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SNAP Participation and Diet Outcomes
Despite Improvements in International Food Security, Nutritional Adequacy of Diets Falls Short of Targets in Many Countries
Recent Estimates of the Cost of Foodborne Illness Are in General Agreement
Flour Imports Help Afghanistan Meet Its Growing Food Needs
Public-Private Partnerships Create Opportunities To Enhance the Agricultural Research System
Growth in Global Agricultural Productivity: An Update
U.S. Exports Surge as China Supports Agricultural Prices
Effects of Changes in SNAP Benefits on Food Security
Summer Weather Most Important for Corn and Soybean Yields
Who Is Adopting Organic Farming Practices?
Features, Findings, & Statistics
Feature: Food & Nutrition Assistance
SNAP Participation and Diet Outcomes
An analysis of the effect of SNAP participation on diet quality yielded mixed results, showing that participants had slightly lower overall diet quality than low-income nonparticipants but better nutritional outcomes for some dietary components.
Feature: International Markets & Trade
Despite Improvements in International Food Security, Nutritional Adequacy of Diets Falls Short of Targets in Many Countries
Overall food security in 76 countries showed significant improvement over the past decade, with the number and share of food-insecure people declining sharply. In some countries, however, consumption of fat and protein fell short of the nutritional target, and many people in the lowest income groups were unable to meet the daily target of 2,100 calories per person.
Finding: Food Safety
Recent Estimates of the Cost of Foodborne Illness Are in General Agreement
Recent studies by ERS, University of Florida, and Ohio State University researchers agree that Salmonella and Toxoplasma gondii are the first and second most costly foodborne pathogens in the United States in terms of medical care, lost time from work, and losses due to premature death.
Finding: Crops
Flour Imports Help Afghanistan Meet Its Growing Food Needs
Afghanistan is among the world's largest importers of flour, averaging 1.6 million metric tons in recent years. Although flour production in Afghanistan increased rapidly in the post-2000 period, it could not keep pace with rising domestic demand spurred by strong economic growth and a rapidly expanding population that depends on flour for over half of its caloric intake.
Finding: Farm Economy
Public-Private Partnerships Create Opportunities To Enhance the Agricultural Research System
While traditional public funding for agricultural research and development (R&D) has stagnated over the past several decades, private companies are financing and performing a growing share of overall food and agricultural R&D. As the agricultural research system continues to evolve, one of the most pressing questions is how to leverage public resources and foster innovation.
Statistic: Farm Economy
Growth in Global Agricultural Productivity: An Update
Over the past five decades, global agricultural output grew, on average, by 2.24 percent per year. This average, however, masks a slowdown in agricultural output growth in the 1970s and 1980s, after which it re-accelerated in the 1990s and 2000s. In the latest decade (2001-10), global output of total crop and livestock commodities expanded by 2.50 percent per year.
Feature: International Markets & Trade
U.S. Exports Surge as China Supports Agricultural Prices
As Chinese officials expanded support for agriculture, they began to rely on raising price supports to maintain net returns to farmers. China became the largest market for U.S. agricultural exports as its rising prices eroded the relative competitiveness of Chinese commodities.
Finding: Food & Nutrition Assistance
Effects of Changes in SNAP Benefits on Food Security
Results from two ERS studies of changes in food security during times of increasing and declining SNAP benefits suggest that increasing the maximum SNAP benefit by 10 percent would reduce the number of SNAP households with very low food security by about 22 percent, and reducing the maximum benefit by 10 percent would increase that number by about 29 percent.
Finding: Crops
Summer Weather Most Important for Corn and Soybean Yields
To measure the impact of weather on crops, ERS developed statistical models for corn and soybean yields based on 25 years of historical data. July tends to be the most important month for determining corn yields since many of the critical stages of crop development, particularly pollination, typically occur during that month. Weather in both July and August are important for soybean yields.
Finding: Farm Economy
Who Is Adopting Organic Farming Practices?
In response to rising demand for organic products, a growing number of farmers have had to adopt new (to them) organic production practices and establish new marketing channels. Early adopters of innovative farming practices tend to be operators of larger farms and have higher levels of schooling and stronger links to outside sources of information than other farmers.
Statistic: Natural Resources & Environment
Growth Patterns in the U.S. Organic Industry
While Americans economized on their food purchases during the 2007-09 recession, including purchases of organic products, growth in demand for organic products rebounded quickly following the recession. Estimated U.S. organic food sales were $28 billion in 2012 (over 4 percent of total at-home food sales), up 11 percent from 2011.
Feature: Food & Nutrition Assistance
Eating Better at School: Can New Policies Improve Children's Food Choices?
ERS research found that offering school lunches with a healthier mix of vegetables was associated with higher consumption of healthier vegetables, but also higher food costs. "Competitive foods" that many schools sell in addition to USDA school meals will also follow new nutrition standards beginning with the 2014-15 school year.
Feature: Farm Economy
Cropland Consolidation and the Future of Family Farms
Over the past three decades, U.S. crop production has been shifting to larger farms for most crops and in most States. Despite the shift, family farms continue to dominate U.S. crop production, accounting for 87 percent of the total value of U.S. crop production in 2011.
Finding: Food Choices & Health
Americans Not Drinking Milk as Often as Their Parents Did
Since 1970, per capita consumption of fluid milk in the U.S. has fallen from almost 1 cup (8 fl. oz.) to 0.6 cups per day. Contributing to the trend are differences in the eating and drinking habits of newer and older generations.
Finding: Farm Economy
When Working Off the Farm, Farm Operators Most Commonly Work in Management and Professional Occupations
Most U.S. farm households earn income from nonfarm sources, and in 2011, roughly 56 percent of their nonfarm income came from off-farm jobs, on average. When working off-farm, 36 percent of farm operators and their spouses reported working in management and professional occupations.
Finding: Farm Economy
Evaluating the Resource Cost and Transferability of Brazil's Cerrado Agricultural "Miracle"
Brazil's successful agricultural transformation of the Cerrado, which accounts for 24 percent of the country's total area, is evident by a 192-percent rise in average production volumes of Cerrado farms during 1985-2006. Such success has led to speculation that the world's other savannah regions, including Sub-Saharan Africa's vast Guinea Savannah, could become new breadbaskets.
Indicators Table
Selected statistics on agriculture and trade, diet and health, natural resources, and rural America, September 2013
Statistic: Farm Practices & Management
Western Irrigated Agriculture: Production Value, Water Use, Costs, and Technology Vary by Farm Size
In 2007, irrigated agriculture made a significant contribution to the value of U.S. agricultural production, with farms having at least some irrigated cropland accounting for roughly 40 percent of U.S. agricultural market sales. The 17 contiguous Western States accounted for nearly three-quarters of U.S. irrigated farmland during the period.
Feature: Farm Economy
Solving the Commodity Markets' Non-Convergence Puzzle
From 2005 to 2010, expiring corn, soybeans, and wheat futures contracts routinely settled at prices significantly higher than their cash market counterparts. Findings show that the observed non-convergence was an unintended consequence of market design rather than speculative trading.
Feature: Farm Economy
Developing Countries Dominate World Demand for Agricultural Products
According to USDA's baseline projections, developing country demand for agricultural products is expected to increase faster than their production in 2013-22. Thus, these countries will account for 92 percent of the total increase in world meat imports, 92 percent of the increase in world grains and oilseeds imports, and nearly all of the increase in world cotton imports.
Finding: Food & Nutrition Assistance
Post-Recession, a Greater Share of Food-Insecure Children Have Parents Who Are Unemployed or Working Part-Time
In 2006-07, among households that had food-insecure children, 6.9 percent had an adult who was unemployed and looking for work and no other adults employed and 10.4 percent had an adult working part-time and no adults employed full-time. By 2010-11, these shares had increased to 12.2 percent and 15.4 percent, respectively.
Finding: Crops
High RIN Prices Suggest Market Factors Likely To Constrain Future U.S. Ethanol Expansion
Declining use of gasoline in the U.S. combined with market constraints to future growth in the blending of biofuel have resulted in U.S. ethanol use falling short of the Federal Renewable Fuel Standard, which specifies minimum annual levels of biofuel consumption in the U.S. through 2022. For many years, U.S. ethanol use exceeded mandates; now, however, ethanol mandates exceed use.
Finding: Animal Products
Effects of Large-Scale Hog Production on Local Labor Markets
For counties with large-scale hog operations, the average change in the number of hogs at these operations over each 5-year-period between 1992 and 2007 was 8,473. Each additional 1,000 hogs at large-scale hog facilities in a county generated 0.96 net jobs in the county, with gains in some sectors and losses in others.
Statistic: Food Markets & Prices
Price Inflation for Food Outpacing Many Other Spending Categories
Food prices have been rising in recent years, and food price inflation has easily outpaced price inflation for most other major consumer spending categories. Between 2006 and 2012, only prices for transportation, which includes a number of energy price measures, and medical care have risen faster than food prices.
Feature: Food Choices & Health
Obesity and Other Health Concerns Lead Food Companies To Step Up Health and Nutrient Claims
As food companies compete for customers, the health and nutritional features of their products are becoming an increasingly important component of their differentiation strategies. Government policies, new health information, and changing consumer preferences all shape the number and types of health- and nutrition-related claims that appear on food and beverage products.
Feature: Farm Economy
The Role of Conservation Program Design in Drought-Risk Adaptation
Since USDA conservation programs are voluntary, farmers base their participation decisions on local conditions, among other factors, and those decisions are influenced by the level of local drought risk. This is a form of climate adaptation.
Finding: Food Choices & Health
Changes in Income Have Small Effect on Where a Household Shops for Milk
Despite having cheaper options, U.S. households purchase most fluid milk in supermarkets or supercenters, suggesting that other factors beyond the price of one product play a role in consumer shopping behavior. Also, even large changes in income do not lead most households to change their preferred store type to buy milk.
Finding: Food & Nutrition Assistance
Food Insecurity Increased in Most States From 2001 to 2011
In 2011, 14.9 percent of U.S. households were food insecure—up from 10.7 percent in 2001. Over the period, food insecurity was essentially unchanged in nine States but up in the remaining States and Washington, DC.
Finding: Crops
Complex Array of Factors Influence World Sugar Prices
With the world sugar price serving as the new floor for domestic prices, it becomes more important to understand the dynamics of world prices. Brazil is the world's leading sugar producer and, over the long term, world sugar prices are determined by production costs in Center/South Brazil, as well as the exchange rate between the U.S. dollar and the Brazilian real.
Finding: Rural Economy & Population
Rural Internet at a Crossroads
Ninety-five percent of all U.S. households have access to broadband Internet service. The 5 percent of households that do not have access largely reside in rural areas. About 30 percent of rural households with access still do not have broadband meeting current technology standards, although some of these households have broadband available at slower speeds.
Statistic: Food Markets & Prices
ERS Food Dollar Series Allows an Indepth Look at Farm Level Components of the U.S. Food Dollar
Since 1993, the farm share of each dollar spent on domestically produced food has mostly trended downward, beginning the period at 18.4 cents and remaining below 16 cents since 2000. In 2011, the farm share was 15.5 cents, up from 14.1 cents in 2010 and comparable with levels in 2007-08.
Finding: Food & Nutrition Assistance
Food Insecurity in U.S. Households Rarely Persists Over Many Years
Two studies commissioned by ERS found that for a large share of food-insecure households, food insecurity is a short-duration condition. For example, one study found that half of households that were food insecure at some time during a 5-year period were food insecure in only 1 of the 5 years.
Finding: Farm Economy
China's Agricultural Productivity Growth: Strong But Uneven
The rapid growth in China's agricultural productivity over the past few decades may not have been sustained in recent years. Annual total factor productivity growth peaked during 1996-2000 at 5.1 percent before slowing to 3.2 percent in 2000-2005. It then declined by 3.7 percent per year in 2005-07. The significance of this slowdown remains unclear.
Finding: Farm Economy
Onfarm Energy Use Fairly Steady in 2001-11, But Share of Production Costs Rose
Although agriculture's demand for energy has historically been less than 2 percent of total U.S. energy consumption, energy-based inputs account for a significant share of agricultural production costs. For example, over 30 percent of total production expenditures by corn, sorghum, and rice farmers in 2011 were for energy-intensive inputs.
