2002
ERS Economists Brief Congressional Hunger Center: On December
12, Jim MacDonald and Doris Newton (ERS) provided a briefing on the
industrial organization of U.S. agriculture to Fellows of the Congressional
Hunger Center (CHC). The CHC is a bi-partisan nonprofit organization
started by Representatives Tony Hall, Frank Wolf, and Bill Emerson.
The organization's Mickey Leland International Hunger Fellows program
trains 12-15 young leaders in a two-year cycle. The Fellows spend
their first year working abroad in a variety of food-insecure countries
while based with multi- and bi-lateral aid agencies as well as international
and national NGO's, and spend their second year in Washington working
on policy, education, and advocacy initiatives. MacDonald and Newton
spoke with them about the changing structure of agriculture and related
agribusinesses.
ERS Economist Participates In Farmers' Market 10th Annual Conference:
On October 17, Doris Newton (ERS) participated in the 10th Annual
National Association of Farmers' Market Nutritional Programs conference.
Newton was one of several panelists in the breakout session, "USDA
Small Farm Coordinators: Opportunities and Resources for Small Farmers."
Newton highlighted ERS small farms research activities and provided
handouts for participants.
ERS Economist Presents Research Findings at University of California:
On September 20, Michael Roberts (ERS) gave an invited presentation
at the University of California at Berkeley. The paper presented,
co-authored with Nigel Key (ERS), was entitled "Risk and Structural
Change in U.S. Agriculture: How Income Shocks Influence Farm Size."
ERS Presents Small-Scale African-American Farmer Interviews
at Third National Small Farm Conference: On September 18-19,
Anne Effland (ERS) presented findings from interviews with small-scale
African-American farmers in the Mississippi Delta at the Third National
Small Farm Conference in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The interviews
focused on farmers' strategies for success, their assessments of
barriers to success, and their ideas about how USDA and the land
grant university system could help them address those barriers.
The interviews were carried out in collaboration with Dr. Valerie
Grim, Associate Professor of Afro-American Studies, Indiana University.
Doris Newton (ERS) also gave the presentation "Typology of
America's Small Farms," as part of a plenary session on "Description,
Statistics, and Typology of America's Small Farms." The National
Small Farm Conference provides a forum for agriculture professionals,
community-based organizations, and small-scale farmers and ranchers
to discuss concerns and share strategies for success in keeping
small farms economically viable. The conference was hosted by the
College of Agriculture and Home Economics, New Mexico State University,
with the support of the CSREES Small Farm Program.
ERS Economists Participate in Conference on Economics of Contracts
in Agriculture: On July 21-23, ERS economists participated
in a conference on the Economics of Contracts in Agriculture,
sponsored by the University of Maryland and the Royal
Agricultural and Veterinary University of Copenhagen.
Mary Ahearn, Jet Yee, Nigel Key, and Michael Roberts (ERS)
presented papers at the conference, held in Annapolis,
MD.
ERS Economists Assists Maryland Department of Agriculture:
On June 25, Pat MacMillan of the Maryland Department of Agriculture,
contacted Bob Hoppe (ERS) for ideas on developing a classification
system for Maryland farms similar to the ERS farm typology. Hoppe
and MacMillan developed some ideas for a classification scheme after
looking at the detailed tables published in the Census of Agriculture.
MacMillan will contact the Maryland NASS State Office to have some
special tabulations from the Census prepared. The Census will provide
reliable information at both the State and county level.
ERS Administrator Discussant At Agricultural Structure Seminar:
On March 13, ERS Administrator Susan Offutt served as a discussant
for the USDA Economists Group Seminar Series presentation, "Implications
of Structural Change on Agriculture," at the USDA Whitten Building.
Presenters and participants discussed the implications and impacts
of current and proposed changes in Federal and State programs on
the structural, industrial and social structure of U.S. agriculture.
Dwight Gadsby and Ken Krupa (ERS) attended the seminar as current
Board members of the USDA Economist Group. The seminar was well-attended
by economists and others from ERS and other USDA agencies.
ERS Economists Meet with Japanese Ag Ministry Visitors:
On March 13, Bob Green and Bob Hoppe (ERS) met with Junichi Kanzaki,
Yukito Konno, and Kurosawa Shoichi, three visitors from the Statistics
and Information Department, Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry,
and Fisheries. The visitors were interested in how ERS defines off-farm
income and how ERS developed its farm typology and resource regions.
