|
Please also see the separate page on Commodities Market Prices
and the separate page on
U.S. and International Commodities and Futures Market Exchanges
Agricultural Production |
Weekly Weather and Crop Bulletin (WWCB) - USDA Office of the Chief Economist
U.S. Monthly Crop Production - USDA Economics, Statistics and Market Information System
Season-Average Price Forecasts - USDA Economic Research Service
Outlook Reports - USDA Economic Research Service
RSS News Feed - USDA Economic Research Service
Agricultural Prices - USDA Economics, Statistics and Market Information System
World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates - USDA Economics, Statistics and Market Information System
Fruit & Vegetable Market News - USDA Agricultural Marketing Service
Charts & Maps - USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service
Agricultural Finance Databook, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
USDA Grain Transportation Report
Standard & Poor's GSCI Index / Bloomberg.com
Dow Jones-UBS Commodity Indexes
Reuters-Jefferies CRB Index
Rogers International Commodities Index
USDA Agricultural Projections to 2018 - USDA Office of the Chief Economist
In 2008, food security became an issue for a number of nations. The market price for several stable crops (rice, wheat, corn) that many countries import increased substantially and there were food riots in over 2 dozen nations. Several nations also halted or reduced food exports (India, Russia, Argentina and Vietnam). Commodity farm prices increased not because there was a catastrophic crop failure but because international demand has increased substantially in response to an increase in disposable income in growing economies. However, future supply problems may occur due to the continued population growth, a ceiling on per acre crop yield and dwindling available arable land in developed nations and scarcity of available water. There are 6.8 billion people on the Earth (2010), and the world's popu,ation is projected to increase to 9 billion by 2050. It is unclear how further gains will be made in international agriculture in order to feed an additional 2.2 billion persons.
One response to potential future problems has been the purchase / long-term leasing of arable land in undeveloped nations by both private and government-sponsored agricultural companies domiciled in wealthier nations but with low agricultural resources and capabilities, essentially for the outsourcing of agricultural production. Some of the highest profile situations are the takeover of land in Madagascar by the Government of South Korea (which led to the collapse of the Madagascar government), the leasing of 400 square miles in Tanzania by the Government of South Korea, the investment by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in developing farms in Ethiopia (the King Abdullah Initiative for Saudi Agricultural Investment Abroad), the leasing of 100,000 acres of farmland in Kenya by the Government of Qatar.
The criticism of these type of programs is that the greatest abundance of avaliable arable land is in Africa, which has several nations that cannot sufficiently feed their own population and should not be expected to begin exporting foodstuffs to other nations. For instance, the United Nations World Food Program has to help feed Ethiopian citizens at a time that Saudi-owned farms are exporting rice out of the country. Secondly, the land is being either leased or sold at a very low price to the investors. In addition, local small farmers will be displaced or will not be able to compete with the large corporate farms for access to irrigation.
Promoters of these programs, in both host and investor nations argue that either dormant or under-utilized land is being put into production, it brings needed capital and technical investment that will create various levels of employment (not just farm labor) and benefit local farmers through everything from instruction to the building of fertilizer terminals at local ports.
Credit Issues
In the United States, less than one precent of the population owns and operates a farm. Agricultural production continues to transition away from medium-sized, family owned farms to either large corporate farming operations or small / microfarms. This is due to the fact that large grocery chains in the United States want to have relations with large corporate farms that have national or worldwide operations and can deliver large volume at low prices year round. At the other extreme, the small, specialized farms either sell directly to consumers (cutting out any middleman), to upscale restaurants or upscale food manufacturers.
However, a report issued by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) in April 2009 indicates that over the past 25 years farmers have generally received higher monthly prices for their commodities but retail food prices paid by consumers have increased faster than the prices that U.S. farmers received for those agricultural commodities. There is some concern that the cause of this decline can be attributed, in part, to increasing concentration in agriculture such that a small number of firms control most of the sales or purchases in a specific industry or market. www.gao.gov/new.items/d09746r.pdf (.pdf format)
In the United States, a large proporation of farm land is not farmed but allowed to remain fallow when it is registered with the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP). The CRP is designed to convert highly erodible cropland or other environmentally sensitive acreage to vegetative cover in order to reduce soil erosion, reduce sedimentation in streams and lakes, improve water quality, establish wildlife habitat, and enhance forest and wetland resources. Farmers receive an annual rental payment for the term of the multi-year contract and the program is funded through the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC; see below). In 2008 there were approximately 35 million acres (approximately 8% of arable farm land) in the program but many farmers were interested in withdrawing land from the CRP as contracts were terminating in response to the high commodity prices.
