Features Catalog…

These items have been featured on the front page of the ERS web site.

Rising Food Prices Take a Bite Out of Food Stamp Benefits Shortfall between food stamp benefits and the cost of a nutritional diet grows with the rate of food price inflation. (Featured 12/30/2008 - 1/13/2009)

Environment for Agricultural and Agribusiness Investment in India The policy environment for agribusiness in India has grown more investor friendly since the late 1990s and private investment appears to be responding, but significant barriers remain and the pace of future reforms remains uncertain. (Featured 12/12/2008 - 1/9/2009)

Got Data? Click here for access to all data sets, databases, statistics, tables, graphs, charts, maps, and data products available from ERS (Featured 10/21/2008 - 1/7/2009)

Behavioral Experiment to Encourage Healthy Eating in College Cafeteria Effects of various payment options and menus selection methods on food choices of college students (Featured 12/15/2008 - 12/30/2008)

Careers at ERS Employment at ERS offers a stimulating intellectual environment with great potential for personal and professional growth. (Featured 11/25/2008 - 12/15/2008)

2008 Farm Income Forecast 2008 Net Farm Income Is Forecast To Be $86.9 Billion (Featured 11/25/2008 - 12/12/2008)

2009 Food Assistance and Nutrition Research Conference 2009 Food Assistance and Nutrition Research Conference: Emerging Issues and Recent Findings will be held on Thursday, December 4, 2008 at ERS headquarters (Featured 11/12/2008 - 12/4/2008)

Rural America At A Glance, 2008 Edition Get the most recent indicators of social and economic conditions in rural areas. (Featured 11/10/2008 - 11/25/2008)

Sourcing Organic Ingredients Certified organic handlers use contracts and other forms of vertical coordination for procuring ingredients and maintaining strong working relationships with their suppliers. (Featured 10/27/2008 - 11/25/2008)

USDA Awards $1.8 Million for Research on Food and Nutrition Assistance Programs Fiscal 2008 awards in the FANRP competitive grants and cooperative agreements program (Featured 10/27/2008 - 11/12/2008)

Effects of Avian Influenza News on Consumer Purchasing Behavior How do newspaper articles about potential health hazards from avian influenza (bird flu) influence food demand? (Featured 10/20/2008 - 10/27/2008)

Program of Research on the Economics of Invasive Species Management 2008 Competitive Awards USDA awards $974,000 to research the economics of combating invasive pests (Featured 10/8/2008 - 10/27/2008)

2008 PREISM Workshop: Looking at the Economics of Invasive Species Management October 23 and 24, 2008 at ERS. View the workshop agenda and register to attend. (Featured 10/20/2008 - 10/24/2008)

Food Safety and Imports An ERS study of U.S. Food and Drug Administration data found that import refusals highlight food safety problems (Featured 9/17/2008 - 10/20/2008)

Listen to ERS Podcasts ERS produces regular podcasts on a variety of subjects. (Featured 10/6/2008 - 10/20/2008)

Access to Affordable and Nutritious Food: Understanding Food Deserts Workshop ERS hosts workshop on Oct. 9 at ERS headquarters. View the agenda. (Featured 9/30/2008 - 10/8/2008)

2008 RIDGE Conference Annual Research Innovation and Development Grants in Economics (RIDGE) Conference will be held on October 16 and 17, 2008 at ERS. (Featured 9/10/2008 - 9/24/2008)

2008 Farm Bill Side-By-Side ERS compares key provisions of the new Farm Bill with 2002-07 farm legislation, side by side. Includes: user's guide, A-Z list of major provisions, and internal search function. (Featured 8/22/2008 - 9/17/2008)

2008 Farm Income Forecast 2008 Net Farm Income Is Forecast To Be $95.7 Billion (Featured 8/28/2008 - 9/15/2008)

Dietary Knowledge versus Roadblocks to Healthy Eating The effect of dietary knowledge on food choices may wane when individuals experience long intervals between meals and eat away from home. (Featured 8/18/2008 - 9/10/2008)

Decline in Consumer Use of Food Nutrition Labels, 1995-2006 Most consumers use nutrition labels on food packages, but use has declined for most label components since the mid-1990s (Featured 8/11/2008 - 8/28/2008)

Coming Soon: 2008 Farm Bill Side-By-Side Sign up to receive an e-mail notice when the 2008 Farm Bill Side-By-Side is released. (Featured 6/11/2008 - 8/22/2008)

Who Will China Feed? Though China continues to be a major player in global food exports, growing resource constraints and environmental costs could mean an end to ''easy'' growth for Chinese agriculture. (Featured 6/11/2008 - 8/22/2008)

Profile of Hired Farmworkers, A 2008 Update Hired farmworkers make up a third of the total agricultural labor force and are critical to U.S. agricultural production, particularly in labor-intensive sectors such as fruits and vegetables. (Featured 8/6/2008 - 8/18/2008)

National School Lunch Program Historical trends,participant characteristics, and challenges for the NSLP. (Featured 7/29/2008 - 8/11/2008)

Diet Quality and Food Consumption Research on dietary patterns, food consumption trends, and nutritional/health outcomes (Featured 7/17/2008 - 7/29/2008)

Employment Opportunities at ERS The Economic Research Service has a number of current openings, and will be recruiting at the American Agricultural Economics Association (AAEA) meetings in Orlando, Florida, on July 26-28, 2008. (Featured 7/22/2008 - 7/29/2008)

Food Availability (Per Capita) Data System Annual update to the ERS food availability (formerly food consumption) per capita data system includes three related data series on food consumption. (Featured 6/30/2008 - 7/17/2008)

Accepting Research Proposals in Behavioral Health Economics July 3, 2008 deadline for applications for competitive grants in behavioral health economics (Featured 6/3/2008 - 7/9/2008)

Bio Energy Awareness Days (BEAD II), June 19-22, 2008 Bio Energy Awareness Days (BEAD II), Washington, D.C., June 19-22, 2008 (Featured 6/17/2008 - 6/23/2008)

Genetically Engineered Crops in the U.S. Rapid growth in the adoption of genetically engineered crops continues in the U.S. (Featured 7/9/2008 - 6/23/2008)

Coming Soon: 2008 Farm Bill Side-By-Side Stay abreast of ERS' farm bill-related research and analysis by signing up to receive e-mail notices of the latest activities and releases. (Featured 6/3/2008 - 6/11/2008)

Eating Patterns and Time-Use Patterns Data from the Eating and Health Module of the American Time Use Survey (Featured 5/28/2008 - 6/11/2008)

Global Agricultural Supply and Demand: Factors Contributing to the Recent Increase in Food Commodity Prices Many factors have contributed to the runup in food commodity prices over the last 2 years. (Featured 5/5/2008 - 6/11/2008)

China Briefing Room The China Briefing Room offers a synthesis of ERS research, analysis, and statistics on Chinese agriculture (Featured 5/22/2008 - 6/4/2008)

The U.S. Organic Handling Sector in 2004 Findings of the Nationwide Survey of Organic Manufacturers, Processors, and Distributors (Featured 5/6/2008 - 5/28/2008)

FANRP Invites Research Proposals Proposals are due May 19, 2008 (Featured 5/13/2008 - 5/22/2008)

Wheat Data Now available monthly: data on U.S. supply, disappearance, prices, and trade for five classes of wheat (Featured 5/5/2008 - 5/13/2008)

2007 Farm Bill Resources ERS analysts examine the economic effects of current farm legislation on producers, consumers, taxpayers, and rural communities, and evaluate potential effects of alternative policies and programs. (Featured 4/22/2008 - 5/6/2008)