The Ministry is planning to change its current regional and farm
classifications and was looking for ideas from other nations. As
in the United States, many farmers in Japan work off-farm and operate
small farms, so measuring off-farm income is important.
ERS Economist Addresses Ag Policy Class: On March 7, Bob
Hoppe (ERS) described the development and use of the ERS farm typology
to a group of ag policy students from the University of Kentucky
(UK). Jerry Skees, of the Agricultural Economics Department at UK,
has brought his policy students to Washington DC for the past 13
years. The purpose of the trip is to help the students understand
how farm policy is made, influencing the career choices of many
past students. Agencies represented this year (in addition to ERS)include
the House Agriculture Committee, the Senate Agriculture Committee,
FAS, GIPSA, FSA, the Office of the Chief Economist, and NASS.
ERS Economist Helps NRCS Define Farm Client Groups: On February
27, Bob Hoppe (ERS) attended a meeting called by Larry Holmes (NCRS)
to discuss the definitions of limited-resource, beginning, and socially
disadvantaged farmers. NRCS is rethinking its definitions of these
potential client groups and wanted to learn about other agencies'
definitions and their experiences in applying the definitions to
program administration. Agencies represented were ERS, NASS, CSREES,
RMA, FNS, FSA, and NRCS.
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2001
Small Farms Research Activities Briefing: All Departmental
Small Farm Coordinators (SFC) and/or agency representatives were
invited to participate in a briefing on small farm activities presented
to visiting officials from the Japanese government. The briefing
was held on Monday, September 10 at 10:00 am. Dr. Dennis Egodaghe,
Small Farms Coordinator, REE mission area, organized the briefing.
Doris Newton provided highlights of agency small farm research from
the report, " America's Diverse Family Farms." She distributed copies
of this report and other ERS publication/communications materials.
ERS research on small farms published: Robert A. Hoppe.
"Farm Households
Are Often Dual-Career," Rural America, USDA, Economic
Research Service, Vol. 16, Issue 2., Summer 2001, pp. 41-51. As
with nonfarm households, many farm households pursue more than one
career. Decisions about how to allocate labor, management skills,
and other resources between farm and nonfarm employment affect the
level and sources of income for farm households. Even households
with very large farms are often dual-career. About two-fifths of
households operating very large farms are dual-career with a spouse
working off the farm and an operator farming, largely without off-farm
work.
ERS Economist Assists Maryland Department
of Agriculture: On November 1, Pat McMillan, Maryland
Department of Agriculture, contacted Bob Hoppe (ERS) seeking more
detailed information on farms receiving government payments. Hoppe
referred McMillan to Structural and Financial Characteristics
of U.S. Farms: 2001 Family Farm Report. Mr. McMillan felt that
media coverage of government payments was misleading and wanted
background information on receipt of government payments by farms
of different sizes and types. He also wanted information on the
ARMS survey and how it differed from agency administrative records.
Inquiry from Senate Agriculture Committee
about Characteristics of Large Agricultural Processors:
On October 30, Steve Crutchfield (ERS) received a call from Erin
Peterson, who is with the Senate Agriculture Committee. She requested
information about the firm characteristics of large agricultural
processors (those with annual gross sales over $10 million), including
livestock, hogs, corn, and soybeans. James MacDonald provided her
with information drawn from the Census of Manufactures.
ERS Economists Present Urbanization Findings
To Small Farms Working Group: On October 25, Ralph
Heimlich and Robert Hoppe (ERS) presented findings from the recent
ERS report, Development at the Urban Fringe and Beyond: Impacts
on Agriculture and Rural Land, to members of the USDA Small
Farms Working Group. The presentation focused on results from a
longitudinal study of entry, exit, and change in metro farms between
1978 and 1997.
ERS Helps Extension Define Middle-Sized Farms:
On October 22, Bob Hoppe (ERS) received a call from Denis Ebodaghe,
National Program Leader, Small Farms, USDA-CSREES. Mr. Ebodaghe
was trying to find a definition of "middle-sized farms"
to use in the Initiative on Future Agriculture and Food System.
During the discussion, Mr. Ebodaghe decided to use the definition
of "large family farms" (sales between $250,000 and $499,999)
from the ERS typology.
