Newsroom

Previous Newsroom Items: June 2011

New From ERS

	Grassland Into Cropland: The Role of Farm Programs (June 30, 2011) ERS examined how quickly landowners were converting grasslands to cropland in the Northern Plains and the role of crop insurance and other farm programs in their decisions. Get Report Summary

	Food-Beverage Prices and Kids’ Weight (June 30, 2011) ERS estimates the effect of prices of various foods on children’s Body Mass Index (BMI), using price variation across time and geographic areas. Get Report Summary

	Behind This Year’s Rise in Food Commodity Prices (June 28, 2011) ERS discusses factors contributing to the rapid rise in agricultural prices in the past year, focusing on global food commodity prices, which are up 60 percent since June 2010.

	Relative Prices of Healthy/Less Healthy Foods: Do They Vary Regionally? (June 27, 2011) ERS compared the prices of seven healthy food groups with the prices of less healthy alternatives and examined whether prices differences vary across the country. Get Report Summary

	Brazil’s Ethanol Industry (June 27, 2011) Brazil has become the world’s largest source of renewable fuel for transportation through its ample availability of feedstock (sugarcane) and a supportive policy environment for the feedstock and processing sectors.

	Regional Approaches to Rural Development (June 23, 2011) ERS demonstrates an approach to examining initial economic outcomes of regional strategies for rural economic development, focusing on a program in the Mississippi Delta region. Get Report Summary

	Brazil’s Cotton Industry (June 17, 2011) Brazil was a major market for U.S. cotton in the 1990s and is a major competitor for cotton sales today. ERS identifies the factors in Brazil’s development as the world’s fifth-largest cotton exporter.