FANRP Invites Research Proposals Proposals are due May 19, 2008 (Featured 3/17/2008 - 5/5/2008)

Food Price Outlook, 2008 The Consumer Price Index (CPI) for all food is projected to increase 4.0 to 5.0 percent in 2008 (Featured 4/28/2008 - 5/5/2008)

Agricultural Contracting Update U.S. agricultural production continues to shift away from cash markets and toward greater use of contracts. (Featured 4/1/2008 - 4/28/2008)

Food Stamps and Obesity: What Do We Know? Studies show that the likelihood of being overweight or obese varies by selected subgroups of Food Stamp Program participants (Featured 4/21/2008 - 4/28/2008)

Price Trends Are Similar for Fruits, Vegetables, and Snack Foods Has the price of a healthy diet changed? (Featured 3/31/2008 - 4/22/2008)

Long-Term Agricultural Projections 10-year economic projections of the food and agriculture sector (Featured 4/8/2008 - 4/21/2008)

Convergence in Global Food Demand and Delivery Food-purchasing patterns and food delivery mechanisms of high-income countries are being increasingly copied by middle-income countries. (Featured 3/17/2008 - 4/8/2008)

PREISM Invites 2008 Research Proposals Proposals are due April 25, 2008 (Featured 3/7/2008 - 4/1/2008)

Bioenergy and Its Implications for Agriculture In the United States, corn-based ethanol is currently the largest source of biofuel as a gasoline substitute or additive. Growing biofuel production has implications for the U.S. agriculture sector and rural communities. (Featured 3/3/2008 - 3/17/2008)

Food Assistance and Nutrition Programs Briefing Room Project descriptions, research publications, grant programs, and conferences sponsored by the Food Assistance and Nutrition Research Program (FANRP) (Featured 2/25/2008 - 3/17/2008)

Food Price Outlook, 2008 The Consumer Price Index (CPI) for all food is projected to increase 3.0 to 4.0 percent in 2008. (Featured 3/10/2008 - 3/17/2008)

Careers at ERS ERS has summer internship opportunities and postdoctoral positions available in 2008 (Featured 2/11/2008 - 3/3/2008)

Global Impacts of Biofuels With near record oil prices, alternative fuels such as biofuel (made most commonly from corn, sugarcane, and vegetable oil) have drawn attention worldwide. (Featured 3/2/2008 - 3/3/2008)

2008 Farm Income Forecast 2008 net farm income is forecast to be $92.3 billion (Featured 2/12/2008 - 2/25/2008)

Agricultural Outlook Forum 2008 Register now for USDA's 84th annual Forum where the Secretary of Agriculture and government, farm, and industry leaders discuss the future of American agriculture (Featured 2/4/2008 - 2/12/2008)

Rising food prices podcast The combination of rising energy prices, use of feed crops for biofuel, greater world food demand, and stagnant food aid may undermine the food security of low-income countries. (Featured 2/4/2008 - 2/12/2008)

Can Food Stamps Do More To Improve Food Choices? An economic perspective on tactics to improve the diets of food stamp recipients (Featured 2/4/2008 - 2/11/2008)

Farm-Based Recreation Looking at the characteristics of who operates farm-based recreation enterprises. (Featured 1/18/2008 - 2/4/2008)

The Changing Economics of U.S. Hog Production The increasing size and specialization of hog operations reflect structural change in U.S. swine production during the past 15 years. (Featured 1/11/2008 - 1/28/2008)

The WIC Program Briefing Room Updated WIC Program Briefing Room highlights recent ERS research and publications (Featured 5/21/2007 - 1/28/2008)

Commodity Background Reports A series of commodity background reports that offer a broad picture of U.S. agriculture. (Featured 1/14/2008 - 1/18/2008)

The End of the Multifibre Arrangement: Impact on Developed and Developing Countries Conference: January 31 and February 1, 2008 (Featured 1/7/2008 - 1/18/2008)

2007 Farm Income Forecast (Featured 12/18/2007 - 12/31/2007)

2007 Farm Income Forecast (Featured 12/24/2007 - 12/31/2007)

Food Safety Briefing Room Economic issues that affect the safety of the U.S. food supply (Featured - 12/31/2007)

Informing Food and Nutrition Assistance Policy: 10 Years of Research at ERS Highlights from 10 years of food and nutrition assistance program research (Featured 12/5/2007 - 12/31/2007)

U.S. Grain Consumption: Who, What, Where, and How Much? Consumption of whole grains in American diets (Featured 12/11/2007 - 12/18/2007)

Wheat Data Now available monthly: data on U.S. supply, disappearance, prices, and trade for five classes of wheat (Featured 12/10/2007 - 12/17/2007)

Procurement and Handling by Organic Contractors This database contains select results from a survey of organic manufacturers, processors, and distributors on their commodity procurement and contracting practices. (Featured 11/26/2007 - 12/11/2007)

Child Nutrition Programs Briefing Room Information about USDA-administered food assistance programs serving the nutritional needs of children (Featured 11/26/2007 - 12/5/2007)

Integrating Commodity and Conservation Programs Can a single program support farm income and encourage producers to adopt environmentally sound farming practices? (Featured 10/30/2007 - 11/26/2007)

Rural America At A Glance, 2007 Edition The most recent indicators of social and economic conditions in rural areas. (Featured 10/30/2007 - 11/26/2007)

USDA awards $2.5 million for research on food assistance and nutrition programs Fiscal 2007 awards in the FANRP competitive grants and cooperative agreements program (Featured 10/29/2007 - 11/26/2007)

Organic Agriculture Get new information on organic production, prices, and recent findings. (Featured 10/10/2007 - 10/30/2007)

2008 Food Assistance Research Conference 2008 Food Assistance Research Conference: Recent Findings and Emerging Issues will be held on Thursday, December 6, 2007 at ERS headquarters (Featured 10/29/2007 - 10/29/2007)

Food and Nutrition Assistance Programs and Obesity: 1976-2002 Economic analysis of trends in the relationship between participation in food assistance programs and obesity (Featured 10/19/2007 - 10/29/2007)

Global Growth, Macroeconomic Change, and U.S. Agricultural Trade After a decade of uneven export growth and rapidly growing imports, U.S. agriculture has begun to reassert its position in global trade markets. (Featured 10/10/2007 - 10/19/2007)

2007 RIDGE Conference The annual Research Innovation and Development Grants in Economics (RIDGE) Conference will be held on October 11 and 12, 2007 at ERS headquarters (Featured 10/1/2007 - 10/10/2007)

Food Safety Briefing Room ERS food-safety research examines how markets, consumers, and regulators interact to provide safe food, and analyzes the economic efficiency of these interactions. (Featured 9/19/2007 - 10/10/2007)

2007 PREISM Workshop: Looking at the Economics of Invasive Species Management October 18 and 19, 2007. View the workshop agenda and register to attend. (Featured 9/21/2007 - 10/1/2007)

Food Marketing System in the U.S. briefing room Monitoring important developments in food markets in the U.S. (Featured 8/22/2007 - 9/11/2007)

Adoption of Genetically Engineered Crops in the U.S. Data cover GE varieties of corn, cotton, and soybeans for 2000-07, by State. (Featured 7/19/2007 - 8/22/2007)

Could Behavioral Economics Help Improve Diet Quality for Nutrition Assistance Program Participants? Possible options for improving diets and health of nutrition assistance program participants (Featured 6/19/2007 - 8/11/2007)

Examining the Structure & Finances of Family Farms U.S. farms are diverse, ranging from small retirement and residential farms to enterprises with annual sales in the millions. Nevertheless, most U.S. farms— 98 percent in 2004 —are family farms. Even the largest farms tend to be family farms. (Featured 6/11/2007 - 7/19/2007)