In the United States there is the farmer's cooperative. The purpose of the farmer's cooperative is to create a larger group that can negotiate better pricing for products and services (either selling harvested crops or purchasing farm inputs), enter into exclusive supply agreements (guaranteed purchase of harvested crops), to share the cost for large, necessary infrastructure projects (for instance, grain elevators) and to lobby elected officials. The farmer members own the cooperative.
Farmers located within suburban and exurban developments (and even within driving distance of major metropolitan areas) have also seen the growth of Community Supported Agriculture (CSA). In a CSA arrangement local residents purchase a share of the farm's projected distribution of produce (the share can be for all of the various produce or a specific crop that are grown over the course of the Spring to Fall seasons; prices can be slightly less expensive than the farmers market). The arrangement provides the farmer with a dedicated market for its produce and by selling shares in advance of planting and growing season, cash is raised (essentially in the form of an interest-free loan) to purchase the necessary inputs. Conversely, local residents receive a weekly allotment of local farm fresh produce (in some cases, organic and/or heirloom varieties). In addition, the arrangement usually requies the local resident to drive to the farm to pickup their allotment so the farmer also saves transporation costs. It should be noted that consumers are also taking on the farmer's risk that the crop(s) will be affected by weather, insects, and the cost of inputs.
Land ownership and usage in rural / agricultural regions of the United States is also being affected by purchases of properties by wealthy, out-of-state buyers who turn the property into a non-working (farm or ranch) residence. The new owners restrict pasture and water access and the remaining working farms / ranches are suddenly cutoff from land that they previously shared with the prior owner, and they are also cutoff from irrigation ditch maintenance. Similarly, in the past several local working farms / ranches would have been able to keep costs lower by collectively purchasing and sharing the usage of equipment and supplies, and also by sharing manpower.
If immigration reform takes place in the United States then it is possible that the available labor pool of farm workers could be reduced and many agricultiral operations would have to switch over to a mechanical harvester. Mechanical harvesting is efficient and it does reduce labor costs. However, the problem with mechanical harvesting is reduced crop yield. Harvesting by hand pickers means that fruits and vegetables that have dropped can still be picked up. Secondly, some of the mechanical harvesters strip plants of leaves and branches, which means that crops have only one harvest whereas hand picking means that there may be an opporutnity to go back and harvest later ripening fruit and vegetables. Thirdly, mechanical harvesters are expensive to purchase. Finally, processing plants have to modify their operation to accommodate fruits and vegetable that include leaves, branches and stems which is a byproduct in a mechanical harvest.
In February 2010, the U.S. Department of Labor revised the H-2A visa program so that farmers had to document that they had first attempted to locate a qualified U.S. citizen as a worker rather than merely attesting that they had attempted to locate a U.S. citizen. However, only a small percentage of the total number of farm workers necessary for the annual harvest of several U.S. crops would be available under the H-2A program, which means that farmers may not have sufficient workers.
In the United States, agriculture is highly subsidized, which is in the form of direct payments, countercyclical payments and loan deficiency payments. The subsidies are paid primarily to farmers growing corn, cotton, rice, soybeans and wheat, known as the Title 1 Commodities. However, the USDA itself has indicated that "Loan deficiency payments and counter-cyclical payments are designed to provide producers a safety net. However, under the 2002 farm bill, loan deficiency and countercyclical payments were largest during years of record-breaking harvests and record farm income." Proponents of the continuation of the Commodity Title program indicate that it creates a safety net that assures a stable food suppy. In July 2007, the House Agriculture Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities and Risk Management approved a renewal of the 2002 commodity title language with a series of amendments as part of the the Commodity Title of the 2007 Farm Bill. agriculture.house.gov/inside/2007FarmBill.html
In the United States, the organic farm produce industry is regulated by the National Organic Program, U.S. Department of
Agriculture (USDA), which is authorized to define standards and specify regulations regarding the cultivation
and preparation of organic produce. There are some problems that have developed in just the past few years:
The International Seed Federation indicates that the United States is the largest exporter of agricultural and vegetable seeds (fiscal 2006), followed by The Netherlands, France, Germany, Denmark, Canada, Chile, Mexico, Italy and Hungary.
