John F. Timmons

An Economic Analysis of Agricultural Land Use Practices to Control Water Quality

Sediment and phosphorus losses to streams from crop and pasture land can be reduced through production practices. The associated abatement costs to farmers are substantial and increase rapidly as the sediment and phosphorus constraints become more stringent. Distribution of these costs is determined by the type of regulation established.

What Has Happened to the Agricultural Ladder

ATHIRD of a century has passed since the concept of the agricultural ladder was introduced and established in economics literature. In that time American farmers have gone through two land booms and an intervening depression. The proportion of farm tenancy climbed from a national average of 38 percent in 1990 to over 42 percent in 1930 and 1935 and then dropped to 27 percent in 1948.1 Also, numerous public programs designed to favor farm ownership and to support farm price levels have been developed. What has happened to the agricultural ladder during this period? Is it still as important as it seemed a generation ago or has it fallen into general disrepute? Do young farmers today go through a sequence of tenures in their climb to farm ownership, or have they found new methods that enable them to move from their status as family workers or landless laborers to farm ownership more easily? These are only a few of the questions one could ask concerning the present status of the agricultural ladder. Numerous recent studies have touched upon this general problem. Many of these suggest that the ladder is working with varying degrees of success. But in a few cases writers have questioned the successful operation of the ladder.2 In view of the confusion that has developed around this concept, it is the purpose of this article to examine the nature and background of the agricultural ladder and to appraise its role in todays agriculture. Much of the data used in this analysis has only recently been made available by the national farm ownership survey.3

Iowa Crop Production and Soil Erosion with Cropland Expansion

A parametric programming model is used to estimate crop production profitability of Iowas noncropland. The model indicates that Iowa cropland is expandable by five million acres if crop prices double the 1978 level. Additional cropland expansion is less responsive to further crop price increases. The model also indicates that soil erosion from cropland expansion is greater than the states average. However, if the model constrains soil erosion to under five tons per acre, soil erosion is greatly reduced with only slight reductions in potential cropland.

Estimation and projections of demand for crude petroleum and refined petroleum products

Abstract The purpose of this article is to estimate the demand and supply relationships of the US petroleum market. By measuring the elasticities and cross-elasticities of demand, the relative responsiveness of changes in prices and income and the possibility of substitution of alternative energy resources for petroleum are determined. The demand for refined products is also estimated. Finally, through projection of the demand for, and the domestic supply and imports of crude petroleum under alternative assumptions, a measure of the magnitude of physical reserves and capital requirements is obtained for policies of self-sufficiency and free trade.