Food Security Assessment, 2006 The number of hungry people in the 70 lower income countries covered in this report rose from 804 million in 2005 to 849 million in 2006. (Featured 7/3/2007 - 7/17/2007)

Retail and Consumer Aspects of the Organic Milk Market Most organic milk is sold in conventional supermarkets, organic price premiums are large and vary by region, and most organic milk is branded. (Featured 6/13/2007 - 7/3/2007)

The U.S. Food Marketing System: Recent Developments, 1997-2006 Recent developments in U.S. food system include an increase in nontraditional grocery retailers (Featured 6/12/2007 - 6/19/2007)

Environmental Effects of Agricultural Land-Use Change Examining the productivity and environmental characteristics of croplands shifting in and out of production and the corresponding effects from agricultural policies affecting land use. (Featured 5/23/2007 - 6/12/2007)

Who Has Time To Cook? How Family Resources Influence Food Preparation Low-Income Households: Who Has Time To Cook? (Featured 5/4/2007 - 5/21/2007)

PREISM Invites 2007 Research Proposals Proposals are due May 7, 2007 (Featured 3/9/2007 - 5/4/2007)

Cost Pass-Through in the U.S. Coffee Industry Report examines the effect of changes in commodity costs on manufacturer and retail prices (Featured 4/10/2007 - 5/1/2007)

FANRP Invites 2007 Research Proposals Proposals are due May 21, 2007 (Featured 3/15/2007 - 4/10/2007)

International Agricultural Productivity Growth Workshop Monitoring and improving agricultural productivity is critical for enhancing rural economic growth and national competitiveness. (Featured 2/20/2007 - 3/16/2007)

The Food Assistance Landscape: FY 2006 Annual Report Trends through fiscal 2006 in USDA's $53 billion dollar food assistance programs (Featured 3/2/2007 - 3/16/2007)

Long-Term Agricultural Projections 10-year economic projections of the food and agriculture sector (Featured 2/14/2007 - 3/8/2007)

2007 Farm Income Forecast (Featured 2/14/2007 - 3/2/2007)

2007-16 Agricultural Projections 10-year economic projections of the food and agriculture sector (Featured 2/14/2007 - 2/14/2007)

Farmers Balance Off-Farm Work and Technology Adoption Farm households that rely heavily on off-farm income have a tendency to adopt farm technologies that save management time. (Featured 2/6/2007 - 2/14/2007)

Organic Agriculture Get new information on organic production, prices, and recent findings. (Featured 1/16/2007 - 1/31/2007)

USDA 2007 Farm Bill Proposals Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns today unveiled the U.S. Department of Agriculture's 2007 farm bill proposals. (Featured 1/31/2007 - 1/31/2007)

2007 Food Assistance Research Conference 2007 Food Assistance Research Conference: Recent Findings and Emerging Issues will be held on Tuesday, February 13, 2007 at ERS headquarters. (Featured 1/10/2007 - 1/24/2007)

Big-Box Stores: Transforming the Marketplace Recent growth of nontraditional retail food outlets has transformed the food market landscape (Featured 1/4/2007 - 1/24/2007)

Agriculture in the WTO Agriculture has taken center stage in the WTO Doha Round. (Featured 11/21/2006 - 1/3/2007)

2006 Farm Income Forecast (Featured 11/30/2006 - 1/1/2007)

Rural America At A Glance The most recent indicators of social and economic conditions in rural areas. (Featured 11/17/2006 - 12/5/2006)

Household Food Security in the United States, 2005 The prevalence of food insecurity declined from 11.9 percent of households in 2004 to 11.0 percent in 2005. (Featured 11/14/2006 - 11/29/2006)

Domestic Agricultural Policy Issues ERS analysts conduct a broad range of studies to frame and inform discussions on how farm programs and policies affect agricultural markets and farm household well-being. (Featured 11/7/2006 - 11/21/2006)

2007 Agricultural Outlook Forum March 1-2, 2007 - Crystal Gateway Marriott Hotel in Arlington, Virginia. (Featured 11/7/2006 - 11/17/2006)

ERS’s Food Assistance and Nutrition Research Program (FANRP) FANRP project descriptions, grants programs, and FANRP-sponsored conferences. (Featured 11/6/2006 - 11/14/2006)

Rural Development Strategies This briefing room examines development strategies and their components, including infrastructure improvement, business assistance, education and training, amenity-based development, and community development. (Featured 11/3/2006 - 11/7/2006)

USDA awards $1.8 million for research on food assistance and nutrition programs Fiscal 2006 awards in the FANRP competitive grants and cooperative agreements program (Featured 10/27/2006 - 11/6/2006)

Livestock and Meat Trade Data Monthly and annual data for imports and exports of live cattle and hogs, beef and veal, lamb and mutton, pork, broiler meat, turkey meat, and shell eggs. (Featured 9/14/2006 - 11/3/2006)

2006 PREISM Workshop: Looking at the Economics of Invasive Species Management October 19 and 20, 2006. View the workshop agenda and register to attend. (Featured 9/26/2006 - 10/19/2006)

2006 FANRP Small Grants Conference This year's Small Grants Conference will be held on October 12 and 13, 2006, at the Economic Research Service, 1800 M Street, NW, Washington, DC 20036. (Featured 9/13/2006 - 10/13/2006)

2006 Farm Income Forecast (Featured 8/31/2006 - 9/14/2006)

3nd Annual Henry C. Taylor Lecture Pricing the Priceless" Presented by Dr. W. Kip Viscusi at ERS' 3rd annual Henry C. Taylor Lecture. September 20, 2:00 p.m. at ERS. Reception to follow. (Featured 8/16/2006 - 9/13/2006)

An Economic Chronology of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy in North America The first confirmed cases of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in Canada and the United States had significant effects on trade and prices of U.S. cattle and beef. (Featured 8/1/2006 - 9/13/2006)

Agricultural Resources and Environmental Indicators, 2006 Edition Trends on resources used in, and affected by, agricultural production. (Featured 7/25/2006 - 8/31/2006)

Amber Waves Special Issue: Agriculture and the Environment Reprints and updates of articles and indicators highlighting conservation policy and program design, impact of conservation programs on farmers and the environment, and other emerging issues. (Featured 7/7/2006 - 8/16/2006)

Global Food Security: Looking Ahead Estimates and projections of the number of hungry people in 70 lower income countries. (Featured 6/1/2006 - 8/1/2006)

Whole-Farm Approaches to a Safety Net Whole-farm revenue programs could provide a safety net to all U.S. farms. (Featured 6/28/2006 - 7/27/2006)

Major Uses of Land Over Time This publication presents the results of the latest (2002) inventory of U.S. major land uses, drawing on data from the Census, public land management and conservation agencies, and other sources. (Featured 5/31/2006 - 7/7/2006)

Examining the Structure & Finances of Family Farms Most farms in the United States—98 percent in 2003—are family farms. They are organized as proprietorships, partnerships, or family corporations. Even the largest farms tend to be family farms. (Featured 5/15/2006 - 6/27/2006)

Examining the Structure & Finances of Family Farms Structure and Finances of U.S. Farms: 2005 Family Farm Report (Featured 5/5/2006 - 6/1/2006)

Genetically Engineered Crops: The First Decade Examining R&D activity by seed producers, adoption by farmers, and attitudes of consumers toward biotech. (Featured 4/4/2006 - 6/1/2006)

Recent Analyses on Soybean Rust The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service confirmed the presence of soybean rust in the United States for the first time in November 2004. (Featured 4/7/2006 - 5/15/2006)