Statistic: Food Choices & Health
ERS's Food Loss Data Help Inform the Food Waste Discussion
ERS's Loss-Adjusted Food Availability data show that at the retail and consumer levels, an estimated 31 percent of the 430 billion pounds of food available for human consumption in the U.S. in 2010 was not eaten due to cooking and moisture shrinkage; loss from mold, pests, or inadequate climate control; plate waste; and other causes.
Indicators Table
Selected statistics on agriculture and trade, diet and health, natural resources, and rural America.
Feature: Crops
Crop Outlook Reflects Near-Term Prices and Longer Term Market Trends
Initial indications suggest continued expansion of U.S. corn and soybean acres at the expense of rice and cotton. Factors behind the acreage shift include growing U.S. ethanol production, rising demand in China for U.S. soybeans, and new competition for U.S. wheat from Black Sea wheat exporters.
Feature: Farm Economy
Research Raises Agricultural Productivity in Sub-Saharan Africa
Agricultural productivity in Sub-Saharan Africa has been rising gradually since the 1980s. Agricultural research has spurred adoption of new technologies and has been a major driver of higher productivity in Sub-Saharan African agriculture. Despite these gains, productivity growth in the region remains well below that of other developing countries.
Feature: Food & Nutrition Assistance
Disability Is an Important Risk Factor for Food Insecurity
Recent ERS research found that one-third of U.S. households with a working-age adult who was unable to work due to a disability were food insecure in 2009-10. Disability has emerged as one of the strongest known factors that affect a household's food security.
Finding: Food & Nutrition Assistance
Economic Conditions Affect the Share of Children Receiving Free or Reduced-Price School Lunches
During the Great Recession and continuing through 2010, the share of National School Lunch Program participants receiving free or reduced-price meals increased 10 percent. Preliminary data for 2011 and 2012 show that this share continued to rise even after the unemployment rate started to decline, indicating the need for assistance remained high.
Finding: International Markets & Trade
Why Do Indian Mangoes Cost So Much?
Many attribute the high prices of Indian mangoes in the U.S. to the costs of meeting health and food safety requirements for imports. ERS analysis, however, finds that shipping and wholesale markups are in fact the biggest factor behind the high prices.
Finding: Farm Economy
Among Women Farmers, Different Specializations Dominate Farm Numbers, Farm Sales
Most women-operated farms specialize in grazing livestock or miscellaneous crops, but these are mostly small operations that contribute relatively little to the total sales of women-operated farms. Most sales by women-operated farms come from farms specializing in poultry and eggs, specialty crops, grains and oilseeds, and dairy.
Statistic: Farm Economy
The Revised ERS Farm Typology: Classifying U.S. Farms To Reflect Today's Agriculture
Since the release of ERS's farm typology nearly 15 years ago, the U.S. agricultural sector has changed in a number of ways. ERS recently updated the typology to reflect three important trends: commodity price increases, a shift in production to larger farms, and the rapid growth of the use of production contracts among livestock producers.
Statistic: Rural Economy & Population
Nonmetro Areas as a Whole Experience First Period of Population Loss
U.S. nonmetro counties as a whole have gained population every year for which county population estimates are available--until recently. Between April 2010 and July 2012, nonmetro counties declined in total population by 44,000, a -0.09-percent drop according to the most recent annual county population estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau.
Feature: International Markets & Trade
Free-Trade Agreements: New Trade Opportunities for Horticulture
The U.S has embarked on negotiations to create a Trans-Pacific Partnership and a comprehensive trans-Atlantic agreement with the EU that will liberalize and promote trade. The U.S. horticulture industry has an interest in the outcome of both negotiations, as fruit and vegetable trade continues to be influenced by a range of trade-distorting policies.
Feature: Farm Economy
The Importance of Farmer-Owned Nonfarm Businesses in the Rural Economy
Farm households that also operate nonfarm businesses have accounted for roughly 18 percent of U.S. farm households since the 1990s. In 2007, farmer-owned nonfarm businesses employed over 800,000 nonfarm workers and contributed an estimated $55 billion to their local communities' gross county product.
Finding: Food & Nutrition Assistance
The Food Costs of Healthier School Lunches
ERS analyzed cost data from 2005 for nearly 400 schools to better understand the potential effects of 2012-13 nutrition standards on school food costs. Schools serving lunches in 2005 that would have met the new fruit, vegetable, and milk standards had higher food costs than schools whose menus would not have met these standards.
Finding: International Markets & Trade
China's Cotton Policies To Lower Domestic Consumption and Imports
Policy changes have severely constrained the profitability of cotton spinning in China and are expected to lower China's cotton consumption and import demand, while boosting imports and mill use by other countries.
Finding: Farm Economy
Younger Beginning Farmers Tend To Operate Larger Farms
In 2011, 11 percent of beginning farm operators under age 35 had gross farm sales of $250,000 or more, compared with 6 percent of beginning operators age 35-49 and 1 percent of those age 50 and older. As a result, young beginning farm households tend to earn more on their farm and less off their farm than other beginning farm households.
Statistic: Farm Economy
Understanding Farm Income's Role in Farm Household Finances
Over the last 20 years, farm income has represented a small share of total farm household income--as little as 4.6 percent and never more than 17.5 percent. This pattern supports the counterintuitive notion that farming matters little to the financial well-being of U.S. farm households. However, the share of farm income to total farm household income can be misleading.
Feature: Food Choices & Health
Different Measures of Food Access Inform Different Solutions
ERS recently updated several national measures of food access, providing estimates of the number of individuals and geographic areas with limited access to healthful and affordable food. Between 2006 and 2010, the number of low-income individuals living more than 1 mile from a supermarket increased, but more individuals had access to vehicles in 2010.
Finding: Animal Products
Productivity Gains Increase U.S. Commercial Pork Production
Commercial pork production in the United States increased 174 percent from 1977 to 2012 from slaughtering more and bigger hogs. Public and private research and development during the period led to efficiency gains that have altered the structure of the pork industry.
Finding: Crops
While Crop Rotations Are Common, Cover Crops Remain Rare
While 82-94 percent of most U.S. crops are grown in some sort of rotation, conservation crop rotations that incorporate cover crops remain rare. Only about 3 to 7 percent of farms use cover crops in rotations, and, since they do not put all of their land into cover crops, only 1 percent of cropland acreage uses cover crops.
Finding: Farm Economy
Farm Income Forecast To Remain High in 2013
Net farm income in 2013 is forecast to be $128.2 billion, which would be nearly 14 percent higher than forecast in 2012. Adjusting for inflation, this would be the highest net farm income since 1973.
Feature: Food Choices & Health
Americans' Food Choices at Home and Away: How Do They Compare With Recommendations?
Grocery store purchase data reveal that Americans underspend on fruits, vegetables, and whole grains and overspend on refined grains, fats, and sugars/sweets, compared with USDA's dietary recommendations, a pattern that showed little change from 1998 to 2006. Food choices when eating out are even more of a nutritional concern.
Feature: Crops
Southeast Asia Projected To Remain Top Rice Exporter
Southeast Asia's rice surplus of exports over imports has grown steadily over the past decade. Despite slower production growth in the region, USDA projects that the surplus will remain large over the next decade because rice consumption in Southeast Asia is expected to increase at a slower rate.
Feature: Crops
Adaptation Can Help U.S. Crop Producers Confront Climate Change
While the impact that climate change will have on future growing conditions in specific areas of the country remains uncertain, the ability of farmers to adapt to climate change—through planting decisions, farming practices, and use of technology—can reduce its impact on production, farm commodity prices, and farmer returns.
Feature: Farm Economy
Federal Income Tax Reform and the Potential Effects on Farm Households
The complexity of the current tax code, together with perceptions that it distorts economically efficient decisions and is inequitable, has led to calls for fundamental tax reform.
Finding: Crops
Protected-Culture Technology Transforms the Fresh-Tomato Market
In calendar year 2011, protected culture tomatoes made up 40 percent of U.S. tomato shipments, up from less than 10 percent in 2004; they now dominate the retail industry and are becoming more common in foodservice.
Finding: Crops
Characteristics of U.S. Cotton Farms Vary Widely
In the U.S, cotton is a major field crop that generates significant cash receipts for producers, exceeded only by corn, soybeans, wheat, and greenhouse products. Data from the 2007 cotton version of USDA's ARMS reveal the extent to which cotton farm operators have different characteristics and use different production practices.
Finding: Food & Nutrition Assistance
Analysis of Those Leaving USDA's Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Reveals the Program's Effectiveness
A recent ERS analysis compares the food security status of current SNAP recipients with that of households that recently left the program. The difference of 8.9 percentage points in prevalence of very low food security between households that continued to receive SNAP benefits (14.2 percent) and households that left the program (23.1 percent) provides an estimate of SNAP's effectiveness in improving the food security of participating households.
Finding: Food Choices & Health
Substitute and Complementary Foods Are Important When Assessing Impacts of Price Policies on Dietary Quality
With many Americans consuming too much fat and added sugars and not enough fruit, vegetables, whole grains, and low-fat dairy products, public health advocates have called for taxes or subsidies on particular foods as a way to improve Americans' diets. To capture the total impact of hypothetical price policies on dietary quality requires a model that includes consumer responsiveness to complementary and substitute foods.
Finding: Natural Resources & Environment
Effects of U.S. Wind Power Development on County-Level Income and Employment
A recent study measured the effects of wind power development on county-level income and employment in 12 States of the Great Plains and Rocky Mountain regions. Findings reveal an aggregate increase in county-level personal income and employment of approximately $11,000 and 0.5 jobs per megawatt of wind power capacity installed over the study period 2000 to 2008.
Finding: Crops
Bt Corn Adoption by U.S. Farmers Increases Yields and Profits
Genetically engineered varieties of corn with enhanced pest management traits have been widely adopted by U.S. farmers. Researchers confirm that Bt corn adoption was positively associated with increased variable profits and yields in 2005. More specifically, a 10.0-percent increase in Bt adoption was associated with a 1.7-percent increase in corn yields and a 1.65-percent increase in variable profits.
Statistic: Food Choices & Health
New ERS Data Product Links Food Availability and Food Intake Data
ERS's recently updated Commodity Consumption by Population Characteristics data product links national estimates of food supplies, or food available for consumption, with information from consumer food intake surveys.
Indicators Table
Selected statistics on agriculture and trade, diet and health, natural resources, and rural America
Feature: Rural Economy & Population
The Concentration of Poverty Is a Growing Rural Problem
Concentrated poverty has increased in the U.S. over the last decade, particularly in nonmetropolitan areas and in areas with distinct racial/ethnic minority populations. Deteriorating economic conditions, namely rising unemployment, have driven the increase in nonmetro concentrated poverty.
Feature: Farm Economy
Economic and Financial Conditions Bode Well for U.S. Agriculture
The emergence of developing countries as markets for exports, strong farm balance sheets, healthy financial institutions supporting agriculture, and a favorable trade-weighted dollar exchange rate all support relatively strong growth in the U.S. farm sector. These factors suggest a positive outlook for U.S. agriculture as the U.S. and global economies continue their recovery.
Feature: Food Choices & Health
Gobbling Up Snacks: Cause or Potential Cure for Childhood Obesity?
Children today are consuming about 200 more calories a day from snacks than they did in the 1970s. Replacing calorie-dense snack foods with fruits and vegetables can be one step in addressing childhood obesity and does not have to compromise a family's food budget.
Feature: Farm Economy
Rising Concentration in Agricultural Input Industries Influences New Farm Technologies
The leading agricultural input firms are multinational companies with R&D facilities located around the world. These global research networks allow large firms to develop and adapt new technologies to local conditions, meet national regulatory requirements for new product introductions, and achieve cost economies in some of their R&D activities.
Finding: Food Choices & Health
Agricultural Policies Have Little Effect on U.S. Calorie Consumption
Many observers speculate that agricultural policies contribute to increased U.S. obesity rates by making certain commodities more abundant and therefore cheaper. However, a recent study finds that the effects of farm subsidies, when combined with the effects of other agricultural policies that restrict supply such as acreage set-asides or import barriers, have little impact on average calorie consumption.