ERS Farm Typology Being Adapted for Program
Use: On October 16, Frank Clearfield, Director of
the NRCS Social Science Institute at North Carolina A&T University,
contacted Ralph Heimlich (ERS) for additional information and guidance
on using the ERS Farm Typology to assess demand for NRCS's conservation
programs for limited-resource and other farm types. The typology,
featured in the Secretary's food and agricultural policy report,
was developed by ERS to better understand the motivations and resources
available for farms of different sizes than a strict sales breakout.
Clearfield was referred to James Johnson, Chief of the Farm Structure,
Performance and Welfare Branch that developed the typology, for
more information.
ERS Economist Briefs Small Farms Coordinators:
On October 16, Robert Hoppe (ERS) presented a briefing on the ERS
Farm Typology at a meeting of the USDA Small Farm Coordinators.
Hoppe's presentation, "America's Diverse Small Farms,"
was based on an earlier paper presented at the American Agricultural
Economics Association in Chicago.
ERS Economists Present Research on Small Farms at the
Agricultural Economics Association annual meeting.
Rich Nehring of ERS organized a symposium "Urbanization
and Agriculture: Measuring Urban Influence and its Impacts
on Farmland Values and Costs of Production." These
papers assessed agricultural issues arising from the growing
influence of nonfarm activities on production agriculture—the
real extent of urban influence, its effect on the competitive
position and survival of farms in the rural-urban fringe,
and its effect on the measurement of agricultural productivity.
Two ERS papers were presented.
- "The
Fate of Farm Operations Facing Development" by Bob Hoppe
and Penni Korb (presented by Korb).
- "Does Urban Influence Increase Costs of Production in the
Corn Belt?: A Frontier Approach" by Rich Nehring, Charlie
Barnard, Dave Banker, Vince Breneman, and Agapi Somwaru (presented
by Nehring).
- "Characteristics of Small and Limited-Resource Farms,"
by Bob Hoppe (prepared with Jim Johnson), presented at the symposium
"Meeting the Educational Needs of Small and Limited-Resource
Farmers."
ERS research on contracting presented at Agricultural Economics
Association annual meeting:
- "Does Contracting Raise Farm Productivity? The Impact of
Production Contracts on Hog Farm Performance," by Nigel Key
and William McBride.
- "Factors Affecting Contractor and Grower Success with
Hog Contracting," by Nigel Key and William McBride.
ERS research presented at Agricultural Economics Association
annual meeting: "Productivity Growth, Technological Progress,
and Technical Efficiency: 1996-1999," by Richard Nehring, Catherine
Morrison, David Banker, Vince Breneman, and Agapi Somwaru. Senate
Inquiry on the 2001 Family Farm Report: On July 13, Robert Green
(ERS) received a call from Larry Burmeister, on the staff of Senator
Kent Conrad, ND, regarding the government payment section of Structural
and Financial Characteristics of U.S. Farms-2001 Family Farm Report.
Burmeister wanted to know why ERS compares the level of government
payments to gross cash farm income, rather than net farm cash income.
ERS Research Discussed on Radio Broadcast: Newton,
Doris J., "Interdependence of Farms and Rural Towns,"
Successful Farming Radio Magazine broadcast (Track 4).
North Shore Productions, Detroit Lakes, MN, July 26, 2001,
This radio discussion with producer and host, Darrell
Anderson, references work from the Rural America article,
"Financial Well-Being of Small Farm Households Depends
on the Health of Rural Economies." Omaha World Herald:
On July 6 and June 28, Penny Korb (ERS) was contacted
by Bill Hoard of the Omaha World Herald who is doing a
piece on women in agriculture. Hoard was directed to the
2001 Family Farm Report located on the ERS web site, which
has a chapter on women farmers. The World Herald piece
was published in the Sunday, July 8 issue.
Sprawl Report Released: In June 2001, ERS released
Development at the Urban Fringe and Beyond: Impacts on
Agriculture and Rural Land , by Ralph Heimlich and Andy
Anderson. R.A. Hoppe and P. Korb contributed to the section
on metropolitan agriculture and transitions between metro
farm types.
Newton/Hoppe Meet With CSREES-ECS Fellow To Discuss Small Farms
Research: On June 29, Doris J. Newton and Robert Hoppe (RED)
visited with Dr. Stephen Tubene, CSREES-ECS Fellow, to discuss small
farms research. Dr. Tubene is a farm management specialist and Coordinator
of the Small Farm Institute, University of Maryland (UMES).