Programs, Payments, & People 7 Economic Briefs on Conservation Programs, Farm Structure, and Economic Well-Being (Featured 3/14/2006 - 4/21/2006)

About Our New Look We've spent quite a bit of time over the past months listening to our users to find out how to improve. We hope that our changes, the latest in a series of incremental enhancements, will make it easier to see what ERS offers and easier to get to the wealth of our products and services. (Featured 3/20/2006 - 4/4/2006)

2006 Farm Income Forecast (Featured 2/10/2006 - 3/31/2006)

2006-15 agricultural baseline projections 10-year economic projections of the food and agriculture sector (Featured 2/10/2006 - 3/31/2006)

FANRP Invites 2006 Research Proposals Proposals are due May 22, 2006 (Featured 3/17/2006 - 3/31/2006)

PREISM Invites 2006 Research Proposals Proposals are due April 28, 2006 (Featured 2/15/2006 - 3/31/2006)

2006 Food Assistance Research Conference Conference was February 15, at ERS (Featured 1/12/2006 - 2/15/2006)

2006 Agricultural Outlook Forum February 16-17, 2006 Crystal Gateway Marriott Hotel in Arlington, Virginia (Featured 12/15/2005 - 2/13/2006)

2005 Farm Income Forecast (Featured 11/3/2005 - 2/10/2006)

China's Agricultural Lending Farm lending is one of several policy initiatives to aid farmers (Featured 1/10/2006 - 2/10/2006)

Rural Low-Skill Employment The changing rural economy has reduced the share of low-skill jobs (Featured 10/31/2005 - 2/1/2006)

Livestock Mandatory Reporting Act Did the mandatory requirement aid the market? (Featured 9/23/2005 - 1/17/2006)

FANRP 2005 Awards 2005 grant and co-op awards announced (Featured 10/28/2005 - 1/12/2006)

Animals and the Environment Enviromental impacts of animal production with alternatives for improving air & water quality. (Featured 9/26/2005 - 12/17/2005)

Rural America at a Glance, 2005 Trends in employment, population, poverty, and income. (Featured 9/29/2005 - 11/22/2005)

PREISM Invasive Species Management Competitive awards & invasive species workshop (Featured 10/13/2005 - 10/28/2005)

Organic Agriculture Workshop Innovations in organic marketing, technology, and research. October 6-7, 2005 (Featured 7/22/204 - 10/18/2005)

2005 Farm Income Forecast (Featured 8/31/2005 - 10/4/2005)

Conservation on Working Land Issues relating to conservation programs for working lands. (Featured 6/23/2005 - 9/26/2005)

Livestock Mandatory Reporting Act Did the mandatory requirement aid the market? (Featured 9/23/2005 - 9/26/2005)

Workshop on EU Food Regulations What are the implications of new EU food regulations for trade? (Featured 9/13/2005 - 9/23/2005)

Tobacco Buyout Workshop How will the industry adapt to the end of the Federal tobacco program? (Featured 7/26/2005 - 9/16/2005)

Crop Genetic Resources: An Economic Appraisal A new report examines the role of genetic resources and diversity in agricultural production (Featured 6/13/2005 - 9/6/2005)

China: Rural Food Consumption and Data A new report plus an online collection of ag and economic data (Featured 7/25/2005 - 8/31/2005)

Recent Agricultural Policy Reforms in North America Countercyclical assistance is the common thread among recent agricultural policy innovations of the United States, Mexico, and Canada. (Featured 4/26/2005 - 8/26/2005)

China's Ag Imports are Booming China is now the 4th-largest market for U.S. ag exports (Featured 5/4/2005 - 7/25/2005)

Farm Policy and Rural Economy Workshop A research and policy workshop sponsored by the National Center for Food and Agricultural Policy and the Economic Research Service of the United States Department of Agriculture. Hart Senate Office Building—Room 902 Friday, June 24, 2005 (Featured 6/5/2005 - 6/24/2005)

Cotton After the Multifiber Arrangement The end of the MFA and other forces are reshaping world textile and cotton markets (Featured 4/21/2005 - 6/5/2005)

Demographic Change and the Global Food System: Conference USDA’s Economic Research Service is hosting a half-day conference on Wednesday, May 25, that will address demographic trends and other related issues affecting the global food economy in an age marked by demographic transformation in both developing and developed countries. (Featured 4/28/2005 - 5/25/2005)

FANRP Invites Research Proposals Proposals are now being accepted (Featured 3/17/2005 - 5/24/2005)

PREISM 2005 Awards Proposals Now Accepted Proposals are due April 29, 2005 (Featured 4/4/2005 - 5/2/2005)

Global Food Industry: Conference Policy and competitiveness issues facing the global food economy (Featured 2/24/2005 - 4/25/2005)

2005-14 agricultural baseline projections 10-year economic projections of the food and agriculture sector (Featured 2/15/2005 - 4/15/2005)

PREISM 2005 Awards 2005 grant and co-op awards announced (Featured 2/24/2005 - 3/25/2005)

Rural America at a Glance Trends in employment, population, poverty, and income (Featured 1/28/2005 - 2/15/2005)

Conservation Compliance Performance and potential in U.S. conservation policy (Featured 1/25/2005 - 2/10/2005)

ERS China Program Reports on China’s rapidly changing economy (Featured 1/25/2005 - 2/10/2005)

Outlook for Food and Farm Markets Learn about the forces shaping commodity markets (Featured 1/25/2005 - 2/10/2005)

2005 Food Assistance Research Conference Register to attend February 16 and 17, at ERS. (Featured 1/10/2005 - 1/24/2005)

Farming practices, businesses, households Use our new dynamic web-based data delivery tool to learn about agriculture online (Featured 11/9/2004 - 1/24/2005)

Soybean Rust Economic Assessment Economic implications of soybean rust entry into the U.S. (Featured 11/10/2004 - 1/24/2005)

U.S.-Canada Hog Trade Factors affecting U.S.-Canada hog trade (Featured 12/2/2004 - 1/24/2005)

Fiber and Textile Trade Mandated phase-out of import quotas likely to change trade (Featured 12/9/2004 - 1/14/2005)

2004 Farm Income Forecast (Featured 11/9/2004 - 12/9/2004)

Rural America at a Glance Recent socioeconomic indicators on rural America (Featured 11/23/2004 - 12/9/2004)

2004 FANRP Small Grants Conference December 2 and 3, 2004 at ERS (Featured 11/15/2004 - 11/23/2004)

Contracts, Markets, and Prices Organizing the production and use of agricultural commodities (Featured 11/8/2004 - 11/23/2004)

FANRP 2004 Awards 2004 grant and co-op awards announced (Featured 10/14/2004 - 11/5/2004)