Finding: Food Choices & Health
Dietary Guidelines Have Encouraged Some Americans To Purchase More Whole-Grain Bread
There is little evidence that overall diet quality in the U.S. has improved in response to updated Dietary Guidelines for Americans issued every 5 years. However, a recent study by ERS finds that, for whole grains, the 2005 Guidelines were able to nudge consumption patterns in the direction desired by the public health community—at least for some consumers.
Finding: International Markets & Trade
A Market for U.S. Distillers Dried Grains Emerges in China
China has become a key importer of U.S. distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS), the main co-product from ethanol production. About a fourth of U.S. DDGS output is exported, and China accounted for nearly 20 percent of those exports in 2010/11.
Finding: Farm Practices & Management
Alternative Policies To Promote Anaerobic Digesters Produce Positive Net Benefits
Rising fuel prices and the public's desire for new sources of renewable energy and reduced carbon emissions have led to government policies that support the adoption of anaerobic digesters by livestock producers. ERS research finds that the design of such policies can affect farmer adoption rates of digesters, farm incomes, and environmental benefits from use of the technology.
Finding: Farm Practices & Management
Nitrogen Management in Corn Production Appears To Be Improving
An ERS study of nitrogen management on U.S. corn cropland over 2001-10 indicates that corn producers may be adjusting to changing economic conditions and environmental concerns. U.S. corn acreage treated with nitrogen increased 18 percent during the period as corn prices rose by 70 percent in response to increased demand for grain for export and ethanol production.
Finding: Natural Resources & Environment
Natural Gas Extraction Creates Local Jobs in the Short Term
ERS analysis of the effects of natural gas extraction on local counties captures increases in local employment and income and median household income occurring primarily in the gas development phase when infrastructure is laid and wells are drilled. The long-term local economic effects are likely smaller.
Finding: Rural Economy & Population
Return Migrants Overcome Employment Barriers in Small Towns
Efforts to attract and assist return migrants can reap benefits for rural communities, especially in geographically isolated areas that otherwise tend to attract few new migrants. However, for returnees to overcome employment challenges in these communities often requires a combination of sacrifice, risk taking, creativity, and patience.
Statistic: Rural Economy & Population
Mapping Frontier and Remote Areas in the U.S.
One need for delineating remote "frontier" areas comes from recent legislative mandates to improve access to public services in such areas. ERS's newly developed Frontier and Remote (FAR) area codes are both geographically detailed and adjustable within reasonable ranges to facilitate their use in diverse research and policy contexts.
Statistic: Rural Economy & Population
In the Long Run: Population Trends in Nonmetro America Vary Considerably by Age and County Type
For many decades, most U.S. nonmetro counties experienced significant population loss among young adults, especially in the years immediately following high school graduation.
Indicators table
Selected statistics on agriculture and trade, diet and health, natural resources, and rural America
Statistic: Food Markets & Prices
On the Map: Farmers' Markets Concentrated in Metro Counties
The 143 U.S. counties with more than 10 farmers' markets account for almost 40 percent of the Nation's farmers' markets. All but 10 are metro-designated counties where higher population concentrations provide a larger customer base.
Feature: Farm Economy
New Evidence Points to Robust But Uneven Productivity Growth in Global Agriculture
Total factor productivity in agriculture is showing rapid growth at the global level led by improved performance in China and Brazil, although the global rate of growth in harvested yield for major grains and oilseeds has slowed. Agricultural productivity growth may be slowing in some countries and regions and remains very low in food-insecure Sub-Saharan Africa.
Feature: Farm Economy
Farmland Values on the Rise: 2000-2010
Farmland values have been rising but so have farm earnings. Historically low interest rates contribute to sustained high farmland prices and have helped improve the affordability of farmland. Strong farm earnings have dampened the impact of a significant downturn in residential land markets.
Feature: Farm Economy
Creating Rural Wealth: A New Lens for Rural Development Efforts
Creating and maintaining a broad portfolio of wealth may be central to sustainable rural prosperity. However, the impacts that rural development strategies have on wealth and the impacts of existing wealth on those strategies are generally not well understood.
Feature: International Markets & Trade
Factors Affecting Food Production Growth in Sub-Saharan Africa
While food imports have increased in most SSA countries, the region relies mainly on domestic production for the bulk of its food consumption. Grain production in SSA grew at an average rate of 4.1 percent per year between 2000 and 2010, but yield growth is lagging, and investments to raise productivity will be needed to maintain this rate of growth in the future.
Feature: Animal Products
Long-Term Prospects for Agriculture Reflect Growing Demand for Food, Fiber, and Fuel
Growing food demand in developing countries, rising biofuel demand, and slowing agricultural productivity gains have put upward pressure on farm-commodity prices over the past decade. According to USDA's annual baseline projections, these and other factors will continue to influence prospects for U.S. and world agriculture over the next decade.
Feature: Food Choices & Health
What Role Do Food and Beverage Prices Have on Diet and Health Outcomes?
Food preferences, nutrition knowledge, and access to stores and restaurants all share a role with food prices in consumers' food purchasing decisions and related health outcomes. Price changes have limited effects on food choices and health outcomes, but the effects may be larger when paired with information and other reinforcing policies and programs.
Finding: Food Choices & Health
Trans Fats Are Less Common in New Food Products
The Federal Government has taken two policy approaches to help Americans reduce trans fats in their diets: publicizing the health risks and requiring food manufacturers to label the trans fat content of foods. ERS found that food manufacturers responded to the labeling requirements, nutritional advice from health officials, and national media coverage by reducing the trans fats in their products.
Finding: Food Markets & Prices
Food Processing Costs Per Food-at-Home Dollar Rose Sharply in 2009 and 2010
In 2010, about 35 cents from each dollar that U.S. consumers spent on food at grocery and other retail foodstores went to food processing establishments like flour mills, meatpacking plants, and dairy processors. This equates to an increase of around 14 percent since 2007, when the share was about 31 cents per dollar spent.
Finding: Food Choices & Health
Healthy Foods Not Necessarily More Expensive Than Less Healthy Foods
Healthy foods are perceived to be more expensive than less healthy foods, a belief perhaps fueled by studies showing that healthy foods are more expensive per calorie. ERS measured the prices of over 4,000 foods using three price metrics and found that prices for each food category varied depending on the metric used.
Finding: Food Choices & Health
U.S. Per Capita Availability of Chicken Surpasses That of Beef
According to ERS's food availability data, 58 pounds of chicken per person on a boneless, edible basis were available for Americans to eat in 2010, and for the first time, chicken surpassed beef as the most consumed meat in the U.S. Chicken consumption began its upward climb in the 1940s and has doubled since 1970.
Finding: Farm Economy
Expansion in Direct Payments Did Not Lead to More Crop Production
ERS analysis finds that direct payments have little effect on agricultural production decisions. A more rigorous analysis accounting for farm and regional characteristics also found no evidence of direct payments having economically significant effects on production.
Finding: Farm Economy
Health Care Expenditures of Self-Employed Farm Households
Farm households purchasing individual health insurance directly from private vendors are likely to spend more on health care than those with other sources of health insurance. Other things being equal, among all farm households, those without any insurance coverage have the lowest health care expenditures.
Finding: International Markets & Trade
Mexico Emerges as an Exporter of Beef to the United States
Mexico has historically been a top export market for U.S. beef, but in 2003, it emerged as an important source of beef imports for the United States. U.S. beef imports from Mexico at least doubled in 2010 and 2011.
Finding: International Markets & Trade
Brazil's Agricultural Productivity Growth Spurred by Research
Over the last 25 years, Brazil emerged as a major agricultural producer and exporter, with agricultural production rising 77 percent between 1985 and 2006. Government investments in infrastructure and agricultural research, led to increases in agricultural productivity and expansion of cultivated area.
Finding: Natural Resources & Environment
Water Constraints Shape Long-Term Prospects for Wheat Production in Afghanistan
Wheat production in Afghanistan is extremely sensitive to variations in precipitation. During the main growing months, rainfall is scarce and farmers depend on irrigation. And decades of war and conflict have left much of the country's irrigation system in a state of disrepair.
Finding: Food Markets & Prices
Retail Dairy Prices Respond Differently to Farm Milk Price Shocks
ERS model results show that farm milk price shocks are not transmitted instantaneously to retail for whole milk or Cheddar cheese. The nature of price transmission is also very different for whole milk and Cheddar cheese.
Finding: International Markets & Trade
How Much U.S. Meat Comes From Foreign Sources?
While it is relatively easy to track the amount of meat and the number of livestock imported by the U.S., it is more difficult to estimate the amount of meat produced in the U.S. from animals originating abroad. ERS estimates show the share of domestic meat production attributed to foreign-born animals is significant and trending upward.
Finding: Farm Practices & Management
Improving Water-Use Efficiency Remains a Challenge for U.S. Irrigated Agriculture
In 2007, irrigated agriculture accounted for 55 percent of the total value of U.S. crop sales, while also supporting the livestock and poultry sectors. The economic health and sustainability of irrigated agriculture will depend on the ability of producers to adapt to growing constraints on water, particularly through improved water-use efficiency.
Finding: Natural Resources & Environment
Baselines--Key to the Costs and Benefits of Environmental Markets
Recently, markets have been developed that could allow farmers to generate and sell environmental credits when they adopt farming practices that improve the environment. Environmental markets use baselines to determine whether proposed improvements qualify for marketable credits, and setting baseline emissions levels is often a contentious element of market design.
Statistic: International Markets & Trade
Middle-Income Countries Drive U.S. Agricultural Trade
In 2011, the U.S. shipped nearly half of its total agricultural exports to upper middle-income countries. Steadily rising incomes, population growth, and increased urbanization have helped position these countries as important and destinations for U.S. goods.
Selected statistics on agriculture and trade, diet and health, natural resources, and rural America
Statistic: Farm Practices & Management
On the Map: The Conservation Challenge for Sustainable Irrigated Agriculture
Expanding water demands to support population and economic growth, environmental flows, and energy-sector growth will present new challenges for agricultural water and conservation, particularly for the 17 Western States that account for nearly three-quarters of U.S. irrigated agriculture.
Statistic: Food Markets & Prices
In the Long Run: Public Expenditures Stable at Around 6 Percent of Total Food Spending Since 1990
In 2010, families and individuals accounted for 82.8 percent of the $1.2 trillion in total U.S. food spending.
Feature: Farm Economy
Private Industry Investing Heavily, and Globally, in Research To Improve Agricultural Productivity
In 2010, global private-sector investments R&D to improve agricultural inputs reached $11.0 billion, up from $5.6 billion in 1994. Factors driving the growth in research spending include the emergence of biotechnology and other scientific developments and the strengthening of intellectual property rights over agricultural innovations.
Feature: Farm Economy
Emergence and Impact of USDA's
Although USDA's WASDE report is viewed by commodity market observers as an important benchmark, the rise of private forecasting services has led some to question the usefulness of USDA's role in commodity market reporting. ERS model results show that markets place substantial value on the situation and outlook information published in WASDE.
Feature: Farm Economy
Immigration Policy and Its Possible Effects on U.S. Agriculture
Policymakers are considering changes to U.S. immigration law that would affect the market for hired farm labor--including mandatory use of an Internet-based employment eligibility verification system and an expanded guestworker program for nonimmigrant, foreign-born agricultural workers.
Feature: Food & Nutrition Assistance
SNAP Benefits Alleviate the Intensity and Incidence of Poverty
Adding SNAP benefits to family income reduces the poverty rate and leads to even greater reductions in depth and severity of poverty, particularly among children. The antipoverty effect of SNAP was especially strong in 2009, when the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act increased SNAP benefits levels.
Statistic: Food Choices & Health
Food and Nutrient Intake Data: Taking a Look at the Nutritional Quality of Foods Eaten at Home and Away From Home
Foods prepared in restaurants, school cafeterias, and other away-from-home eating places accounted for 42 percent of American households food budgets and 32 percent of calorie intake during 2005-08. How the nutritional quality of these foods differs from that of foods eaten at home is a critical factor affecting the quality of Americans diets.