Choices publishes article: Choices published . "A New
Typology For a Diverse Ag Sector," in its 1st Quarter, 2001
issue. The article was written by Bob Hoppe, Jim Johnson, Janet
Perry, and David Banker and appeared in the "Graphically Speaking"
section of the magazine. The article describes U.S. farm structure
using the ERS farm typology. Sales class alone is inadequate to
classify farms.
Office of Representative Rosa DeLauro Requests Rural America
Article: On June 22, Doris J. Newton (RED) was contacted by
a staff member from the office of Representative Rosa DeLauro(D-CT)
to request a copy of the Newton/Hoppe Rural America article, "Financial
Well-Being of Small Farm Households Depends on the Health of Rural
Economies."
Successful Farming Radio Magazine Request for Farm Income Information:
On June 21, Doris Newton (ERS) was contacted by Darrell Anderson
of North Shore Productions, "The Successful Farming Radio Magazine."
Mr. Anderson developed a feature for the summer radio broadcast.
Newton provided highlights from the Newton/Hoppe article "Financial
Well-Being of Small Farm Households Depends on the Health of Rural
Economies," from the May 2001 Rural America report.
ERS releases Family Farm Report: At the end of May, ERS
released . Structural and Financial Characteristics of
U.S. Farms: 2001 Family Farm Report , edited by Bob Hoppe.
Family farms vary widely in size and other characteristics,
ranging from very small retirement and residential farms
to establishments with sales in the millions of dollars.
The farm typology developed by the Economic Research Service
(ERS) categorizes farms into groups based primarily on
occupation of the operator and sales class of the farm.
The typology groups are reflective of operators? expectations
from farming, position in the life cycle, and dependence
on agriculture. The groups differ in their importance
to the farm sector, product specialization, program participation,
and dependence on farm income. These (and other) differences
are discussed in this report. The Family Farm Report is
summarized in a brochure, America's Diverse Family Farms:
Assorted Sizes, Types, and Situation.
ERS Continues Its Seminar Series on Contracting: In 2000,
ERS hosted a conference sponsored by the Farm Foundation on contracting
in the agricultural sector. ERS continues this series by hosting
two seminars by well-known researchers Rachael Goodhue and Marvin
Heyenga. On June 8, 2001, Rachael Goodhue, University of California,
Davis, presented a seminar based on the paper "Contracts, Quality,
and Industrialization in Agriculture: Hypotheses and Empirical Analysis
of the California Winegrape Industry." Then on July 20, 2001,
Marvin Heyenga, Iowa State University, presented findings from his
many years of research on contracting and the structure of agriculture,
particularly in the hog industry.
ERS research on small farms published: Newton, Doris J.
and Robert Hoppe "Financial Well-Being of Small Farm Households
Depends on the Health of Rural Economies," Rural America. USDA,
Economic Research Service, May 2001, Volume 16, Issue 1, pp. 2-11.
The number of farms has decreased since the 1930s, and average size,
measured in acres, has increased. Most farms are small, and more
than half have sales less than $10,000. As a result, households
operating small farms rely heavily on off-farm income from the local
economy. At the other extreme, some farms have sales in the millions.
These and other differences present challenges when analyzing the
economic structure of agriculture and developing farm policy recommendations.
ERS research to be published in the American Journal of Agricultural
Economics: Paul V. Preckel (Purdue University Dept of Ag Econ.),
David H. Harrington, and Robert Dubman. "Primal/Dual Positive
Math Programming: Illustrated Through an Evaluation of the Impacts
of Market Resistance to Genetically Modified Grains." A mathematical
programming procedure is illustrated through application to a sectoral
equilibrium displacement model focused on evaluating the consequences
of reluctance of U.S. trading partners to accept genetically modified
crop products (e.g., corn and soybeans) for U.S. production patterns
and net farm income.
ERS research to be published in Choices: "The Competition
for Biotechnology's Future" by John L. King, Anwar Naseem,
and Norbert Wilson. This paper uses event study methodology to examine
competitive effects of mergers in the agricultural biotechnology
industry.
ERS Economist Presents at North Central Region Small Farm Workshop:
On March 21-23, Bob Hoppe (ERS) made a presentation applying the
ERS farm typology to the North Central Region. The presentation
provided background information for discussions on what land grant
universities, extension, State departments of agriculture, and Federal
agencies can do to serve small farms.