Fertilizer is the essential nutrients that palnts require in order to grow healthy and rapidly. In the United States, modern agriculture and the volume of crops produced on an annual basis (yield per acre) would not exist without the application of fertilizer, which replaces nutrients that were lost at harvest time. These nutrients include nitrogen, phosphorus and potash. Various types of fertilizer is produced in several dozen countries and the United States is the largest importer of fertilizer.
Daily LDP Rates - USDA, Farm Service Agency (FSA)
Direct and Counter-cyclical Payment Program (DCP) - USDA, Farm Service Agency (FSA)
In the United States, the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) provides financing to farmers. The purpose of the CC is to make sure that there are adequate supplies of agricultural commodities (foods, feeds and fibers) for the population and also to stabilize and support farm income through loans, purchases, and payments (the CCC has its own disbursing authority and utilizes the Federal Reserve Bank system and United States Treasury to make payments). The agency also seeks to facilitate the orderly distribution of agricultural commodities. The CCC is a wholly-owned government corporation within the U.S. Separtment of Agriculture (USDA). The CCC has no actual employees; it carries out the majority of its program through personnel and facilities of the Farm Service Agency (FSA) and other USDA agencies such as the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS), Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS).
Crops covered include wheat, corn, oilseeds, cotton (upland and extra long staple), rice, tobacco, milk and milk products, barley, oats, grain sorghum, mohair, honey, peanuts, and sugar.
The CCC has an authorized capital stock of $100 million held by the United States, with the authority to have outstanding borrowings of up to $30 billion at any one time. Funds are borrowed from the U.S. Treasury and may also be borrowed from private lending agencies and others. All CCC-issued bonds, notes, debentures, and similar obligations are subject to approval by the Secretary of the Treasury. Interest on borrowings from the Treasury (and on capital stock) is paid at a rate based upon the average interest rate of all outstanding marketable obligations (of comparable maturity date) of the U. S. government as of the preceding month. Interest may also be paid on other notes and obligations at a rate prescribed by CCC and approved by the Secretary of the Treasury.
The CCC also administers export credit guarantees for commercial financing of U.S. agricultural exports. The guarantees encourage exports to buyers in countries where credit is necessary to maintain or increase U.S. sales, but where financing may not be available without CCC guarantees. The Export Credit Guarantee Program (GSM-102) covers credit terms up to three years. GSM-102 underwrites credit extended by the private banking sector in the United States (or, less commonly, by the U.S. exporter) to approved foreign banks using dollar-denominated, irrevocable letters of credit to pay for food and agricultural products sold to foreign buyers.
To receive loans or loan deficiency payments (LDP) for a crop, a producer must execute a note and security agreement or loan deficiency payment application on or before May 31 of the year following the year in which such crop is normally harvested. To receive direct payments, an individual or entity must be a producer on a farm with base acres enrolled in the Direct and Counter-cyclical payment Program (DCP). Producers may elect to receive a 22% advance payment when they enroll in the DCP. Base acres are established on a farm for covered commodities based on historical plantings. For instance, for each covered commodity, the direct payment in 2008 equaled 85% of the farm's base acreage for the crop, times the direct payment yield for that crop, times the direct payment rate for that crop. The 2008 Farm Bill authorizes direct and counter-cyclical payments, with some changes, that were previously authorized for preceding crops under the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 (the 2002 Farm Bill).
Marketing assistance loans provide producers interim financing at harvest time to meet cash flow needs without having to sell their commodities when market prices are typically at harvest-time lows. Loans for covered commodities are non-recourse because the commodity is pledged as loan collateral and producers have the option of delivering the pledged collateral to the CCC in satisfaction of the repayment of the outstanding loan at maturity. A settlement value is determined and applied to the outstanding loan principal and interest.