Selected statistics on agriculture and trade, diet and health, natural resources, and rural America
Statistic: Rural Economy & Population
On the Map: Increases in U.S. Poverty Rate Were Highest in the Manufacturing Areas of the Midwest and South
Increases in the poverty rate between 2000 and 2006-10 were often highest in regions that suffered the largest increases in unemployment rates during the 2007-09 recession, such as the Great Lakes and Southern Highland regions.
Statistic: Farm Economy
In the Long Run: Global Private-Sector Research Is Considerably Larger for Crop Inputs Than for Livestock
In recent years, private-sector research expenditures directed at crop production inputs have been 3.5 to 5.5 times higher than those directed at livestock production inputs.
Finding: International Markets & Trade
Potential Developing Country Agricultural Safeguards in Cereal Grains Markets
If approved, the special safeguard mechanism (SSM) is expected to increase domestic commodity prices in the developing countries where the policy is implemented. The SSM is also expected to increase the volatility of world commodity prices if the measure is widely used by developing countries.
Finding: Crops
Ethanol Strengthens the Link Between Agriculture and Energy Markets
The growing role of the ethanol industry as a supplier to the U.S. motor fuels market has reshaped the relationship between agriculture and energy markets. Price relationships between the U.S. corn and gasoline markets strengthened after March 2008 and continue to be highly correlated.
Finding: Food Choices & Health
What Role Do Food and Beverage Prices Have in Childhood Obesity?
Price increases for some high-calorie foods and beverages were found to have small but statistically significant effects on children's BMI, and in the direction expected. Comparing the effects with the expected average growth in children's BMI over a year reveals a possibly large effect over time.
Finding: Food Choices & Health
Investigating the Time Use Patterns of Obese Americans
Data on time spent by Americans age 20 and older on 24 major activities reveal that the biggest differences between normal-weight people and obese people were in time spent watching television, participating in sports and exercise, and engaging in paid work.
Finding: Food & Nutrition Assistance
Food Insecurity More Common for Households With Nonstandard Work Arrangements
In 2010, food insecurity was higher for U.S. households with members in nonstandard work arrangements than for those with members in full-time jobs. Findings suggest that employment relates to food insecurity in ways beyond the effects of earned income, such as through instability in income and work schedules.
Finding: Food Choices & Health
Consumers Appear Indifferent to Country-of-Origin Labeling for Shrimp
ERS researchers explored whether U.S. consumers adjusted their purchases of shrimp in response to the 2005 country-of origin labeling requirements for seafood. Findings show that consumers were not responsive to the new country-of-origin labels.
Finding: Food Markets & Prices
Fresh Vegetables and Salty Snacks Cost More in Urban Locales
ERS examined geographic variation in retail prices for two foods that differ in handling requirements and perishability, as well as in nutritional profiles--fresh vegetables and salty snacks. Findings show that households are likely to face higher prices for each of these foods when certain economic and demographic conditions exist in their community.
Finding: Natural Resources & Environment
Farm Program Changes Could Affect Environmental Compliance Incentives
Federal farm program payments help encourage good stewardship of natural resources through environmental compliance requirements. But the future effectiveness of environmental compliance requirements may be affected by the evolution of farm programs in the next farm bill.
Finding: Farm Economy
R&D and Productivity Lag in Food Manufacturing
R&D expenditures by the global food manufacturing industry reached $11.5 billion in 2007, with the U.S. accounting for $3.1 billion of the total. However, research spending relative to the value of production in U.S. food manufacturing is relatively low, at about 1.5 percent, compared with 10 percent for total U.S. manufacturing.
Finding: Animal Products
Stricter Rules Prompt Livestock Producers To Choose Farm Size Just Below Regulatory Cutoff
An important and unchanging feature of the Clean Water Act is that livestock operations confining more than a specific number of livestock face more stringent rules. However, some farmers are avoiding the regulations by adjusting the size of their operations to just below the cutoff point.
Finding: Rural Economy & Population
Potential Rural Implications of Federal Budget Pressures
In the coming years, anticipated deficit reduction legislation could affect rural America. It is too early to know with any certainty which Federal programs will be affected, or by how much, but the current composition of rural Federal funding receipts can reveal insights about rural America's potential vulnerability to budget cuts.
Feature: Natural Resources & Environment
Per Capita Income Grows Faster in Delta Regional Authority Counties
Growth in per capita income averaged about $600 higher in DRA-funded nonmetro counties in 2002-07 than in similarly distressed counties outside the region, mainly due to increased health and social services sector earnings and increased medical transfer payments.
Feature: Farm Economy
Government Commodity Payments Continue To Shift to Larger Farms, Higher Income Households
As agricultural production has shifted to farms with larger sales, so, too, has the distribution of commodity-related program payments. Unless the design of commodity programs changes substantially, current payment trends are likely to continue.
Feature: Farm Economy
Identifying Federal Farm Programs' Potential Overlaps
Because farm program designs and purposes vary, producers may participate in, and receive benefits from, multiple programs on the same farm, increasing the potential for overlap.
Feature: Farm Economy
Switching the Payment Trigger for an Area-Based Revenue Program Could Increase Participation
The ACRE program relies on State- and farm-level revenue payment triggers to provide producers with an alternative to price-based and direct payment commodity programs. Switching from a State-level trigger to one closer to the farm level would generally increase expected payments, but the impact would vary by crop, region, and market prices.
Feature: Food & Nutrition Assistance
What's Behind the Rise in SNAP Participation?
Declining and persistently weak economic conditions have played a major role in the SNAP's growth over the past decade, as have policy changes to SNAP that improved accessibility, expanded eligibility, and raised benefit levels.
Finding: Farm Economy
Limited Base Acre Provision in the 2008 Farm Act Yields Small Budgetary Savings
The base 10 provision of the 2008 Farm Act prohibits farms with 10 or fewer base acres from receiving direct and countercyclical payments (DCP) or ACRE program payments. In 2009, payments prohibited under the provision totaled $29.1 million, compared with over $5 billion total DCP and ACRE payments.
Finding: Animal Products
China's Hog Cycle Boosts U.S. Pork Exports
High pork prices in the Chinese market have created opportunities for the U.S. pork industy. However, U.S. pork sales to China have not risen at a steady rate.They tend to rise and fall in rhythm with cyclical changes in China's hog sector.
Finding: Food & Nutrition Assistance
Feeding Children After School: The Expanding Role of USDA Child Nutrition Programs
USDA has a long history of subsidizing school meals through the National School Lunch Program and the School Breakfast Program. Increasingly, USDA is also involved in feeding children after school, especially low-income children.
Finding: Food Choices & Health
Americans More Realistic About Their Diet Quality
Research has suggested that Americans view their diets too optimistically, underestimating the amount of calories in their diets, for example, or overestimating the nutritional value. Recent work by ERS suggests that, in recent years, such "optimistic bias" may be on the wane.
Finding: Food Markets & Prices
Food Retailers Adjust Private-Label Prices as Costs and Consumer Demand Change
ERS researchers examined nonsale prices of both private-label (store brand) foods and national brands in two periods: May 2008 to June 2009 and July 2009 to August 2010. Private label prices fluctuated more than prices of national brands between the recessionary period and post-recession period.
Finding: Natural Resources & Environment
Green Payments: Can Conservation and Commodity Programs Be Combined?
Existing conservation and commodity programs have very little in common, and attempting to meld them into a single program raises questions about to whom and under what conditions payments would be extended.
Finding: Natural Resources & Environment
Recent Conservation Reserve Program Enrollments Signal Changing Priorities
Over time, the CRP's goals have changed from an early emphasis on limiting soil erosion to include wildlife, water and air quality, and other conservation goals. Driven by changes in legislative mandates, commodity markets, and environmental concerns, the CRP continues to evolve.
Finding: Farm Economy
Public Agricultural Research Investment Helps Determine Productivity Growth
The main driver of agricultural productivity growth over the last 50 years has been the application of new technologies to farming. Robust productivity growth has allowed U.S. agriculture to hold down the cost and environmental consequences of growing more food and fiber.
Finding: Animal Products
Hog Spot Market Prices Not Strongly Associated With Production Contracts
A comparison of prices received by independent hog producers in regions of growing contract production with prices in regions of shrinking contract production reveals no strong relationship between contract prevalence and spot market prices.
Finding: Farm Economy
Net Farm Income Is Expected To Decline in 2012 But Remain at a Near Record Level
After 2 straight years of rapid growth, U.S. net farm income is forecast to decline by 6.5 percent in 2012 to $91.7 billion.
Statistic: Farm Economy
Visualizing Farm Program Participation and Benefits Across the U.S.
ERS's Farm Program Atlas provides access to an array of public data that enable users to visually explore the geographic distribution of participation and benefits from seven key Federal farm programs at national, State, and county levels.
Statistic: Farm Economy
How Is Land in the United States Used? A Focus on Agricultural Land
The ERS Major Land Uses series provides over 50 years of estimates of land in various uses, including cropland, pasture and range, and forest. These State and national estimates provide insights into changes in land use over time.
Selected statistics on agriculture and trade, diet and health, natural resources, and rural America
Statistic: Natural Resources & Environment
On the Map: Can Crop Insurance Encourage Environmental Compliance?
In many areas where crop production is risky, crop insurance could provide a conservation incentive that is equal to or even larger than direct payments. In other areas, compliance incentives could decline.
Statistic: Farm Economy
In the Long Run: Commodity Prices Vary More Than U.S. Cropland Acreage
Since 1980, the variation in cropland used for crops has been relatively small, despite significant variation in real (adjusted for inflation) commodity prices.
Feature: International Markets & Trade
The NAFTA Countries Build on Free Trade
The NAFTA governments are seeking more open trading relationships with non-NAFTA countries, such as China, Colombia, Panama, Japan, and South Korea, as well as increased commerce within the North American free-trade area.
Feature: Food Markets & Prices
Local Foods Marketing Channels Encompass a Wide Range of Producers
Local food marketing channels vary with farm size, with smaller farms dominating direct-to-consumer sales and larger farms dominating sales through grocers and other intermediaries.
Feature: Food Safety
U.S. Food Safety Policy Enters a New Era
ERS research conducted over the past two decades provides a number of lessons that can help identify efficient and effective means of implementing the Food Safety Modernization Act of 2010.
Feature: Farm Economy
Changing Farming Practices Accompany Major Shifts in Farm Structure
Changing production practices, including adoption of labor-saving innovations, have contributed to and been affected by increases in both agricultural productivity and the concentration of production.
Feature: International Markets & Trade
Can Brazil Meet the World's Growing Need for Ethanol?
Brazil's ethanol industry has been aided by increased capacity to produce sugarcane as an ethanol feedstock, supportive government policies, and efficiency improvements. Other factors, however, may affect its ability to fill growing world demand for ethanol.
Finding: Farm Economy
U.S. Ethanol Dampens Global Crude Oil Prices
The U.S. is the world's largest ethanol producer and currently holds a 57-percent share of global ethanol production. A one-time 5-percent increase in U.S. ethanol use will lower the crude oil price by an estimated 8 cents per barrel over 12 months.
Finding: Animal Products
Market Potential for U.S. Distillers' Grains Exceeds Likely Supply Growth
U.S. production of distillers' grains (DGs) has quadrupled since 2004/05. For the foreseeable future, however, potential feed use of DGs in the U.S. will significantly exceed projected supply.
Finding: International Markets & Trade
Counting India's Food Insecure Is Complicated
According to the most recent USDA global food-security assessment (based on estimates of national food availability), India accounted for the single largest share of the world's food-insecure population in 2010--about 28 percent.
Finding: International Markets & Trade
Avian Influenza Boosted Japan's Imports of Dried Egg Products
ERS analysis of the effects of the 2004 outbreak of avian influenza in Japan showed evidence of a willingness of Japanese consumers to substitute processed dried egg products for fresh shell eggs. These changes in preference affect U.S. exports of shell eggs and egg products.
