Overview
Food and agricultural systems operate in a highly competitive
global context, and the United States is a major player
in these international markets—the U.S. share of
the global market for agricultural goods averages just
under 20 percent. Since U.S. farms produce far beyond
domestic demand for many crops, maintaining a competitive
agricultural system is critical to ensuring the economic
viability of U.S. agriculture. At the same time, U.S.
agriculture is a diverse economic sector. Differences
in commodity type, farm size, operator and household characteristics,
and even goals for farming affect the competitiveness
of individual operations and ultimately of the sector
as a whole.
In recent years, changes in the rules of trade, shifts
in domestic policy, and new developments in technology
have altered the competitive landscape of global agriculture
and the challenges facing American farmers. ERS research
focuses on these and other economic issues affecting the
U.S. food and agriculture sector's competitiveness, including
factors related to performance, structure, risk and uncertainty,
marketing, and market and nonmarket trade barriers. More
overview...
Related Briefing Rooms
Features
 2008 Farm Bill Side-By-Side (August 2008) presents a title-by-title summary of key provisions of the 2008 Act in a side-by-side comparison with previous legislation. The side-by-side includes links to related ERS publications and to analyses of previous farm acts. New features include a user's guide, an A-Z list of major provisions, and a search function.
Fluctuating Food Commodity Prices: A Complex Issue With No Easy Answers (November 2008) explores the many factors that contributed to the rapid escalation of food commodity prices through mid-2008. For the full report, see Global Agricultural Supply and Demand: Factors Contributing to the Recent Increase in Food Commodity Prices (July 2008).
Recommended Readings
New Market Realities Affect Crop Program Choices (November 2008) discusses the implications of higher crop prices for commodity program payments. Higher prices reduce the likelihood of commodity program payments based on fixed target prices, but increase the importance of insurance under the Federal crop insurance program. The new Average Crop Revenue Election (ACRE) program offers revenue protection based on recent market prices, but participating farmers must forgo some benefits of traditional commodity programs.
Market Failures: When the Invisible Hand Gets Shaky (November 2008) discusses the economic principles justifying government intervention in agricultural markets when markets fail to allocate resources efficiently. While overcoming such market failures can be a function of government, devising a solution that improves upon the status quo may not always be possible.
Food Safety and Imports: An Analysis of FDA Import Refusal Reports (September 2008) 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 reflect 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, and other monitoring efforts.
See all recommended readings...
Recommended Data Products
Agricultural
Outlook Statistical Indicators, formerly provided
in Agricultural Outlook magazine, provide data
on individual commodities, the general economy, agricultural
trade, farm income and expenses, farm prices, food prices
and expenditures, and other statistical indicators of
the food and agriculture system.
Feed Grains Database
is a queryable database that contains monthly, quarterly,
and annual data on prices, supply, and use of corn and
other feed grains. This includes data published in the
monthly Feed Outlook and the annual Feed
Yearbook reports.
Farm Business and Household Survey
Data: Customized Data Summaries from ARMS (the Agricultural
Resource Management Survey) is a web-based data delivery
tool that provides information on farming practices, commodity
production costs and returns, the economics of the farm
business, the structure of American farming, and the characteristics
of the American farm household. This tool provides centralized
access to all ARMS data, including those previously provided
in the Farm Financial Management and Crop Production Practices
data products.
Commodity and Food Elasticities Database allows queriable searches of income, expenditure, and own- and cross-price elasticities for specific commodities and countries, which can be ranked and sorted. The elasticities are mainly from U.S. research on consumer demand published in working papers, dissertations, and peer-reviewed journals. The greatest number of demand studies are for vegetables, fruits, meat, and grocery products in the United States and China.
See all recommended data products...
Newsletters
ERS develops newsletters, many of which are issued monthly,
highlighting timely developments in U.S. and global markets.
Commodity-based newsletters include: cotton
and wool,
feed grains, oil
crops, wheat,
rice,
fruit and tree nuts,
vegetables and melons,
sugar
and sweeteners, and livestock,
dairy, and poultry. We also issue the Outlook
for U.S. Agricultural Trade and Agricultural
Income and Finance. See the 2009
calendar of releases.
Related Links
USDA agencies and other government organizations of interest
in the area of agricultural competitiveness.
See all related links...
|