Workshop on NAFTA Policy Disputes: ERS cosponsored a workshop
entitled "Structural Changes as a Source of Trade Disputes under
NAFTA" on Feburary 14-17 in Tucson, Arizona. The workshop, which
was the seventh in a series of workshops on agriculture and food
policy information, is the product of a cooperative agreement between
ERS and Texas A&M University's Agricultural and Food Policy Center.
ARS, FAS, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, the Canadian Agri-Food
Trade Research Network, Cargill, Ltd., the Farm Foundation, and
the Royal Bank of Canada provided additional support. Participants
in the workshop included persons from the private sector, academia,
and the three NAFTA governments. The gathering also featured several
papers prepared by ERS economists: a background paper on the structure
of U.S. agriculture by Steven Zahniser, Robert A. Hoppe, James Johnson,
and David Banker; an examination of the field crop sector by Dempcey
Johnson; and an analysis of agribusiness concentration and competition
by Jim MacDonald. ERS Division Director Neil Conklin moderated a
closing discussion about the role of government in faciliating change
and competition.
ERS Responds to Risk Management Agency Request: On January
16, Bob Hoppe (ERS) prepared a count of operator households distributed
by household income classes for the Risk Managment Agency (RMA),
Pacific Northwest Regional Office. The information will be used
by RMA to update the Agency's definition of small or limited-resource
farmers.
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2000
ERS Economist Presents Farm Structure
Analysis: On October 18, Robert Hoppe (ERS) described current
farm structure using the ERS farm typology to the Cornell Food and
Agriculture Leadership Institute for New York Extension Educators
at the Rayburn Building in Washington, DC. The purpose of the session
was to help the educators understand the alternatives facing small
farms. Other presenters included Richard Wetherhill of the USDA
Rural Economic Assistance Program (REAP) and Fred Hoefner of the
Sustainable Agriculture Coalition.
ERS Economist Presents Small Farm Research: On September
17-20, Bob Hoppe (ERS) attended the annual National Public Policy
Education Conference in Albany, NY. The conference was sponsored
by the National Public Policy Education Committee in Cooperation
with the Farm Foundation and State Extension Services. Hoppe discussed
farm structure using the ERS farm typology, and presented implications
for small farms. The Commissioners of Agriculture for Vermont and
New York also made presentations at the session.
ERS Economist Attends National Black Farmers Association Conference:
On August 24-25, Doris Newton (ERS) attended the National Black
Farmers Association 2000 Annual Conference in Richmond, VA. This
conference provided information on farm management strategies and
interaction with stakeholders and other professionals. As a member
of an ERS project on successful small farm management strategies,
Newton shared findings on information sources about marketing channels
used by small farms. Feedback from the conference will be used to
aid in developing survey questions for the ARMS survey and in a
project report. Other workshop topics included discussions on farm
marketing and diversification strategies, and new agricultural technologies.
ERS Economist Presents Research Results on Successful Small
Farms: On August 2, at the American Agricultural Economics on
Association meetings, Bob Hoppe participated in the organized symposium
"Successful Small Farms: How Do They Do It?" His presentation, entitled
"Goals, Financial Success, and Small Farms," examined farmers ranking
of various goals from the 1995 Farm Costs and Returns Survey. His
presentation assessed variation in the importance of goals by the
farm typology, and examined differences in goals between financially
successful farms and other farms in each typology group.
ERS Economist Facilitates Small Farm Working Group: On June
22, Bob Hoppe (ERS) facilitated the quarterly meeting of the USDA
Small Farm Program Working Group, in Washington, DC. Topics on the
agenda included USDA outreach efforts, presented by USDA-RD, a presentation
by the American Farmland Trust on keeping small farms viable, and
small farms in the Pacific by USDA-CSREES.
ERS Economists Meet with Japanese Agricultural Specialists:
On February 23, ERS economists David Banker and David Peacock met
with Yoighi Watanabe, First Secretary of the Embassy of Japan, and
Hiroyuki Kamakawa, Kunihisa Yoshii, and Kiichi Narita from the Japanese
Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries. Peacock discussed
the U.S. farm sector estimates and forecasting system, while Banker
explained the ERS farm typology and the design and uses of the ARMS
survey system.
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