Finding: Food & Nutrition Assistance
A Wide Variety of Fruit and Vegetables Are Affordable for SNAP Recipients
Recent ERS research suggests that low-income Americans can meet the Dietary Guidelines for fruit and vegetable consumption with a wide selection of fresh and processed products and stay within a limited budget.
Finding: Farm Practices & Management
The Information Age and Adoption of Precision Agriculture
Findings suggest that low adoption rates of precision technologies by farmers may be due to uncertainty about economic returns to large initial investments, the complexity of the technologies, and the need to make integrated use of several precision technologies to obtain cost savings.
Finding: Farm Practices & Management
Use of Conservation-Compatible Manure Management Practices Increases on U.S. Hog Farms
U.S. hog producers altered their manure management decisions between 1998 and 2009, suggesting an increased focus on applying nutrients at agronomic rates--that is, at levels that do not exceed what can be absorbed by crops.
Finding: Rural Economy & Population
Hispanics Contribute to Increasing Diversity in Rural America
During a decade of diminished population growth across rural and small-town America, Hispanic population growth and geographic dispersion during 2000-2010 was a strong driver of demographic change, as it has been for at least two decades.
Finding: Rural Economy & Population
Hired Farm Labor Held Steady in Great Recession
After declining for much of the previous decade, the employment of hired farm laborers, supervisors, and managers stabilized in 2008 and rose somewhat in 2009 and 2010.
Statistic: Food & Nutrition Assistance
Mapping Food Deserts in the United States
ERS's Food Desert Locator is a mapping tool that presents a spatial overview of where food deserts are located and provides selected characteristics of the populations that live in them.
Selected statistics on agriculture and trade, diet and health, natural resources, and rural America.
Research Area Charts
Research Areas charts from the December 2012 issue of Amber Waves.
Statistic: Animal Products
On the Map: Demand for U.S. Edible Pork Byproduct Exports Is High
U.S. pork byproduct exports totaled $700 million in 2010, almost 15 percent of the total value of U.S. pork exports.
Statistic: Food & Nutrition Assistance
In the Long Run: Prevalence of Food Insecurity Remained Essentially Unchanged in U.S. Households
After a sharp increase from 2007 to 2008, the prevalence of food insecurity remained essentially unchanged in 2009 and 2010 at 14.5 percent.
Feature: Food Markets & Prices
Food Spending Adjustments During Recessionary Times
Faced with falling incomes and economic uncertainty, many Americans economized on their food purchases during the 2007-09 recession, particularly on food away from home.
Feature: Farm Economy
Why Another Food Commodity Price Spike?
Food prices jumped in 2010-11, the second price spike within 3 years. Longer term financial, agricultural, and demographic trends, exacerbated by short-term production shortfalls, set up conditions for the increases.
Feature: International Markets & Trade
Rising Food Prices and Declining Food Security: Evidence From Afghanistan
Afghanistan is particularly vulnerable to food and fuel price shocks, which, in 2007/08, led to an increase in household food insecurity.
Feature: Farm Practices & Management
Reducing Agriculture's Nitrogen Footprint: Are New Policy Approaches Needed?
Agriculture is the single largest source of nitrogen compounds that can help or harm ecosystems. A range of policy instruments could be used to address different facets of nitrogen management and specific environmental problems.
Feature: Natural Resources & Environment
Do Farm Programs Encourage Native Grassland Losses?
Federal farm programs, crop prices, and new technology may encourage farmers to extend crop production into native grasslands. A recent ERS study found that farm programs had a minor effect on conversions of grasslands to crop production.
Feature: Food & Nutrition Assistance
Winner Takes (Almost) All: How WIC Affects the Infant Formula Market
In exchange for exclusive sales arrangements, manufacturers provide large rebates to States for formula purchased through the program. Winning a WIC contract significantly increases a manufacturer's market share.
Finding: International Markets & Trade
Low-Income Countries Are Most Responsive to Income and Food Price Changes
In general, income elasticities for food are highest among low-income countries. In other words, consumers in low-income countries will spend a larger share of an increase in income on food than consumers in high-income countries.
Finding: Animal Products
Beef and Pork Byproducts: Enhancing the U.S. Meat Industry's Bottom Line
Byproducts include virtually all parts of the live animal that are not part of the dressed carcasses. Byproducts account for more than 10 percent of the value of cattle and more than 6 percent of the value of hogs.
Finding: Food Markets & Prices
Consumers Cut Back on Convenience but not Necessarily Quantity, When Incomes Fall
ERS researchers find that convenience is one food characteristic for which recession-constrained consumers will reduce expenditures. Specifically, sales of bagged leafy greens decrease relative to sales of unpackaged leafy greens when income levels fall.
Finding: Food Choices & Health
New Loss Estimates Suggest Higher Vegetable and Protein Consumption
ERS contracted with an independent, nonprofit research organization to develop new consumer-level loss estimates to update those ERS has used since the mid-1990s. If the new food loss estimates are adopted, changes to ERS's current Loss-Adjusted Food Availability data would vary for individual foods.
Finding: Food & Nutrition Assistance
Buying Power of WIC Fruit and Vegetable Voucher Varies Across the Country
Findings from a 2011 ERS study show that due to geographical food-price variation, the new fruit and vegetable voucher for WIC buys substantially smaller amounts in some U.S. areas than in others.
Finding: Food & Nutrition Assistance
Some Households No Longer Eligible for SNAP Have Unmet Food Needs
The period of transitioning off SNAP can be a financially challenging time for some households despite their improved economic circumstances. Very low food security—characterized by disrupted eating patterns and reduced intake—is more prevalent among households that recently left SNAP than among households still receiving assistance.
Finding: Natural Resources & Environment
Organic and Conventional Apple Orchards Differ in Pest Management But Share Other Attributes
In 2007, USDA conducted the first comprehensive survey of the production and marketing practices used by organic and conventional apple growers. The survey results indicate that organic and conventional apple growers make many similar production and marketing decisions.
Finding: Farm Economy
Tax-Deferred Exchanges of Farmland Provide Valuable Savings to Some Farmers
Despite their limited use, tax-deferred exchanges can be important for some farmland owners. Over a 5-year period, landowners making like-kind exchanges of farmland for farmland deferred $43,300, on average, in capital gains taxes.
Statistic: Crops
Where Did the Corn Come From To Fuel the Expansion in Ethanol Production?
Between 2000 and 2009, U.S. ethanol production increased from 1.6 billion gallons to 10.8 billion gallons, almost all of which was produced from corn. Some of the corn came from increased yields and some was diverted from other uses, but much of the corn needed to produce ethanol came from expanding planted acreage.
Amber Waves presents the broad scope of ERS's research and analysis. The magazine covers the economics of agriculture, food and nutrition, the food industry, trade, rural America, and farm-related environmental topics. Available on the Internet and in print, Amber Waves is issued in print four times a year (March, June, September, and December). The Internet edition, or
Research Area Charts
Select research area charts from the September 2011 issue of Amber Waves.
Statistic: Food & Nutrition Assistance
On the Map: SNAP Redemptions Per Store Grew Most in Nonmetro Counties
In 813 counties, average per store SNAP redemptions rose more than 50 percent in 2008-09. Two-thirds of the 813 counties were nonmetro counties.
In the Long Run: USDA Conservation Spending on Working Agricultural Lands Bucks Long-Term Trend
USDA provides technical and financial assistance to help farmers implement conservation practices on working agricultural lands or on lands temporarily retired from production. As measured in constant (2009) dollars, Federal conservation assistance has fluctuated widely during the past 60 years.
Feature: International Markets & Trade
Are Competitors' Free Trade Agreements Putting U.S. Agricultural Exporters at a Disadvantage?
Findings show FTAs increased trade among member countries, suggesting the large number of FTAs that do not include the U.S. may be eroding the U.S. presence in foreign markets.
Feature: Farm Economy
Public Research Yields High Returns... Measured in More Than Dollars
Though standard economic approaches may be difficult to apply to evaluations of some benefits of public investments in agricultural research, economic reasoning can provide qualitative analysis even when benefits are difficult to quantify.
Feature: Farm Economy
Rural America Benefits From Expanded Use of the Federal Tax Code for Income Support
Increased use of the tax code for policy goals has boosted incomes of rural taxpayers, who tend to have lower incomes and higher poverty than urban taxpayers.
Feature: Food Safety
Irradiation of Produce Imports: Small Inroads, Big Obstacles
Irradiation is an alternative treatment for foodborne pests on imported fruit and vegetables, but it requires labeling and large investments in facilities and some consumers remain wary of the process.
Finding: Crops
Vegetable Production Concentrated on Very Large Farms
Very large commercial farms (with $1 million or more of agricultural sales per year) accounted for about 8 percent of all U.S. specialized vegetable and melon farms during 2005-07.
Finding: Animal Products
Beef Cow-Calf Production a Lifestyle Choice Among Many Farmers
The beef cow-calf industry is characterized by a large number of small farms on which beef cattle production is a secondary source of farm household income. This suggests that beef cow-calf production as a lifestyle choice is at least as important as earning a profit on many farms.
Finding: Food Markets & Prices
Food Commodity Cost Pass-Through to Food Prices Not Uniform
A significant portion of farm price changes typically shows up in wholesale wheat flour and beef prices. Retail beef and bread prices, in contrast, have a more complicated and often times less direct response to wholesale price changes.
Finding: Food & Nutrition Assistance
Where Schools Are Located Affects Meal Costs
An ERS analysis of school meal costs from a large, nationally representative sample reveals that the location of a school can affect its meal costs. Urban locations, for example, had lower per meal costs than rural and suburban locations.
Finding: Farm Economy
Biofuels and Land-Use Change: Estimation Challenges
Most studies estimate significant increases in land-use requirements for agricultural production resulting from scaled-up biofuel production. Additional research on variables, such as projected crop yields, will be instrumental in narrowing the bands of uncertainty associated with such projections.
Finding: Rural Economy & Population
Recession in 2007-09 Widened and Deepened Nonmetro Poverty
The 2007-09 recession was particularly severe in the depth of poverty it engendered. Relative to previous recessions, those residing in nonmetro areas, particularly children, were among the most affected by deepening poverty.
Statistic: Food Markets & Prices
A New Look at Where Our Food Dollars Go
In February 2011, ERS introduced a new data product called the food dollar series that uses BLS annual input-output tables to provide a more complete accounting of U.S. food spending at both grocery stores and eating places.
Selected statistics on agriculture and trade, diet and health, natural resources, and rural America.
Research Area Charts
Research Areas charts from the June 2011 issue of Amber Waves.
Statistic: Crops
On the Map: California, Florida, and Washington Are Nation's Largest Fruit-Producing States
California accounts for about half of U.S. bearing fruit acreage, Florida almost one-fourth, and Washington around one-tenth.
Statistic: Animal Products
In the Long Run: Fewer Cows But More Milk Through 2020
After a 4-year increase during 2005-08, milk cow numbers fell in 2009 and 2010 and are projected to continue year-to-year declines in 2012-20.
Feature: Food & Nutrition Assistance
Food Security of SNAP Recipients Improved Following the 2009 Stimulus Package
Food spending by low-income households increased and their food security improved as a result of the increase in SNAP benefit levels authorized by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.
Feature: Food Choices & Health
Will Calorie Labeling in Restaurants Make a Difference?
A 2010 Federal law will require U.S. chain restaurants to display calorie information on their menus and menu boards. Will consumers use this information to make healthier food choices?
Feature: Farm Economy
Income Growth in Developing Countries Can Increase U.S. Agricultural Exports
According to USDA long-term projections, continued income growth will make developing countries the main source of the projected increases in global food demand and trade.
Feature: Farm Practices & Management
Higher Carbon Prices Could Spur Adoption of Methane Digesters
Currently, methane digesters' costs often exceed their benefits to livestock producers, but higher prices in voluntary, regional, or national carbon markets could make them profitable for many operations.
Finding: International Markets & Trade
Chinese Apple Juice Export Growth Follows Investments in the Industry
A combination of government, foreign, and private investment began building a juice processing industry in China in the early 1990s. China is now the world's largest supplier of apple juice concentrate.
