Amber Waves is issued in print five times a year (February, April, June, September and November). The internet edition, or “eZine,” includes links to web –only resources, such as podcasts and additional articles.
More than half of all transactions for U.S. agricultural products are still conducted
through spot market exchanges, in which commodities are bought and sold in open
market transactions for immediate delivery. But a growing share of U.S. farm production
is produced and sold under agricultural contracts. Such contracts between farmers and
their buyers are reached prior to harvest (or before the completion stage for livestock)
and govern the terms under which products are transferred from the farm. The shift of
production to contracting coincides with shifts of production to larger farms. Contracts
are far more likely to be used on large farms than on small ones. Marketing and production
contracts covered 41 percent of the value of U.S. agricultural production in 2005, up
from 39 percent in 2003, 36 percent in 2001, and a substantial increase over 28 percent in
1991 and 11 percent in 1969.
Statistical Indicators previously published in Agricultural Outlook addressing a broad spectrum of agriculture-related issues. Includes commodity and food prices, general economic indicators, government program expenditures, farm income estimates, and trade and export statistics.
The DatelinERS newsletter offers concise summaries of ERS reports and events with links to areas within our website. You can find it in our newsroom at www.ers.usda.gov/News/.
Issued monthly, WASDE provides the most current USDA forecasts of U.S. and world supply-use balances for major grains, soybeans and products, and cotton, and U.S. supply and use data for sugar and livestock products.
International long-term projections indicate supply, demand, and trade for major agricultural commodities for selected countries. These projections provide foreign country detail supporting USDA's annual long-term projections report.
A futures-price forecasting model is used to provide season-average price forecasts for corn, soybeans, and wheat. In addition to the monthly forecasts for prices received, the model computes a forecast for the counter-cyclical payment rate for each commodity. The 2002 Farm Act provides for counter-cyclical payments when prices are below specified levels.
Examines supply, use, prices, and trade for oil crops (primarily soybeans and products), including supply and demand prospects in major importing and exporting countries. Includes information on cottonseed, peanuts, sunflowerseed, tropical oils, corn oil, and animal fats.
Timely version released by 4 p.m. ET. Final full pdf available no later than 4 business days after the day of initial release. Subscribe to the free electronic version to receive timely notification of newsletter availability. Users who subscribe to this newsletter will also receive articles on timely topics via e-mail notification.
Examines supply, use, prices, and trade for rice, including supply and demand prospects in major importing and exporting countries. Contains information on U.S. rough, milled, and long-, medium-, and short-grain rice.
Timely version released by 4 p.m. ET. Final full pdf available no later than 4 business days after the day of initial release. Subscribe to the free electronic version to receive timely notification of newsletter availability. Users who subscribe to this newsletter will also receive articles on timely topics via e-mail notification.
Examines supply, use, prices, and trade for cotton and wool, including supply and demand prospects in major importing and exporting countries. Includes data on raw fibers and textiles.
Released by 4 p.m. ET. Subscribe to the free electronic version to receive timely notification of newsletter availability. Users who subscribe to this newsletter will also receive articles on timely topics via e-mail notification.
The latest U.S. agricultural trade data are now available from ERS. This new data product announces USDA's monthly release of calendar year, fiscal year, year-to-date, and monthly value of U.S. agricultural exports, imports, and trade balance.
Examines supply, use, prices, and trade for wheat, including supply and demand prospects in major importing and exporting countries. Contains data and information on U.S. wheat by class.
Timely version released by 9 a.m. ET. Final full pdf available no later than 4 business days after the day of initial release. Subscribe to the free electronic version to receive timely notification of newsletter availability. Users who subscribe to this newsletter will also receive articles on timely topics via e-mail notification.
The Livestock and Meat Trade Data Set contains monthly and annual data for imports and exports of live cattle, hogs, sheep, and goats, as well as beef and veal, pork, lamb and mutton, chicken meat, turkey meat, and eggs. The tables report physical quantities, not dollar values or unit prices. Data on beef and veal, pork, and lamb and mutton are on a carcass-weight-equivalent basis. Breakdowns by country are included.
Provides a monthly update of year-to-date quantities and values of U.S. agricultural exports and imports. Also provides data on leading destination countries for exports and import source countries.
