In the past 75 years agricultural economics as a professional field has evolved from a relatively small and fragmented group of concerns into a large professional activity, with highly developed theory, sophisticated research techniques, much data, and many outputs. Agricultural economists have developed, during the same time and as part of the same process, from a small number of pioneers, often shrewd and hardheaded men, but typically not well-trained by today's standards, into a large, well-populated, well-trained profession with many subfields. Agricultural economists today have permeated many aspects of modern American life—fact of which we boast, and one which some of our critics may deplore. How this came about, and what our role is or might be today, are the subjects of this paper.

This study examined the null hypothesis that getting started in farming in the 1970's was not more difficult than it was in earlier periods in the twentieth century. Comparative budgets were constructed using farm survey and farm account data for three different regions at four different time periods. In terms of years of farm wages required to earn beginning equity and cash flow to meet debt payments and family living costs, the null hypothesis was accepted. In general 1978–80 was more like 1910–12 than the more difficult times of 1930–32 and 1950–52.

In recent studies of erosion control in agricultural production it has been standard practice to use timeless or static models of agricultural production processes. In this paper implications of a dynamic model of agricultural production for erosion control decision making are compared to those of a static model. On the basis of this comparison it is suggested that future research on the economics of erosion control and erosion control policy may benefit from the use of dynamic modeling methods.

The economic sector beyond the farm gate – which provides marketing, transportation, and distribution services – has become increasingly important over time relative to farm production. In 1982, the cost of marketing farm foods reached an estimated 71 percent of total consumer expenditures. As we look to the 21st century, it is quite likely that the gamut of marketing services beyond the farm gate will account for over 80 percent of consumers’ expenditures for food.

Dairy product markets have been burdened with excess supplies since late 1979. The principal cause of these surpluses is overly high government price supports. This situation can be traced to a series of policy decisions made in the mid-1970s.

The evolution of dairy policy during the last 10 years is examined and the implications of recent policy proposals are explored. The contributions of agricultural economists to the formulation of rational dairy policy is discussed and suggestions for improving their contributions to and influence on policy are made.

Deregulation and reregulation of transportation is one of the most significant policy developments of recent years. It is important to understand the impacts of such changes on the availability of transportation services to agriculture, small communities, and rural areas. In this paper the experiences of shipper/receivers, carriers, private carriers, and agricultural truck brokers in Florida, the first state to deregulate nonpassenger motor carrier transport, are examined. Implications of these experiences for the Northeast are drawn. These findings are of particular interest to Maine, the second state to have deregulated nonpassenger transportation.

Survey data from Southeastern Pennsylvania is used to estimate the costs of current mushroom pest management practices. Pest management costs represent a sizeable proportion of the variable costs of producing mushrooms. The practices found are highly variable with costs ranging from $.04 to $.58 per square foot. The frequency of outside applications and steam use before and after the crop are the most significant practices influencing production costs.

The contribution of research to agricultural production is measured by estimating a production function which includes variables to reflect conventional inputs as well as agricultural research. Conventional inputs considered are hired labor, feed and livestock, seed and fertilizer, and capital and depreciation. Investment in agricultural research and extension within the region and investment in agricultural research in other production regions of the U.S. are included in the production function. Marginal products and internal rates of return axe derived for the own region and outside-the-region investments in agricultural research.

The empirical results indicate that sane agricultural production regions have a greater capacity for exporting agricultural research results while some have a greater capacity for importing agricultural research results from other production regions. Of the ten agricultural production regions of the U.S., the Northeast had the lowest marginal product per dollar invested in agricultural research during the 1977–81 period and the lowest internal rate of return to investment in agricultural research. For the same time period the average annual spillovers from the Northeast were approximately 3.3 times as large as the average annual regional benefit and the spillovers from the Northeast were about 2.3 times as large as the spill-ins into the Northeast region. The ratio of federal to state expenditures on agricultural research in the Northeast was 1.03 and compared to a ratio of spillover's to regional benefits of 3.3 suggests that the Northeast does not fare well in terms of federal support of agricultural research benefiting other regions of the U.S.