Finding: International Markets & Trade
Growing Beef Consumption in Japan Could Benefit U.S. Producers
An increased presence of U.S. beef in Japan could bring higher returns for U.S. producers and lower prices for Japanese consumers.
Finding: Farm Economy
Few Farms Participate in the Vegetable Planting Pilot Program
ERS estimates that 10,000 acres were planted under PTPP in 2009--about 14 percent of the total allowable acres by statute and 2 percent of total processing vegetable acreage in the seven States participating in the program.
Finding: Food Choices & Health
Choosing Healthy Foods Is More Challenging for Teens
Caloric increases from food away from home and foods from school for 13-18 year olds likely reflect an increased availability of many types of foods in middle and high schools, including a la carte side dishes and desserts.
Finding: Food Choices & Health
Americans Can Satisfy Dietary Guidelines for Vegetables and Fruit for Under $2.50 Per Day
In 2008, Americans on a 2,000-calorie diet could purchase the Dietary Guidelines-recommended quantity and variety of both fruit and vegetables for between $2.00 and $2.50 per day, or roughly 50 cents per edible cup equivalent.
Finding: Farm Practices & Management
Farmers Develop Strategies To Reduce Energy Input Costs
Between 2002 and 2008, fuel and fertilizer prices rose sharply, contributing to higher total farm energy-intensive input costs. The increase prompted farmers to employ energy-saving strategies and to use energy more efficiently.
Finding: Farm Economy
Contracting Expands for Field Crops
Contracts cover a growing share of U.S. corn, soybean, and wheat production. Rising use likely reflects increased price variability, a wider availability of risk management tools, and structural change in agriculture.
Finding: Farm Economy
Net Farm Income Expected To Increase 20 Percent in 2011
Net value added, net farm income, and net cash income—the three key U.S. farm sector financial indicators—are expected to improve in 2011.
Statistic: Rural Economy & Population
Mapping Population and Economic Trends in Rural and Small-Town America
The ERS Atlas of Rural and Small-Town America helps shed light on the overall scope and diversity of demographic, economic, and social trends across the United States by providing county-level mapping of over 60 statistical indicators.
Selected statistics on agriculture and trade, diet and health, natural resources, and rural America.
Research Area Charts
Research Areas charts from the March 2011 issue of Amber Waves.
Statistic: Rural Economy & Population
On the Map: Location of Agritourism Farms Influenced by Amenities
The share of county farms engaged in agritourism is high in the West, where agricultural lands tend to have lower yields due to low rainfall and mountainous terrain.
Statistic: Food Markets & Prices
In the Long Run: Food Spending Dipped During Recession
U.S. expenditures on food at home and away from home grew over the past 50 years, but food-away-from-home expenditures increased more rapidly. During the recent recession, however, inflation-adjusted spending on both food at home and away from home fell.
Feature: Food Choices & Health
Varied Interests Drive Growing Popularity of Local Foods
Local foods remain a small portion of U.S. agriculture. But as interest in local food systems has increased, so has the desire to understand how local food markets affect farmers, consumers, and communities
Feature: Animal Products
Local Food Supply Chains Use Diverse Business Models To Satisfy Demand
Local foods are reaching consumers through an expanding array of supply chain arrangements and marketing outlets. They may be sold in supermarkets; small specialty stores or regional chains; restaurants, schools, or hospitals; or a variety of direct-to-consumer outlets.
Feature: Crops
Labor-Intensive U.S. Fruit and Vegetable Industry Competes in a Global Market
Reduction in the supply of workers that could make agricultural labor more expensive for the U.S. fruit and vegetable industry may impact industry competitiveness, but the effects would vary by commodity.
Feature: Crops
Price Spikes in Global Rice Markets Benefit U.S. Growers, at Least in the Short Term
"Thin" markets such as the global rice trade, where only a small share of global production is traded, may exhibit price volatility and large annual variations in trade levels.
Feature: Rural Economy & Population
The Two Faces of Rural Population Loss Through Outmigration
Nearly half of the Nation's nonmetropolitan counties lost population through net outmigration between 1988 and 2008, but the underlying causes and potential policy solutions vary widely.
Statistic: Food Choices & Health
Compare Your Area's Food Environment With the Rest of the Country
With over 90 food environment indicators, the ERS Food Environment Atlas provides a spatial overview of a community's ability to access healthy food and its success in doing so.
Farm, rural, and natural resource indicators and food and fiber sector indicators, December 2010
Statistic: Farm Economy
Research Areas
Selected statistics on agriculture and trade, diet and health, natural resources, and rural America
Statistic: Food Markets & Prices
On the Map: Density of Farmers' Markets Highest in Rural Counties
In 2009, the number of farmers' markets per population tended to be highest in rural counties, after accounting for population differences between counties.
Statistic: Rural Economy & Population
In the Long Run: Growth in Nonmetro Poverty Is Tied to Recessionary Increases in Unemployment
The dramatic increase in unemployment during the 2007-09 recession is tied to growth in the number of nonmetro residents living in poverty.
Finding: Farm Economy
Simulated ACRE Payments and Risk Reduction Point to Midwest as a Potential Winner
ERS simulations of crop revenue variability indicate that for producers choosing to participate in ACRE, expected payments and risk reduction would tend to be highest in the most productive crop regions, which are characterized by consistently high yields and high levels of expected revenue.
Finding: Crops
USDA's Karnal Bunt Regulatory Program Protects U.S. Wheat Exports
Many countries free of Karnal bunt impose restrictions on imports of infected wheat. USDA responds by issuing certificates declaring that U.S. wheat shipments are from areas where Karnal bunt is not known to occur.
Finding: Food & Nutrition Assistance
More Americans Relied on Food Assistance During Recession
In 2009, 14.7 percent of U.S. households (17.4 million) were food insecure. The slight increase from 2008 (14.6 percent of all households) marks the highest level observed since food security surveys were initiated in 1995.
Finding: Food & Nutrition Assistance
State Participation-To-Poverty Rates for SNAP Mask County-Level Variation
ERS used data on SNAP participation and the number of people in poverty to calculate county-level "participation-to-poverty" rates. High rates mean that more people likely to be eligible for SNAP benefits receive them. Low rates may indicate the need for better outreach to low-income residents.
Finding: Food Markets & Prices
Market Share Affects Price Differences Between Discount and Traditional Food Retailers
In a recent ERS study, researchers found that differences in prices at traditional versus nontraditional food retailers were smaller in areas where nontraditional food retailers had large market shares.
Finding: Food & Nutrition Assistance
WIC Infants Less Likely To Be Exclusively Breastfed
ERS and American University researchers found that women who participate in WIC are less likely than income-eligible nonparticipants to exclusively breastfeed their newborns. WIC mothers are also more likely to adhere to the AAP recommendation that cow's milk be introduced no earlier than 12 months of age.
Finding: Farm Economy
Farm Act's Regional Equity Provision May Entail Conservation Tradeoffs
Analysis of data from 2004-06 (when the 2002 Farm Act was in effect) on USDA's Environmental Quality Incentives Program—the largest program covered by the Regional Equity provision—reveals that the funding shift reduced the number of acres receiving treatment for many resource problems.
Finding: Farm Practices & Management
U.S. Farmers Increasingly Adopt "No-Till" for Major Crops
Widespread adoption of less intensive tillage practices could enable U.S. agriculture to sequester substantial amounts of carbon and contribute to efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Less intensive tillage would also reduce water sedimentation and chemical pollution as well as atmospheric dust and haze.
Feature: Food Markets & Prices
Fuel for Food: Energy Use in the U.S. Food System
Population growth, higher per capita food expenditures, and greater reliance on energy-using technologies boosted food-related energy consumption in 1997 to 2002.
Feature: International Markets & Trade
A Positive Path for Food Security in Sub-Saharan Africa: Options and Challenges
Global food security improved between 2009 and 2010, as the effects of food price spikes and the global economic downturn moderated, but projections point to deteriorating food security over the next 10 years, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Feature: Food & Nutrition Assistance
Taxing Caloric Sweetened Beverages To Curb Obesity
ERS researchers found that a 20-percent tax on caloric sweetened beverages could reduce consumption, calorie intake, and body weight even after accounting for increased consumption of alternative beverages.
Feature: International Markets & Trade
World Sugar Price Volatility Intensified by Market and Policy Factors
Rising production costs and growing ethanol use in Brazil, combined with policy-induced production swings among Asian countries, are the main sources of higher and more volatile world sugar prices.
Feature: Farm Economy
U.S. Farm Structure: Declining—But Persistent— Small Commercial Farms
The continuing shift in production away from small commercial farms to larger farms is driven by financial pressures and aging operators.
Feature: Farm Economy
Accelerated Productivity Growth Offsets Decline in Resource Expansion in Global Agriculture
The rate of growth in global agricultural productivity has accelerated in recent decades and accounts for an increasing share of expanding agricultural production.
Statistic: Food Markets & Prices
New Database Shows Substantial Geographic Food Price Variation
Food prices vary across the United States, but until now, a data set that provides a consistent and statistically detailed measure of food prices across geographic markets did not exist.
Statistic: Animal Products
Indicators tables from the September 2010 issue of Amber Waves magazine.
Statistic: Farm Economy
Research Areas
Research area charts from the September 2012 issue of Amber Waves
Statistic: Farm Economy
On The Map: Ethanol Refineries Locate Near Feedstock Sources
Corn is the feedstock for 97 percent of the ethanol produced in the United States, so ethanol refineries are heavily concentrated in the Corn Belt.
Statistic: International Markets & Trade
In The Long Run: A Relatively Low Dollar Implies Good Prospects for U.S. Agricultural Trade
The depreciation of the U.S. dollar since 2002 has helped increase the real (adjusted for inflation) value of U.S. agricultural exports to record levels.
Finding: International Markets & Trade
Weighing Policy Options To Increase Incomes of Mali's Cotton Farmers
A joint study by ERS, Purdue University, and Oklahoma State University found that eliminating U.S. cotton subsidies could bring limited benefits to the operators of small farms in Mali. Greater gains could be realized through a combination of increased fertilizer use and the introduction of genetically modified cotton crops.
Finding: Rural Economy & Population
ERS Innovates as It Expands Distance Learning Ventures With Minority-Serving Institutions
In 2007, ERS launched a distance learning initiative as part of an ongoing commitment to student outreach and the development of a more diverse community of agricultural economists within USDA. The initiative links ERS with students at minority-serving universities by providing teaching and discussions relevant to both ERS research and the students' curricula.
Finding: Crops
Price-Reducing Coupons Have a Dual Effect on Fruit and Vegetable Purchases
A recent ERS study examined the use of price-reducing coupons to encourage fruit and vegetable consumption. The study found that coupon effectiveness depends on the amount of the discount and the share of households that redeem the coupons.
Finding: Food Safety
For Most Meat and Poultry Plants, Federally Mandated Controls Are Just the Starting Point for Food Safety
Most U.S. meat and poultry processors go beyond the requirements of Government-mandated food-safety controls and supplement these controls with their own standards. But for some meat and poultry plants, mandated controls are the only food safety actions.
Finding: Farm Economy
Is U.S. Agricultural Productivity Growth Slowing?
Long-term agricultural productivity is driven by innovations in animal and crop genetics, chemicals, equipment, and farm organization. Public agricultural research funding, which historically has driven innovation, faces budgetary pressure in the U.S., therefore raising concerns about current and future U.S. productivity growth.
Finding: Natural Resources & Environment
Targeted Farmers in EQIP Operate More Environmentally Sensitive Land, But Address Different Environmental Needs
If EQIP-targeted farmers address different environmental needs or operate acreage that is more or less environmentally sensitive than land operated by other EQIP farmers, the EQIP provisions favorable to targeted farmers could change the economic and environmental outcomes of the program.
Finding: Farm Economy
Urban Areas Prove Profitable for Farmers Selling Directly to Consumers
In 2007, $1.2 billion of farm products were sold directly to consumers by 136,800 farms, or 6 percent of all farms. Direct sales are highest in the urban corridors in the Northeast and on the West Coast.
