As the proportion of farm family income due to nonfarm sources continues to grow nationally, it is important to understand how farm families in various regions or states are affected. This paper develops a better understanding of the contribution of income from nonfarm sources to the level and distribution of income among farm families in New York. In analyzing income distribution, the Gini ratio is decomposed to determine the effects of marginal changes in income by source to overall inequality. The results are compared with the simulated changes in income inequality due to changes in income by source as measured by an “adjusted” Gini ratio which accounts specifically for negative farm incomes. Differences in the policy implications from both procedures are compared. The relationships among sources of income and policy implications can be brought into sharper focus by examining both measures.

The robustness of dynamic dual models examined by Howard and Shumway is reevaluated with the proper specification for the modified generalized Leontief (GL) and normalized quadratic (NQ) functional forms. In an application to the Northeastern and U.S. dairy industries, the theoretical properties, adjustment rates, and predictive ability were similar under both functional forms. However, elasticity measures differed significantly.

Due to agriculture's increasingly complex technical and economic environment, the diversity of information required for competitive and profitable farming is growing as never before. With constant and, in some cases, reduced resources for agricultural programs, Extension must exercise special care in prioritizing informational efforts to best meet farm-client needs and retain an important base of public support. This paper presents a method of identifying popular informational priorities in Agricultural Extension. The method is illustrated by application to dairy programming in Massachusetts.

Use of the economic threshold to improve the efficiency of preemergent-herbicide treatment decisions is limited by a lack of weed information. An economic model for assessing the expected value of weed information needed to implement a threshold decision rule is developed. Empirical results suggest that early season weed information can have value in cabbage weed management in Massachusetts.

The objective of this article is to estimate historical economic surpluses for the subsectors involved in the U.S. sugar market. Annual producer and consumer surpluses were computed based on a five-equation model and 1958–87 data. In the last decade, the welfare position of cane- and beet-sugar producers has been roughly maintained, the domestic consumer surplus and the export quasi-rents to foreign countries have both declined, and quasi-rents of the corn-sweetener industry now surpass those that accrue to the cane industry and are about the same as those of the beet-sugar industry. Some policy implications are discussed.

The market impacts of generic dairy advertising are assessed using an industry model which encompasses supply and demand conditions at the retail, wholesale, and farm levels, and government intervention under the dairy price support program. The estimated model is used to simulate price and quantity values for four advertising scenarios: (1) no advertising, (2) historical fluid advertising, (3) historical manufactured advertising, and (4) historical fluid and manufactured advertising. Compared to previous studies, the dairy-industry model provides additional insights into the way generic dairy advertising influences prices and quantities at the retail, wholesale, and farm levels.

Product attributes that determine nursery-stock sales from wholesalers to retail garden centers and landscapers were studied. Conjoint analysis was used to obtain data on buyer preferences. The data were analyzed using ordinary least squares and logit procedures to determine the attributes that are preferred by buyers. It was determined that good- to excellent-quality stock, offerings with a full line of additional plants, taller plants, and cash discounts are desirable attributes. Quality is the dominant attribute affecting preferences. Packaging the preferred attributes together significantly increases the probability of a plant being purchased by buyers.