The economic viability of nine representative energy conservation options for Pennsylvania greenhouse operators is examined. The analysis is done using an Internal Rate of Return procedure for four major fuels under three price escalator assumptions. The minimum energy savings per square foot per year is also calculated for each option. Wide variation is found in the economic feasibility of these options with the ones with the lowest installation costs generally providing the greatest IRR and the lowest required minimum savings per year. The results clearly indicate the need to evaluate carefully the econcmic viability of such investments beforehand.

Women are an important element in determining a country's productive potential and the success of development efforts. However, women have been largely neglected in the rural development programs of many developing countries (Boulding, 1978; Newland, 1979).

A modified version of shift-share analysis is used to examine spatial, temporal and compositional trends in employment growth in the Northeastern United States during the 1970s. The analysis is presented for subregions, states and metropolitan and nonmetropolitan counties. Secondary data compiled by the Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis is used.

Employment growth in the Northeast, though positive overall, did not keep pace with that of the nation. While the distribution of employment among industries was very similar in the Northeast and the United States, the performance of these industries was not. The same was true for the three major subregions that comprise the Northeast. Nonmetropolitan counties outperformed their metropolitan counterparts in employment growth during the decade, with the most rural county types showing the greatest percentage employment growth.

This study examines the economic feasibility of substituting electricity generated on dairy farms by methane gas systems for electricity purchased from local utility companies. Electric power is an important input in the operation of a dairy farm. The central question was which source of this input was the cheaper? Herd sizes included in the study were 50, 100, 200 and 300 cows. The cost of methane generated electricity is compared with the cost of purchased electricity. Results are presented by size of dairy herd.

This paper analyzes the economic feasibility of an investment designed to digest anaerobically cage layer manure and convert biogas into electricity which is sold to a public utility. A simulation model is used to calculate the after-tax net present value (NPV) of a digestion system for eight egg farms differing in size under alternative scenarios. The results show that farm size and electricity price projections have a major impact on the magnitude and sign of the NPV estimates. Technical performance also has a marked effect on the investments’ feasibility, while tax credits and low interest rates have a relatively minor influence.

Many state and local groups in the Northeast are attempting to increase their employment base by attracting new industry. Unfortunately the success rate of these activities is not good. Despite the public relations hype associated with “successes,” serious evaluation of these activities raise questions regarding their efficiency. For example, the Alabama Business Research Council has documented that two-thirds of the plants that accepted industrial development bonds indicate that they would have chosen the same location even if the inducements had not been offered; thus, many “successes” were illusions. In addition, others have documented the complete failure of many types of industrial inducement programs (Cornia, Testa and Stocker; Stinson). Thus, the question is why haven't location inducement programs been more successful?

The use of hedging with commodity futures markets to reduce the price risk in corn production is examined. Both intra-year and inter-year risk are evaluated with different hedging strategies. Strategies involve no hedge, hedge and hold, controlled hedge placement and hold, and in and out hedging. Both technical and forecasting criteria are used to place hedges in the more active strategies. Substantial risk reduction is possible, often without a reduction in price received. Considerable basis risk diminishes the risk reducing properties of a hedge and hold strategy.

The U.S. Senate Committee on the Environment and Public Works is considering legislative proposals to reduce emissions of long-range transport air pollutants which may be a major factor in acid depostion. Preliminary results indicate that these proposals will have substantial impacts on coal production and employment in northern Appalachia, a region with long-standing structural unemployment problems.

The hedonic approach has been advanced recently as an important tool for assessing the value of non-market environmental attributes. In its most usual form, the method involves an attempt econometrically to capture differential prices for homes attributable to variations in the environmental characteristic. This technique has been applied with success for a variety of attributes – most notably the study of air pollution. However, the case studies reported here for water quality valuation were much less successful. We advance several reasons why the hedonic approach may be ill-suited to measuring the value of water quality.

Farmer participation in a proposed 5,600 cow central digester facility is a function of herd size, present manure handling system, income tax effects and expectations about future changes in contract terms. The present value of net benefits from participation ranges from $6,000 to $6,400 for large herds and $3,200 for medium herds with manure storage. No net benefits accrue to medium sized herds not currently storing manure. Environmental impacts of the proposal will likely be positive for air and water quality but could reduce soil quality unless organic matter is returned to cropland.