Finding: Farm Economy
Direct Payments Can Influence Farmers' Production Decisions
ERS has identified multiple avenues through which Production Flexibility Contract payments could influence agricultural production, including providing easier access to capital markets, changing farmers' risk preferences, or affecting land values, labor markets, and/or farmers' expectations about future payments.
Feature: Crops
Former Soviet Union Region To Play Larger Role in Meeting World Wheat Needs
The next decade is likely to see a major shift in global wheat production and trade. USDA projects that wheat exports by Russia, Ukraine, and Kazakhstan will increase by 50 percent by 2019, and the region could lead the world in wheat exports by the end of the period.
Feature: Farm Economy
Next-Generation Biofuels: Near-Term Challenges and Implications for Agriculture
The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 mandates a tripling in U.S. biofuel use to 36 billion gallons by 2022. Achieving this goal will depend on rapid expansion in cellulosic biofuels, and U.S. agriculture, as a leading source of the Nation's biomass, will play a significant role in this expansion.
Feature: Natural Resources & Environment
Challenges Facing USDA's Conservation Reserve Program
Reductions in maximum CRP acres mandated by the 2008 Farm Act, along with relatively high agricultural commodity prices, could lead to reduced overall environmental benefits and higher program costs. Alternative enrollment policies and practices could increase benefits per enrolled acre and lower program costs
Feature: Farm Practices & Management
America's Organic Farmers Face Issues and Opportunities
Organic agriculture has established a foothold in many U.S. farm sectors, but the overall use of organic practices lags behind that of many other countries. Emerging issues in the sector include dampened consumer demand resulting from the weaker economy and competition from new labels like the "locally grown" label.
Statistic: Food Choices & Health
Tracking Changes in Dietary Awareness and Food Choices
A number of constituencies—government nutrition and health agencies, food manufacturers, public health advocates, and food marketing firms—depend on reliable data to track changes in the food habits, behavior, and choices of U.S. consumers. ERS has partnered with the National Center for Health Statistics to gather such data.
Selected statistics on agriculture and trade, diet and health, natural resources, and rural America
Research Areas
Select research area charts from the June 2010 issue of Amber Waves.
Statistic: Animal Products
On the Map: Western U.S. Has the Highest Number of Organic Dairy Cows Per Farm But the Fewest Farms
Only 7 percent of organic dairies were in the West in 2005, but these operations accounted for 31 percent of organic milk cows. Operations in the Northeast averaged 53 cows per farm; the Upper Midwest, 64 cows; and the West, 381 cows.
Statistic: Food Markets & Prices
In the Long Run: Food Product Introductions Buck Long-Term Trend
U.S. food and beverage product introductions have increased for most of the last decade and a half. In 2009, however, U.S. food and beverage product introductions fell by 3,519 to 19,047, the second consecutive yearly reduction and the largest in at least 15 years.
Finding: Crops
Indian Sugar Market More Volatile
Sugar production in India, the world's second largest producer, will likely drop sharply in 2009/10. India will shift from a net exporter to a large net importer. Swings in India's sugar trade are increasingly significant for world markets
Finding: Crops
Supply Disruptions Cause Price Spikes in Afghanistan's Wheat Market
Growing conditions in Afghanistan suggest a record 2009/10 wheat harvest and a favorable shortrun outlook. Nevertheless, Afghanistan will remain subject to supply disruptions and price spikes as long as its domestic production is highly variable and weak transportation links limit its ability to diversify sources of imported grain.
Finding: Farm Economy
Indonesian Agricultural Growth Leads to Increased Trade and Food Security
Indonesian policy changes in the mid-1980s and mid-1990s provided incentives for agricultural producers to exploit the country's comparative advantage in perennial crops and led to an increase in agricultural exports and per capita incomes. As a result, food insecurity in Indonesia declined by nearly half from 1981 to 2007.
Finding: Rural Economy & Population
Rural Populations Have Higher Rates of Chronic Disease
Rural residents have higher rates of mortality, chronic disease, and disability than their urban counterparts. Special challenges that may impair the health status of rural residents include their lower socioeconomic status, higher average age, and more limited access to affordable, nearby, high-quality health care than urban residents.
Finding: Rural Economy & Population
The Form of Rural Development Assistance Matters to Distressed Counties
The Federal Government provides three types of assistance to rural areas—grants, direct loans, and guaranteed loans. ERS researchers found that the form of assistance can make a difference for distressed areas, but the size and direction of this difference varies by type of distressed area.
Finding: Farm Economy
Half of Farm Expenditures Are Spent Locally
About half of all farm input and equipment expenditures were made locally in 2004. But over 40 percent of all U.S. farms are located in metro areas so that farm business expenditures may have relatively minor impacts on nearby urban communities and are unlikely to flow to more distant rural suppliers.
Finding: Food & Nutrition Assistance
Several School Policies Are Associated With Less Fat in School Lunches
Using data from a 2007 study sponsored by USDA's FNS, ERS found that fat content of school lunches is correlated with certain school policies and characteristics. For example, schools that served the lowest fat lunches offered only low-fat milk and/or participated in at least one program promoting purchases of locally grown food or fresh produce.
Finding: Food & Nutrition Assistance
Post Welfare Reform, the Poorest Children Receive Lower Benefits
Welfare reform brought sweeping changes to Federal assistance programs. An ERS report indicates that the current "safety net" has gaps, particularly for children in the poorest households. On average, total household resources for children in the poorest households declined from 1990 to 2004.
Finding: Food Choices & Health
Eating Out Increases Daily Calorie Intake
Among all meals eaten outide the home, lunch has the largest impact on the average adult, adding 158 calories to daily intake, compared with lunch prepared at home. Eating dinner out increases intake by 144 calories. Each away-from-home snack adds just over 100 calories to daily intake. Breakfast away from home adds 74 calories.
Finding: Food Markets & Prices
Recession Brings Record Number of New Store-Brand Food Offerings
In 2009, the number of private-label (store brand) food and beverage products introduced by retailers set a new record. Store brands are expanding faster than well-known national brands, as retailers have become more adept at creating profitable private-label brands, and recession-strapped consumers have turned to lower priced foods.
Feature: Food Choices & Health
Guess Who's Turning 100? Tracking a Century of American Eating
ERS maintains the only time-series data on U.S. food availability in the country. The data help in monitoring the potential for the food supply to meet the nutritional needs of Americans and in examining consumption trends. A look at 100 years of American eating reveals the technological, political, social, and economic forces affecting food availability.
Feature: Food Choices & Health
Access to Affordable, Nutritious Food Is Limited in "Food Deserts"
A small percentage of U.S. households live in "food deserts," where access to a supermarket or large grocery store is a problem. Low-income residents of these neighborhoods and those who lack transportation tend to rely more on smaller neighborhood stores that may not carry healthy foods or offer them only at higher prices, which increases the risks of poor diets or food insecurity.
Feature: Animal Products
Organic Dairy Sector Evolves To Meet Changing Demand
Declining demand for organic products in response to the economic downturn has slowed the rapid growth in organic milk production. Economic forces, primarily lower production costs, may be pushing organic dairies to be more like conventional dairies in terms of size, location, and the types of technologies used. More specific pasture requirements for organic certification may affect how the organic milk production sector evolves.
Feature: Food Markets & Prices
Consumers' Response to the 2006 Foodborne Illness Outbreak Linked to Spinach
Consumers responded to the FDA's September 2006 warnings to avoid eating spinach because of possible contamination with E. coli O157:H7. While spinach expenditures fell, consumers turned to other leafy greens as substitutes. The longer term drop in retail expenditures on fresh spinach products was almost matched by gains in expenditures on other leafy greens.
Feature: Rural Economy & Population
Economic Recovery: Lessons Learned From Previous Recessions
The rates of employment loss and unemployment in the recent recession are about the same in metro and nonmetro areas, but based on previous recessions, nonmetro employment may recover more slowly. As in past recessions, manufacturing-dependent nonmetro counties felt the effects of the recessions sooner than other nonmetro areas. Unemployment rates continue to be lowest for the college-educated in both nonmetro and metro areas.
Statistic: Farm Economy
Measures of Farm Household Well-Being Tell Different Stories
Since 1998, average farm operator household income has exceeded that of the typical U.S. household by 3 to 21 percent, and median farm household wealth has been 4-5 times that of all U.S. households. But the variability of income complicates farm-nonfarm comparisons.
Statistic: Animal Products
Selected statistics on agriculture and trade, diet and health, natural resources, and rural America.
Research Areas
Select research area charts from the March 2010 issue of Amber Waves.
Statistic: Rural Economy & Population
On The Map: Job Losses Concentrated in the Great Lakes and Southeast Regions
Most U.S. counties experienced employment declines between the fourth quarter of 2007 and the fourth quarter of 2009, including 93.6 percent of metro counties and 79.2 percent of nonmetro counties. The greatest declines were concentrated in the Great Lakes and Southern regions.
Statistic: Food Choices & Health
In the Long Run: Milk and Coffee Displaced by Other Beverage Options
Per capita availability (a proxy for consumption) of beverage milk and coffee in the United States peaked in the mid-1940s and then gradually declined as consumers took advantage of an ever-increasing selection of beverages.
Finding: Farm Economy
Farm Income Expected To Increase While Net Worth Declines in 2010
Net farm income is forecast to be $63 billion in 2010, up 11.9 percent from 2009. While the 2010 forecast is $25 billion below the all-time record in 2004 and near record in 2008, it represents a rebound from 2009 when the global recession dampened demand for U.S. crops and livestock.
Finding: Crops
China's Corn Surplus Persists, Despite Industrial-Processing Boom
China is using more of its corn to manufacture hundreds of industrial products, including starches, sweeteners, alcohol, amino acids, and citric acid. But despite a decade of booming industrial use, China's corn supply still exceeds its demand.
Finding: Food Markets & Prices
Expanding Demand for Organic Foods Brings Changes in Marketing
The past decade has seen major changes in organic product retailing. In the late 1990s, the natural products channel was the primary outlet for purchasing organic food. By 2006, approximately half of all organic food was sold through the conventional channel, which includes chain supermarkets and warehouse club stores.
Finding: Food Safety
Peanut Processing and Sales Hold Steady After Peanut-Product Recalls
One of the largest food recalls in U.S. history occurred in early 2009 with the removal of thousands of food products containing peanut ingredients potentially contaminated with Salmonella. In the first 2 months after the recalls began in January 2009, consumers reduced purchases of peanut-containing products, but by April 2009, purchases exceeded the previous year's levels.
Finding: Food Choices & Health
Birth Year Affects Demand for At-Home Fresh Vegetables
Spending less money for fresh vegetables at grocery stores suggests that younger generations are buying smaller quantities, or purchasing less expensive vegetables, or both. If younger Americans are consuming less at-home fresh vegetables, the quality of their diets may suffer unless they consume more vegetables in prepared foods or when eating out.
Finding: Food & Nutrition Assistance
SNAP Benefits and Eating Out: Wise Choices Required
Most U.S. households make poorer nutritional choices than those recommended by dietary guidelines. Allowing for SNAP benefits to be spent on food away from home, which is generally nutritionally inferior to food at home, may help SNAP participants balance time constraints and other needs but could also make it harder for them to eat healthy.
Finding: Food Choices & Health
Americans Are More Realistic About the Quality of Their Diets
Presumably, Americans are more realistic today about their diet quality because they have greater knowledge of what constitutes a healthy diet. In 2005-06, 79 percent of U.S. adults had heard of the Food Guide Pyramid, up from 33 percent in 1994, and 51 percent knew about the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, up from 30 percent in 1994.
Finding: Food & Nutrition Assistance
Food Insecurity in Households With Children Increased in 2008
In 2008, 21 percent of U.S. households with children were food insecure, up from 16 percent in 2006 and 2007. The prevalence of food insecurity in households with children in 2008 was the highest recorded since the Federal Government began monitoring household food security in 1995.
Finding: Food & Nutrition Assistance
Most Infant Formula Purchased Through WIC
ERS estimates that 57-68 percent of all infant formula sold in the U.S. in 2004-06 was purchased through WIC. Savings from rebates provided from formula manufacturers supported about 25 percent of the estimated average monthly WIC caseload in fiscal 2008.