PREISM 2004 Awards 2004 grant and co-op awards announced (Featured 10/15/2004 - 11/5/2004)

rural poverty at a glance Recent statistics about poverty in rural America (Featured 9/28/2004 - 10/18/2004)

ag biotech patents Agricultural Biotechnology Intellectual Property Database (Featured 8/26/2004 - 10/14/2004)

peanut policy change Peanut sector adjusts following elimination of the marketing quota system (Featured 7/16/2004 - 10/13/2004)

conservation compliance Reducing soil erosion is one of the major goals of U.S. agri-environmental policy, and Conservation Compliance is a primary tool for achieving this aim. (Featured 6/9/2004 - 10/7/2004)

grain-based foods workshop Exploring consumption trends and data sources (Featured 8/13/2004 - 9/28/2004)

farm policy, farm households, and the rural economy Existing U.S. farm programs have their origins in the 1930s, a period when the well being of U.S. farm households and rural communities were tightly linked. Although farms, farm households, and rural communities at the beginning of the 21st century are vastly different, commodity-based support programs continue to play a central role in U.S. agricultural policy. This raises questions about whether current policies most effectively target the needs of an evolving farm and rural economy. (Featured 7/16/2004 - 8/25/2004)

hispanics in rural america Analyzing social and economic consequences of rural Hispanic growth. (Featured 7/13/2004 - 8/13/2004)

traceability in the u.s. food supply A search for the birthplace of the cows whose meat went into a particular pound of hamburger or for the farms that grew the wheat used in a box of cereal may seem like looking for a needle in a haystack. But U.S. ranchers, farmers, food manufacturers, and distributors have a number of incentives to keep records tracking food production and distribution. These records provide information on the flow of food and food products throughout the U.S. food supply system and aid in tracking food to its source. (Featured 3/18/2004 - 8/10/2004)

soybean rust economic assessment Soybean rust reduces yields and raises production costs for soybeans in every major production region of the world except the United States. But the recent and rapid spread of the pathogen in South America raises the prospect of its windborne entry into the U.S. as well, with a range of potential economic and policy implications. (Featured 4/23/2004 - 8/2/2004)

The European Union Expands On May 1, 2004, 10 countries will join the European Union (EU)—eight of the formerly Communist Central and East European (CEE) countries (Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia) plus Cyprus and Malta. This is the largest expansion in the history of the EU and will bring profound changes to Europe. (Featured 4/22/2004 - 7/19/2004)

time use conference Analyzing the time use choices and constraints that individuals face. (Featured 6/7/2004 - 7/13/2004)

agricultural policy workshop Assessing farm program impacts on farm households and rural communities. (Featured 4/22/2004 - 6/16/2004)

soybean price forecasting South American soybean production, combined with the U.S. soybean stocks-to-use ratio, provides a strong basis for forecasting U.S. soybean prices. South American soybean production accounts for much of the global structural change that has altered the relationships among U.S. soybean production, use, stocks, and price. The article estimates that a 1-percent increase in South American soybean production decreases U.S. soybean prices by about one-quarter percent. (Featured 4/13/2004 - 5/11/2004)

2004-13 agricultural baseline projections Each year, USDA makes 10-year economic projections of the food and agriculture sector. The commodity projections are used to forecast farm program costs and to prepare the President's budget. The projections reflect a set of assumptions regarding macroeconomic developments and farm policies, and cover major agricultural commodities, agricultural trade, and aggregate indicators of the U.S. farm sector, such as farm income and food prices. One key use of the projections is as a "baseline" from which to analyze the impacts of potential policy changes affecting U.S. agriculture. (Featured 2/5/2004 - 4/27/2004)

domestic food assistance programs Proposals are now being accepted for the Competitive Grants and Cooperative Agreements Program through ERS’s Food Assistance and Nutrition Research Program (FANRP). (Featured 3/19/2004 - 4/22/2004)

U.S.-EU Food and Agriculture Comparisons This report provides information and analysis on a wide range of topics relating to agriculture in the United States and European Union (EU), including comparisons of farm structure, production, agricultural productivity, risk management, environmental, commodity policy, trade, and food consumption, as well as implications of EU enlargement for bilateral relations. (Featured 2/27/2004 - 4/22/2004)

2003 Farm Income (Featured 2/6/2004 - 4/14/2004)

Invasive Species Management ERS initiated a new program of work in fiscal year 2003 to examine the economic issues related to managing invasive pests in increasingly global agricultural markets. The ERS program focuses on national decisionmaking concerning invasive species of agricultural significance or affecting, or affected by, USDA programs. (Featured 2/9/2004 - 3/19/2004)

country-of-origin labeling Costs likely exceed benefits for mandatory country-of-origin labels. (Featured 2/2/2004 - 3/18/2004)

Rural Education at a Glance This six-page report, drawing on the 2000 Census and other Federal sources, is packed with key facts on rural education levels, including demographic and occupational information. (Featured 2/10/2004 - 2/20/2004)

market context for BSE The December 2003 announcement that a dairy cow in Washington State tested positive for bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE, or “mad cow" disease) has focused attention on beef and cattle markets and on U.S. government actions. The incident has also underscored the importance of reliable information and analysis. USDA is providing updates on the evolving situation, including measures taken by the government and information on technical aspects. ERS monitors and analyzes cattle markets, the beef industry, food safety, and trade, providing background information and research for perspective on recent events. (Featured 1/12/2004 - 2/13/2004)

The 2004 Food Assistance Research Conference: Recent Findings and Emerging Issues This year's conference was held March 3 and 4 at the Economic Research Service, Washington, DC. Session topics included child nutrition, WIC, and the Food Stamp Program. This is the final agenda. (Featured 1/13/2004 - 2/10/2004)

agricultural resources and environmental indicators (AREI) database and mapping tool Now you can map and extract data behind statistics in AREI and other ERS publications! The AREI Database and Mapping Tool provides maximum flexibility in data access with the latest, on-the-fly, geographic information system (GIS) mapping and database retrieval technologies. This site is a work in progress. It is intended to eventually serve as one-stop access to both primary source and value-added data used to generate summaries, statistics, and graphics in a broad range of ERS publications on agricultural resources and environmental indicators. This initial version is made available with one data source and a limited number of options. (Featured 12/4/2003 - 1/30/2004)

Agricultural Outlook Forum 2004 The Agricultural Outlook Forum provides the agricultural community with timely forecasts of farm prospects and insight into developments affecting the farm economy. Speakers will include top government officials, industry analysts, farmers, business leaders, and academic experts. Join the more than 1,300 people who attend this annual event. Network with attendees from all facets of US and world agriculture and the food and fiber industry. (Featured 12/4/2003 - 1/7/2004)

Population Change and Rural Society Conference Thursday and Friday, January 29-30, 2004 This conference will showcase an integrated set of social demographic studies, conducted by leading social scientists, that analyze critical demographic trends and draw conclusions about their implications for economic and social life in rural America. The research is the outcome of 2 years of planning by the Cooperative State, Research, Education, and Extension Service's (CSREES) Committee on Population Change in Rural Communities. (Featured 12/31/2003 - 1/3/2004)

About Our New Look We've spent quite a bit of time over the past months listening to our users to find out how to improve. We hope that our changes, the latest in a series of incremental enhancements, will make it easier to see what ERS offers and easier to get to the wealth of our products and services. (Featured 12/8/2003 - 12/31/2003)

2003 FANRP Small Grants Conference The 2003 Small Grants Conference was held November 20 and 21, 2003 at the Economic Research Service, Washington, DC. Session topics included Food Assistance and Child Well-Being, Food Insecurity and Hunger, Dynamics of Program Participation and Food Insecurity, and Obesity. (Featured 11/1/2003 - 11/22/2003)

Amber Waves - September 2003 Vegetables, NAFTA, meat, overweight, food insufficiency, EQIP, conservation, agricultural resources, college graduates, rural indicators, tobacco, trade agreements, rural poverty, production costs, WIC, food assistance (Featured 9/15/2003 - 11/7/2003)