The China agricultural and economic database is a collection of agricultural-related data from official statistical publications of the People's Republic of China. Analysts and policy professionals around the world need information about the rapidly changing Chinese economy, but statistics are often published only in China and sometimes only in Chinese-language publications. This product assembles a wide variety of data items covering agricultural production, inputs, prices, food consumption, output of industrial products relevant to the agricultural sector, and macroeconomic data.
This data set provides monthly average price values, and the differences among those values, at the farm, wholesale, and retail stages of the production and marketing chain for selected cuts of beef, pork, and broilers. In addition, retail prices are provided for beef and pork cuts, turkey, whole chickens, eggs, and dairy products.
This study used 1999-2004 Current Population Survey data in conjunction with the Urban Institute’s Transfer Income Model (TRIM3) to quantify the impact of the 2002 Farm Bill’s eligibility restorations. About half the estimated impact came from increases in newly eligible families, while the rest came from increases in eligible family members within already-eligible families (usually within families with citizen children). By 2004, the restorations had extended eligibility to roughly 1 million legal immigrants and 148,000 additional families. The extension in eligibility reached around two-thirds of those made ineligible by the 1996 welfare reform law rules and not covered by the 1998 restorations. The estimated participation gain over the period was 780,000 individuals and 139,000 legal immigrant families. The restorations took place in an era of large increases in food stamp caseloads overall; even so, the share of families containing legal immigrants increased substantially.
Disclaimer: This study was conducted by the Urban Institute under Agreement No. 59-5000-6-0104 with the Economic Research Service. The views expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of ERS or USDA.
Timely livestock, dairy, and poultry information, focusing on current and forecast production, price, and trade statistics for each of the sectors.
Released by 9:00 a.m. ET. Supporting tables available later in the month after release of key livestock and animal product data. Subscribe to the free electronic version to receive timely notification of newsletter availability. Users who subscribe to this newsletter will also receive articles on timely topics via e-mail notification. Printed copies can be purchased from the National Technical Information Service (NTIS) by calling 1-800-999-6779 (specify SUB-LDPM-4042).
Provides current intelligence and forecasts the effects of changing conditions in the U.S. vegetables and melons sector (including potatoes, pulses, and mushrooms). Topics include production, consumption, shipments, prices received, trade, and more.
Released by 4 p.m. ET. Subscribe to the free electronic version to receive timely notification of newsletter (and yearbook) availability. Users who subscribe to this newsletter will also receive articles on timely topics via e-mail notification. Printed copies of the newsletter (and yearbook) can be purchased from the National Technical Information Service (NTIS) by calling 1-800-999-6779 (specify SUB-VGS-4039).
U.S. agricultural trade generates employment, income, and purchasing power in both the farm and nonfarm sectors. Each farm export dollar earned stimulated another $1.65 in business activity in calendar year 2006. The $71.0 billion of agricultural exports in 2006 produced an additional $117.2 billion in economic activity for a total economic output of $188.2 billion. Agricultural exports also generated 841,000 full-time civilian jobs, which include 482,000 jobs in the nonfarm sector. Farmer’s purchases of fuel, fertilizer, and other inputs to produce commodities for export spurred economic activity in the manufacturing, trade, and transportation sectors.
Interactive database that contains statistics on four feed grains (corn, grain sorghum, barley, and oats), foreign coarse grains (feed grains plus rye, millet, and mixed grains), hay, and related items. Tables previously published annually in the Feed Yearbook are available and updated continuously as data are added to the database. Custom queries also allow users to retrieve historical data.
This data product contains statistics on wheat - including the five classes of wheat: hard red winter, hard red spring, soft red winter, white, and durum - and rye. Includes data published in the monthly Wheat Outlook and previously annual Wheat Yearbook. Data are monthly, quarterly, and/or annual depending upon the data series.
The Rice Briefing Room offers a synthesis of ERS research, analysis, and outlook on U.S. and global rice markets, including current and historical data on supply, demand, and trade.
The DatelinERS newsletter offers concise summaries of ERS reports and events with links to areas within our website. You can find it in our newsroom at www.ers.usda.gov/News/.