Finding: Natural Resources & Environment
Mitigating Climate Change: Opportunities for Farmers
Offset markets under a cap-and-trade system represent a potentially large new source of income for farmers but a myriad of details will drive farmer decisions about what kinds of offset activities might be most profitable, if any.
Finding: Farm Economy
Fewer Farms on Reservations Join Conservation Program, But Make Larger Conservation Investments
Farms on reservations are less likely to participate in EQIP than farms elsewhere. In States that contain American Indian reservations, about 4 percent of EQIP contracts and 6 percent of funding in 2006 went to farms on reservations. Participating reservation farms, however, tend to have larger EQIP contracts than other farms.
Feature: Crops
Science, Technology, and Prospects for Growth in U.S. Corn Yields
Recent increases in inflation-adjusted crop prices have sparked renewed interest in the potential for continued increases in crop yields. Investment in scientific research is key for boosting corn yields, making productivity, environmental, and bioenergy goals easier to attain.
Feature: Farm Economy
Debt Landscape for U.S. Farms Has Shifted
The capital structure of U.S. farms has changed over the last two decades. Fewer farms have outstanding debts than in the past, but debt carried is concentrated among fewer and larger farms.
Feature: Crops
Removal of Government Controls Opens Peanut and Tobacco Sectors to Market Forces
Farm legislation in the early 2000s eliminated longstanding supply controls and geographic restrictions on the production of peanuts and tobacco. The ensuing consolidation produced fewer but larger farms for each crop that are more efficient and responsive to market developments.
Feature: Food & Nutrition Assistance
Income Volatility Is Rising, With Mixed Effects on Nutrition Assistance Participation
Income volatility among U.S. households is higher today than 40 years ago, especially among households with the lowest incomes. Income volatility has mixed effects on participation in nutrition assistance programs, with some households not applying when eligible and others leaving while still eligible.
Feature: Food & Nutrition Assistance
Food Insecurity up in Recessionary Times
The recent economic downturn has brought a sharp increase in the number of Americans who report having difficulty meeting their food needs. In fact, in 2008, the number and percentage of U.S. households classified as "food insecure" reached the highest level recorded since Federal monitoring of food insecurity began in 1995.
Feature: International Markets & Trade
Global Economic Crisis Threatens Food Security in Lower Income Countries
The global economic downturn is expected to reduce import capacity in many lower income countries, adversely affecting their food security. The number of food-insecure people in the 70 developing countries studied by ERS is estimated to increase 2 percent in 2009, after growing 11 percent in 2008.
Statistic: Animal Products
Retail Dairy Prices Fluctuate With Farm Value of Milk
In the late 1990s, a nearly two-decade decline in farm share of retail dairy prices slowed and in 2000-2008, farm share fluctuated between 26 and 35 percent. Consumers saw modest increases in dairy prices over this period until the 2007-08 jump in food price inflation.
Selected statistics on agriculture and trade, diet and health, natural resources, and rural America from December 2009.
Research Areas
Select research area charts from the December 2009 issue of Amber Waves.
Statistic: Food & Nutrition Assistance
On the Map: South and Midwest Hit Hardest by Rising Food Insecurity
Worsening economic conditions were accompanied by sizable increases in 2008 in the number of U.S. households experiencing food insecurity. Regionally, increases were largest in the South and the Midwest, where an additional 2.8 and 1.7 million households, respectively, were food insecure in 2008, compared with 1999.
Statistic: Crops
In the Long Run: Despite Legislative Changes, Peanut Availability Remains Within Historical Range
The 2002 Farm Act removed longstanding regulatory quotas on peanuts that limited supplies by issuing annual marketing rights to farmers. Following the policy change, the availability of peanuts grew over the next several years but remained below the historical high of 1989.
Finding: Crops
New Traders in Corn, Soybean, and Wheat Futures Markets Scrutinized
The growing participation of nontraditional traders in futures markets, such as index funds and swap dealers, has coincided with increasing volatility in commodity markets and a weakening of the usual correlation between futures and cash prices. ERS research, however, finds no link between these trends and the growing presence of nontraditional traders.
Finding: International Markets & Trade
Trade and Development When Exports are Volatile: A Case Study From Malawi
Tobacco, accounts for about 60 percent of Malawi's total merchandise export earnings and 13 percent of its GDP. However, Malawi has found it difficult to sustain economic growth because tobacco export revenues have not been invested in yield-increasing technologies and inputs to improve productivity.
Finding: Food Choices & Health
Shopping For, Preparing, and Eating Food: Where Does the Time Go?
In 2006-07, SNAP participants spent 47 minutes per person per day cooking, serving, and cleaning up after meals, versus 40 minutes for low-income nonparticipants and 30 minutes for higher income individuals. SNAP participants also spent less time eating and drinking per day than low-income nonparticipants and higher income individuals.
Finding: Food & Nutrition Assistance
WIC Not Linked to Overweight in Children
ERS research shows no relationship between participation in WIC and body weight for children ages 2-5, with one exception. In 1988-94, preschool girls from moderate-income families were more likely to be at risk of overweight than WIC participants. This difference was no longer evident in 1999-2006.
Finding: Animal Products
Broiler Producers Search for Alternatives to Antibiotics
Broiler producers who do not administer subtherapeutic antibiotics rely instead on a portfolio of other practices to prevent disease and promote growth in birds. Operations of producers who do not use STAs are characterized by more rigorous sanitation practices, improved ventilation for poultry housing, and more extensive testing for pathogens than farms of STA users.
Finding: Farm Economy
Changing the Definition of a "Farm" Can Affect Federal Funding
The Federal Government's definition of a farm affects farm statistics and influences the design and delivery of Federal farm programs. The definition also has implications for States because each State's share of the national farm population is used to help allocate some Federal funding.
Finding: Farm Economy
Cellulosic Ethanol From Crop Residue Is No Free Lunch?
Harvesting crop residues for use as biofuel feedstocks may provide revenue to farmers but can also impose costs by reducing soil productivity and increasing loss of nutrients. Changes in soil erosion and fertilizer use may also result in off-farm environmental impacts.
Finding: Animal Products
Increasing Size of Dairy Farms Driven by Declining Production Costs
A major driver behind the continuing trend toward increases in the size of dairy farms is the decline in average production costs for milk as dairy farms grow larger. But many farms are not operating at full efficiency and are not taking advantage of incentives to expand.
Feature: Farm Economy
Taking the Pulse of Rural Health Care
Rural households have higher rates of mortality, disability, and chronic disease than urban households, and less access to affordable, nearby, high-quality health care. Adoption of new health information technologies, promoted by a $19 billion allocation in the 2009 economic stimulus package, holds promise for improving coordination among geographically dispersed health care providers.
Feature: Rural Economy & Population
Baby Boom Migration Tilts Toward Rural America
If baby boomers follow migration patterns similar to those of their predecessors, the rural population age 55-75 will increase by 30 percent between 2010 and 2020. Local economic development strategies aimed at attracting more jobs will likely have little effect on the migration decisions of baby boomers searching for a better quality of life.
Feature: Rural Economy & Population
Broadband Internet Service Helping Create a Rural Digital Economy
Investment in rural broadband Internet access seems to lead to a more competitive rural economy and rural economic growth, helping create a rural digital economy. A comparison of the economic growth of counties with broadband access in 2000 with that of otherwise similar counties without broadband shows that broadband availability helped spur the formation of new businesses and increased the growth of existing firms.
Feature: Crops
Full Throttle U.S. Ethanol Expansion Faces Challenges Down the Road
The large gains in the scale of the U.S. ethanol industry over the past decade were achieved by "picking the low-hanging fruit" on both the supply and demand sides of the market. Achieving further large-scale gains will depend on whether the industry can overcome challenges in producing ethanol through cellulosic technologies and on expanding use of ethanol in automobiles.
Statistic: International Markets & Trade
Trade Data Show Value, Variety, and Sources of U.S. Food Imports
There have been notable increases in the variety of food products imported by the U.S. and the number of countries supplying the products. Most of the growth in the past decade has been in imports of consumer-ready products, such as fresh fruit and vegetables, and imports from developing countries account for most of this growth.
Selected statistics on agriculture and trade, diet and health, natural resources, and rural America from December 2009.
Research Areas
Select research area charts from the September 2009 issue of Amber Waves.
Statistic: Rural Economy & Population
On The Map: Highest Mortality Rates in the South
U.S. counties with the highest mortality rates are in the South, including the Black Belt region of the Southeastern U.S., the Mississippi River Delta, along the southern coastal plain from Virginia to Texas, and Appalachia.
Statistic: Crops
In the Long Run: Growth in Adoption of Genetically Engineered Crops Continues in U.S.
U.S. farmers have rapidly adopted genetically engineered soybeans, cotton, and corn since their commercial introduction in 1996 because of their economic benefits.
Finding: International Markets & Trade
Random Inspections Reveal Import Risks
With the rising volume of agricultural imports in recent decades comes a growing risk of non-native pests and pathogens. Customs agents inspect what they know to be the riskier shipments, but they cannot inspect every shipment. ERS developed a model to determine the optimal number of random inspections of agricultural imports and the most effective allocation of inspection resources at a given port.
Finding: Farm Economy
Income Source Matters in Farm Household Spending
Many U.S. farm households have several income sources, including farm production, off-farm jobs, and government payments. ERS research findings suggest that farm households may employ "mental accounting" to decide which income sources, including different types of government payments, are most appropriate for household expenses.
Finding: Crops
Rising Wheat Prices Outpace Input Costs
Because wheat prices in 2009 remain well above historical levels, 90 percent of U.S. wheat producers are expected to have covered their production costs during 2009/09, despite rising prices of fuel, fertilizer and other inputs.
Finding: Crops
China's Cotton Use Trimmed by Growing Efficiency and a Slowing Economy
Higher efficiency combined with changes in fiber blending has reduced the volume of cotton fiber needed to produce China's textile and clothing exports. These changes have important implications for understanding world cotton markets and the size of the world's largest cotton textile industry.
Finding: Food & Nutrition Assistance
Increased SNAP Benefits Provide Countercyclical Boosts
Higher unemployment and greater benefit payments per household are expected to increase SNAP benefits by 45 percent in FY 2009 relative to FY 2008. The estimated $15.4 billion of additional spending by SNAP participants in FY 2009 will provide a $28.3 billion infusion into the economy.
Finding: Food Choices & Health
Price Reductions Have Little Effect on Fruit and Vegetable Consumption by Low-Income Americans
ERS researchers examined the effects of a 5-, 10-, and 20-percent discount on the price of fruit and vegetables on purchases by low-income Americans. Findings show that with a 10-percent price discount at the retail level, low-income households are predicted to increase their consumption of fruit by 2.1 to 5.2 percent and vegetables by 2.1 to 4.9 percent.
Finding: Farm Economy
Larger Farms, Environmental Policy Affecting Manure Management
Changes in the structure of livestock farms from smaller to larger increasingly specialized operations have altered manure management practices. At the same time, changes to the Clean Water Act, State regulations, and local conflicts over odor are requiring livestock producers to more carefully consider their manure management decisions.
Finding: Natural Resources & Environment
Land Use Can Play Critical Role in Controlling Global Warming
Limiting carbon dioxide concentrations to low levels will require strategies that manage carbon emissions and sequestration from land use change as well as from the combustion of fossil fuels. The overall cost of limiting carbon dioxide concentrations is reduced when all sources and sinks of carbon dioxide are considered, including agricultural soils and forests.
Finding: International Markets & Trade
What's Next for NAFTA?
Following the full implementation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) some researchers and policy makers are thinking about ways to build on NAFTA to increase integration even more. One idea under discussion is to move in the direction of a customs union.
Feature: Rural Economy & Population
Defining the "Rural" in Rural America
The use of different definitions of rural by Federal agencies reflects the multidimensional qualities of rural America.
Feature: Rural Economy & Population
Meat-Processing Firms Attract Hispanic Workers to Rural America
Hispanics increasingly meet labor demand arising from industry restructuring.
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