FANRP 2003 Awards Under the Food and Nutrition Assistance Program, USDA made awards of $1.3 million in grants and cooperative assistance. The awards will fund research on program design and operations, food Assistance as a safety net, and obesity, diet quality, and health. (Featured 10/17/2003 - 11/3/2003)

wto: current issues The ERS World Trade Organization Briefing Room has been updated to reflect events during the current round of negotiations (the Doha Development Agenda), and to address issues that are moving to the forefront, such as subsidies and countervailing measures and various technical barriers to trade. (Featured 10/17/2003 - 10/31/2003)

got data?... find it quickly use it easily! A new, improved page showcases the scope and breadth of data available from ERS in an easy-to-navigate format. An indicators section gives key facts and figures; a calendar of releases lets you know what will become available when. A resource area provides easy access to plugins and readers for working with data, as well as mapping programs, the archive collection, Information Quality Guidelines, and a sign-up for notifications of new releases. Get quick access to the most popular and featured ERS data products. (Featured 10/3/2003 - 10/20/2003)

rural america at a glance A six-page brochure highlights the most recent indicators of social and economic conditions in rural areas for use in developing policies and programs to assist rural areas. This brochure is the second in a series of reports that uses current social and economic data to highlight important population,labor market, income, and poverty trends in rural areas. The new metropolitan/nonmetropolitan classification is also discussed. (Featured 9/2/2003 - 10/3/2003)

consumer-driven agriculture America’s appetite, like its population, is always changing. Dining out, once thought to be a luxury, is now common. The Nation’s population is wealthier, older, more educated, and more ethnically diverse than in the past—and those demographic changes are likely to become more pronounced in the next 20 years. Recent research by ERS projects how these trends will influence food consumption and expenditures through 2020. (Featured 7/21/2003 - 9/10/2003)

agricultural trade conference The September conference will bring together policymakers, industry representatives, consumer advocates, and economists—from the United States and abroad—to address the ongoing and emerging global trade policy developments. Conference participants will have opportunity for comments and questions in the panel sessions. (Featured 7/16/2003 - 8/21/2003)

manure management for water quality improvement Agricultural pollution (such as sediment and nutrient runoff) is a prime contributor to the nation’s water quality problems. ERS routinely surveys producers’ choices of water, nutrient, pest, and soil management practices to address such problems. Especially important is work on the water quality effects of animal waste from confined feeding operations that have grown larger and more geographically concentrated in recent years. (Featured 6/20/2003 - 7/21/2003)

wto agricultural trade policy commitments database At the conclusion of the Uruguay Round of multilateral trade negotiations in 1995, members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) established a broad set of rules and disciplines in the Agreement on Agriculture, governing three key areas affecting agricultural trade policy: domestic support, export subsidies, and market access. This database contains data on implementation of commitments in agricultural policy by WTO members. (Featured 6/23/2003 - 7/17/2003)

U.S. organic farming U.S. farmland managed under organic farming systems expanded rapidly throughout the 1990s, and that pace has continued as farmers strive to meet consumer demand in both local and national markets. An increasing number of U.S. farmers are adopting these systems in order to lower input costs, conserve nonrenewable resources, capture high-value markets, and boost farm income. This report updates USDA estimates of land farmed with organic practices during 1997 with estimates for 2000 and 2001, and provides new estimates on the number of certified organic operations in each State. AIB-780 (4/03). (Featured 4/11/2003 - 4/30/2003)

Amber Waves February 2003 Amber Waves is a new magazine from ERS covering the full range of the agency's research and analysis, including the economics of agriculture, food, rural America, trade, and the environment. Amber Waves replaces Agricultural Outlook, FoodReview, and Rural America. ERS publishes the magazine five times a year (in February, April, June, September, and November) both in print and on the Internet. (Featured 2/28/2003 - 4/24/2003)

FANRP's Competitive Grants and Cooperative Agreements Program Proposals are now being accepted for FANRP's Competitive Grants and Cooperative Agreements Program. The publication Food Assistance and Nutrition Research Program, Competitive Grants and Cooperative Agreements Program: Description and Application Process, Fiscal 2003, describes FANRP's Priority Research Areas and application requirements. (Featured 3/13/2003 - 4/11/2003)

Outlook for Food and Farm Markets Farmers enter the spring planting season with markets expecting an increase in total planted area of field crops, encouraged by reduced domestic supplies and higher prices compared with a year earlier. Prices for several major commodities, though, have declined from peaks last fall when the impacts of the 2002 drought were not clear. USDA will release the first survey-based acreage indication for spring-planted crops on March 31. Winter wheat seeded area for 2003 is estimated to rise 6 percent to the highest level in 5 years. (Featured 3/18/2003 - 4/1/2003)

changing economics and structure of U.S. hog production Rapid change in the size and ownership structure of U.S. hog production has created new and varied challenges for the industry, and these changes have not come without problems. Concerns about the increasing market control and power concentrated among packers and large hog operations, and about the manure management problem posed by an increasing concentration of hog manure on fewer operations, are paramount. (Featured 2/28/2003 - 3/18/2003)

China: water policy reforms China is one of the top 10 markets for U.S. agricultural exports and is the world's largest producer and consumer of a range of commodities. ERS maintains an active research program that investigates how policy and economic developments in China affect global agricultural markets. (Featured 2/27/2003 - 3/13/2003)

New magazine debuts in February 2003 You've already visited our website. Now we're offering a new window into the agency's research — with a new magazine covering the economics of agriculture, food, rural America, trade, and the environment. (Featured 12/12/2002 - 2/20/2003)

FoodReview: Weighing In on Obesity, Vol. 25, No. 3 This issue of FoodReview finds ERS researchers "weighing in" on a critical public health issue—the growing epidemic of Americans who are overweight and obese. The lead article takes a look at the American diet—typically too high in added sugars, refined grains, fats, and calories. (Featured 1/24/2003 - 2/6/2003)

Agricultural Outlook Forum 2003 The U.S. Department of Agriculture invites you to sharpen your strategy for 2003 by attending the 79th annual agricultural outlook forum. The Forum will provide an overview of agricultural prospects and issues in a compact two-day format. Government officials, industry analysts, and farmers will assess farm prospects for the year ahead. Focus sessions will highlight major developments changing the business of agriculture. Attendees will receive new long-term commodity projections prepared by USDA. (Featured 11/21/2002 - 2/4/2003)

2003-12 agricultural baseline projections Each year, USDA agencies make 10-year projections of the food and agriculture sector. The commodity projections are used to forecast farm program costs and to prepare the President's budget. The projections reflect a set of assumptions and cover major agricultural commodities, agricultural trade, and aggregate indicators of the U.S. farm sector, such as farm income and food prices. One key use of the projections is as a "baseline" from which to analyze the impacts of potential policy changes affecting U.S. agriculture. (Featured 12/12/2002 - 1/17/2003)

Final organic rule governs marketing The national program, authorized under the Organic Foods Production Act of 1990, facilitates domestic marketing of organically produced fresh and processed food, and assures consumers that such products meet consistent, uniform standards. (Featured 10/21/2002 - 11/22/2002)

Measuring Rural Diversity Conference Measuring Rural Diversity Conference—November 21-22, 2002, at the Economic Research Service, Washington, DC. At the conference, researchers will present their current work on rural conditions, such as demographic changes, business trends, and local distress. (Featured 10/16/2002 - 11/22/2002)

Rural Amenities Public amenities provided by a rural agricultural landscape, arising from open space and farm activity, are important to many citizens and policymakers. Widespread development of farmland in some parts of the country is spawning an expanding array of farmland protection programs by county, State, and Federal governments, as well as by nonprofit organizations. (Featured 11/4/2002 - 11/22/2002)

Retail Scanner Prices for Meat ERS' database contains monthly average retail price data for selected cuts of red meat and poultry, based on electronic supermarket scanner data. While not based on a random sample, the raw data underlying the database are from supermarkets across the United States that account for approximately 20 percent of U.S. supermarket sales. (Featured 11/5/2002 - 11/10/2002)

FANRP research funding opportunities: fiscal 2002 awards FANRP's Competitive Grants and Cooperative Agreements Program made awards in fiscal 2002 to fund research on Program Design and Operations; Food Assistance as a Safety Net; Obesity; Eating Patterns, Diet Quality, and Health Outcomes; and Behavioral Nutrition. The program is publicly announced and competitively awarded through the use of peer review panels. (Featured 10/15/2002 - 11/4/2002)

The Economics of Income and Wealth for Farm Households USDA's Agricultural Resource Management Survey (ARMS) data provide an unmatched tool for analyzing policies designed to improve farm well-being. ARMS data report on both the condition of farm businesses and the farm households that operate them. ERS's new report on farm income, wealth, and well-being is the culmination of a concerted program of data collection, analysis, and publications geared toward understanding what farms and farmers earn, and how their welfare changes. The resources highlighted here are a guide to recent work in this important ERS research area. (Featured 7/29/2002 - 10/16/2002)

2002 Small Grants Conference 2002 Food and Nutrition Research Small Grants Program Conference—October 17-18, 2002, at the Economic Research Service, Washington, DC. The Small Grants Program seeks to stimulate new research that will inform the public debate on food assistance and nutrition policy. At the conference, grant recipients will present the results of their work on food assistance programs, food security, and nutrition. The conference is free, but space is limited. To register, fill out the registration form and return it either by FAX to Tina Terry at 202-694-5677, or by e-mail to fanrp@ers.usda.gov. If you have questions, call 202-694-5270. For details on topics and speakers, see the conference agenda. Go to the Small Grants Program for more information on the program itself. (Featured 9/13/2002 - 10/10/2002)

2002 Farm Bill - What's Changed? Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002, which governs Federal farm programs for the next 6 years, was signed into law on May 13, 2002. Its provisions support the production of a reliable, safe, and affordable supply of food and fiber; promote stewardship of agricultural land and water resources; facilitate access to American farm products at home and abroad; encourage continued economic and infrastructure development in rural America; and ensure continued research to maintain an efficient and innovative agricultural and food sector. (Featured 5/16/2002 - 9/12/2002)

Transition Economies The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) had a bumper crop in 2001, leading to 9.3 million metric tons (mmt) of grain exports from Ukraine, 4 mmt from Kazakstan, and 3.2 mmt from Russia. Russia is also one of the world's largest meat importers. In 2001, Russia was the world's largest poultry importer (1,280 mmt), the second largest pork importer (550 mmt), and the third largest beef and veal importer (675 mmt). ERS research addresses the issues driving crop and livestock production trends in the CIS, and the effect of reforms (or lack thereof) on future agricultural production, consumption, and trade. (Featured 7/26/2002 - 9/12/2002)

FoodReview: Consumer-Driven Agriculture, Vol. 25, No. 1 This issue of FoodReview projects U.S. food consumption and spending to 2020. Articles discuss how farmers, processors, retailers, and foodservice operators are responding to this changing demand for food. Two additional articles look at food assistance expenditures and household food security. (Featured 6/17/2002 - 7/29/2002)

World Food Summit At the 1996 World Food Summit, the United States and 185 other countries committed to halving the number of undernourished people in the world by 2015. Each country agreed to develop a national plan of action and to report periodically on progress made toward this goal. On June 10-13, 2002, countries will assemble again in Rome for the "World Food Summit Five Years After" conference. They will look at the reality of chronic food insecurity and the continuing challenges to meeting the original World Food Summit goal. (Featured 6/3/2002 - 7/29/2002)

China - The 21st century China is one of the top 10 markets for U.S. agricultural exports and is the world's largest producer and consumer of a range of commodities. ERS maintains an active research program that investigates how policy and economic developments in China affect global agricultural markets. (Featured 4/10/2002 - 6/17/2002)

Draft Report of the Economic Research Service’s Information Quality Guidelines The U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has issued government-wide guidelines for ensuring and maximizing the quality, objectivity, utility, and integrity of information disseminated by Federal agencies. Congress directed OMB to issue these guidelines in section 515 of the Treasury and General Government Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2001 (Public Law 106-554). OMB published its guidelines in the Federal Register on September 28, 2001, at 66 FR 49718-49725 and updated the guidelines on February 22, 2002, at 67 FR 8452-8460 and on March 4, 2002, at 67 FR 9797. (Featured 5/1/2002 - 6/4/2002)

ERS research on water quality topics In 1972, Congress fortified clean water legislation in response to growing public concern over serious and widespread water pollution. The resultant Clean Water Act now safeguards our Nation's rivers, streams, lakes, and coastal areas, with a goal of fishable and swimmable waters. Its pollution control programs and wetland restoration efforts have brought about a demonstrable improvement in the quality of our water. In October 2002, the Clean Water Act turns 30 and will be up for congressional reauthorization. ERS joins the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the U.S. Geological Survey, and several nongovernment sponsors in recommitting to this worthy goal. (Featured 4/1/2002 - 5/15/2002)

FANRP’s Competitive Grants and Cooperative Agreements Program Proposals are now being accepted for FANRP’s Competitive Grants and Cooperative Agreements Program. The publication Food Assistance and Nutrition Research Program, Competitive Grants and Cooperative Agreements Program: Description and Application Process, Fiscal 2002, which is downloadable, describes FANRP’s Priority Research Areas and application requirements. More information on research funding opportunities and a downloadable Budget form ARS-455 are also available on the website. The deadline for proposals is May 17, 2002. (Featured 3/26/2002 - 5/1/2002)

Agricultural Resource Management Survey (ARMS) ARMS is USDA's annual, national survey of farms. It is the primary source of information about the financial condition, production practices, use of resources, and economic well-being of America's farmers and farm households. Data and analysis from ARMS answer key questions from USDA policy officials, Congress, and other decisionmakers within and outside the Federal Government about the differential impacts of alternative policies and programs across the farm sector and among farm families. ARMS also provides a rich database for researchers to understand the rapidly changing structure and characteristics of American farming. (Featured 3/4/2002 - 4/11/2002)

USDA's projections for 2002 and for 2002-11 Unveiled farm-sector projections for 2002 and the USDA Agricultural Baseline Projections to 2011. (Featured 2/19/2002 - 4/2/2002)

Agriculture in Brazil and Argentina This report identifies key factors underlying the agricultural productivity growth and enhanced international competitiveness of Brazil and Argentina in the past decade. (Featured 1/16/2002 - 3/26/2002)

Rural America: Welfare Reform, Vol. 16, Issue 3 This issue of Rural America presents several articles on the impacts of welfare reform upon rural Americans. Additional articles cover farm labor, federal funds, and child poverty. (Featured 1/9/2002 - 3/1/2002)

FoodReview: Global Food Trade, Vol. 24, No. 3 This issue of FoodReview presents a series of articles about international trade in food and food products. Two additional articles look at food supply nutrients and food marketing costs. (Featured 1/8/2002 - 2/20/2002)

Agricultural Outlook Forum 2002 The Forum will provide an overview of agricultural prospects and issues in a compact two-day format. Government officials, industry analysts, and farmers will assess farm prospects for the year ahead. Focus sessions will highlight major developments changing the business of agriculture. Attendees will receive new long-term commodity projections prepared by USDA. (Featured 12/18/2001 - 1/10/2002)

Agricultural R&D And Technology Adoption Both at home and abroad, the driving force behind agricultural research agenda-setting is now growth in private sector R&D. While the level of public funding for research has leveled off since the mid-1980s, private research expenditures, bolstered by strengthened intellectual property rights, tripled in real terms between 1960 and 1996 and continue to grow. Research priorities are also affected by the shift in focus toward the agricultural inputs supply industries particularly biotechnology. These trends influence the development of technology available to producers and the pace at which that technology is adopted. ERS is at the forefront of economic research on agricultural R&D and its effects on the adoption of production technologies. The reports featured here add to that knowledge base. (Featured 11/8/2001 - 1/8/2002)

FoodReview: Examining the Well-Being of Children, Vol. 24, No. 2 The theme for this issue of FoodReview is ''America's Children.'' A series of articles discuss the well-being of America's children, children's diet quality, the problem of overweight children in America, foodborne disease among children, the economics of breastfeeding, and food assistance programs that help children and their families. A special article discusses U.S. consumption of tree nuts. Another special article looks at food availability and affordability in Washington, DC. (Featured 11/8/2001 - 1/8/2002)

food and nutrition assistance programs: FANRP FANRP's Competitive Grants and Cooperative Agreements Program made awards in fiscal 2001 to fund research on Workforce Attachment, Income Volatility, and Administrative Costs; Food Assistance as a Safety Net; Targeting High Needs Subgroups; Eating Patterns, Food Choices, and Health Outcomes; and Nutrition Education: Public and Private Returns to Education. The awards in this program are between $100,000 and $400,000. The program is publicly announced and competitively awarded through the use of peer review panels. (Featured 11/8/2001 - 12/18/2001)

Food and Agricultural Policy Designed to take a longer term view of our Nation's agriculture & food system and offer constructive ideas to help guide future farm policy, this report examines the enormous changes faced by today's food and farm system, as well as the lessons learned from more than seven decades of food and farm policies. The report offers a set of principles to guide policy development for the future—addressing issues such as trade, a farm safety net, system infrastructure, conservation and environment, rural communities, nutrition and food assistance, and program delivery systems. (Featured 9/21/2001 - 11/1/2001)

Urban development, land use, and agriculture Land quite literally underlies all economic activity, but nowhere more than for agriculture. Land is the primary input for crop production and grazing livestock, a source of rural amenities, and a store of value for farmland owners. Continuing a long and rich tradition of ERS research on land use and values, we present new products probing the issue of "sprawl" and its impact on farming in the city's shadow. (Featured 9/1/2001 - 10/25/2001)

commodity policy backgrounders A series of just-released reports provide commodity-based background information on issues and topics facing producers and industry as the Congressional debate proceeds. These reports address market conditions, policy proposals, WTO considerations, and the interactions between markets and policy. (Featured 8/2/2001 - 10/22/2001)

Manure management Livestock and poultry manure applied to farmland is a valuable source of organic nutrients, but manure nitrogen and phosphorus in excess of the farm's crop requirements can compromise water quality. Many confined animal operations are unable to use all manure nutrients produced on land under their control. This has prompted concern commensurate with the increasing concentration of animal feeding operations, which also tend to be specialized and thus have less cropland on which to apply manure. A new report, Confined Animal Production and Manure Nutrients, uses survey data to estimate the number of confined animals, the amount of manure nutrients, and the capacity of nearby land to assimilate these nutrients. (Featured 7/20/2001 - 9/21/2001)

Global Food Consumption and Trade Higher income, urbanization, other demographic shifts, improved transportation, and consumer perceptions regarding quality and safety are changing global food consumption patterns. Shifts in food consumption have led to increased trade and changes in the composition of world agricultural trade. Given different diets, food expenditure and food budget responses to income and price changes vary between developing and developed countries. (Featured 6/29/2001 - 8/2/2001)

Agricultural biotechnology ERS has been monitoring the advance of agricultural biotechnology since 1991, and now collects its findings in a new briefing room devoted to the subject. (Featured 3/16/2001 - 2/19/2001)

Agricultural Outlook - May 2001 Articles include: Soybean Plantings to Expand, Corn to Recede in 2001; Farm Credit Use Expected to Rise Slightly; Interest Rates on Farm Loans Likely to Fall Throughout 2001; Forces Shaping Global Food Demand & Agricultural Trade; Canada's Agriculture: 5 Years After the End of Transportation Subsidies; Agri-Environmental Payments: Rewarding Farmers for Environmental Performance; Moving Farmers Toward New Production Practices; Poor Winter Weather Reduces Beef Supply; U.S. Farm Policy for the 21st Century: A Diversity of Visions for the Future. (Featured 5/2/2001 - 2/19/2001)

Agricultural Outlook, June-July 2001 China's fruits and vegetables, cattle exports from Mexico, farm policy, farm payments, farm income and policy, Northern Great Plains, crop prices, stone fruits, field crop forecast, meat supply and prices (Featured 6/5/2001 - 2/19/2001)

Agri-Environmental Policy at the Crossroads: Guideposts on a Changing Landscape This report identifies policy tools and design features that have improved the effectiveness of current programs, and tradeoffs in designing a program of agri-environmental payments. (Featured 2/16/2001 - 2/19/2001)

E-Commerce and Agriculture Symposium Agenda for the ERS-hosted symposium on e-commerce and agriculture (Featured 5/23/2001 - 2/19/2001)

Economics of Food Labeling This report traces the economic theory behind food labeling and presents three case studies in which the government has intervened in labeling and two examples in which government intervention has been proposed. (Featured 3/2/2001 - 2/19/2001)

FANRP Grants Announcement (PDF file) Food Assistance and Nutrition Research Program, Fiscal 2001. Competitive Grants and Cooperative Agreements Program: Description and Application Process. (Featured 3/16/2001 - 2/19/2001)

Focus on Farms New ERS products examine diversity in the U.S. farm sector: income, structure, and farm families (Featured 6/1/2001 - 2/19/2001)

Foot-and-mouth disease Official foot-and-mouth disease information from the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. (Featured 4/9/2001 - 2/19/2001)

Issues in Food Security Includes a number of short multidisciplinary issue papers that address how food security in the United States and throughout the world is affected by issues like trade liberalization, income distribution, and natural resources. (Featured 5/2/2001 - 2/19/2001)

Rural America, Volume 15, Number 4 The rural South is examined in seven articles in this issue of the Rural America magazine. (Featured 4/17/2001 - 2/19/2001)

The Road Ahead: Agricultural Policy Reform in the WTO—Summary Report In 2000, World Trade Organization (WTO) members continued global negotiations on agricultural policy reform. To help policymakers and others realize what is at stake in the global agricultural negotiations, this report quantifies the costs of global agricultural distortions and the potential benefits of their full elimination. (Featured 3/2/2001 - 2/19/2001)

Welcome to our new home Welcome to a completely redesigned, re-engineered ERS website. Built with the most up-to-date technologies, the new website gives you easy access to a wealth of relevant information and data. The same timely, comprehensive economic analysis on agriculture, food, the environment, and rural development, is now available in a streamlined, easy-to-use format. (Featured 1/2/2001 - 1/31/2001)

A Safety Net for Farm Households Discussions in the public arena have raised fundamental questions about the ultimate goals of farm policy and the need for establishing a safety net for farm households. This report examines four scenarios for government assistance to agriculture based on the concept of ensuring some minimum standard of living. (Featured 1/2/2001 - 1/15/2001)

(Featured )

2009 Agricultural Outlook Forum Attend the USDA's annual Outlook Forum, where the Secretary of Agriculture and government, farm, and industry leaders discuss the future of American agriculture. (Featured 1/13/2009)

Child Nutrition Programs Information about USDA-administered food assistance programs serving the nutritional needs of children (Featured 1/7/2009)

Million-Dollar Farms in the New Century Million-dollar farms (those with annual sales of $1 million or more) represent 2 percent of all farms and account for 48 percent of farm sales. (Featured 1/9/2009)

267 entries.