The CCC acquires title to agricultural commodities in the administration of its programs under various circumstances. For instance, it is under Title I of the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002, that the CCC makes marketing assistance loans to producers that can lead to forfeiture of the commodities to CCC.
The district courts of the United States, including the district courts of the District of Columbia and of any Territory or possession, have exclusive jurisdiction, without regard to the amount in controversy, of all suits brought by or against the CCC. Any suit against the CCC must be brought within six years.
Please see the separate page for a List of Farm Credit System Bank Web Sites
The Federal Farm Credit Banks (“FFCB”) are a government sponsored enterprise (GSE, created 1916) and is a nationwide network of lending institutions and affiliated services and other entities. Through its non-deposit taking Banks and related associations, the System lends money and provides related credit and other services to farmers, ranchers, producers and harvesters of aquatic products, rural homeowners, certain farm-related businesses, agricultural and aquatic cooperatives (or to other entities for the benefit of such cooperatives), rural utilities, and to certain foreign or domestic entities in connection with international agricultural credit transactions. The Banks and related associations are not commonly owned or controlled. They are cooperatively owned, directly or indirectly, by their respective borrowers. System institutions are federally chartered under the Act and are subject to supervision, examination and regulation by an independent Federal agency, the Farm Credit Administration (FCA).
The Farm Credit System is composed of four regional Farm Credit Banks (FCB), one regional Agricultural Credit Bank (ACB) and numerous associations (approximately 99 related Production Credit Associations / PCAs, Federal Land Credit Associations / FCLAs and Agricultural Credit Associations /ACAs. The PCAs, FLCAs, and ACAs are collectively referred to as Associations) across the nation. The System Banks and Associations are cooperatively owned, directly or indirectly, by their borrowers, which are the smaller, local banks that lend directly to the agricultural sector in all 50 states of the United states and in Puerto Rico. These entities have specific lending authorities within their chartered territories.
As none of the banks within the system are deposit taking institutions, funds are raised through the issuance of Farm Credit Debt Securities in the U.S. domestic and global capital markets by the Federal Farm Credit Banks Funding Corporation (FFCBFC).
Farm Service Agency (FSA) Guaranteed Loans are used by farmers who do not qualify for conventional financing. The FSA provides guarantees of up to 90% of any losses on the loan to the participating lender under the FSA program. FSA Beginning Farmer Down Payment Loans is a program for qualified beginning farmers to purchase land up to a purchase price of $250,000.00. An applicant must make a 10% cash down payment. FSA directly lends 40% of purchase price with a 15-year term and a fixed interest rate of 4.0%. The participating lender provides 50.0% of the purchase price with a 30-year amortization schedule.
The FSA Farm Ownership (FO) loan program assists beginning and established farmers to purchase farmland, to build or repair structures or other fixtures, and to promote soil and water conservation. The Operating Loan (OL) loan program assists producers with the purchase or lease of items needed for a successful farm operation, such as livestock, farm equipment, feed, seed, fuel, farm chemicals, insurance, or other operating expenses. Additionally, these loans can be used to pay for minor improvements to buildings, costs associated with land and water development, family subsistence, as well as to refinance debts under certain conditions.
The United States, Argentina, Canada, Brazil, China and South Africa are the world's leading growers of GMO (Genetically
Modified Organism) / biotech crops / transgenics, which means that by inserting the genes from other varieties or species
of crops, the DNA of the subject has been altered (approximately 2 dozen nations allow some form of GMO commercial crop). Genetic modification
tends to be utilized primarily to develop traits in crops that are better at insect resistance and herbicide (weed killer)
resistance, and is
also concentrated among four main crops:
For instance, genetic modification has been extended to more than half of China's cotton crop, herbicide-tolerant soybeans in Brazil, Australia approved canola crops, and India approved three varieties of Bt cotton in 2002 for commercial production and is conducting field trials for several crops including mustard, rice, potatoes and cauliflower. The European Union approved (May 2004) the introduction of a GM sweetcorn for use in human consumed products, and approved a GMO potato in March 2010. The first development in the GMO industry was the development of glyphosate-resistant plant genes and cells by Monsanto so that they would be resistant to glyphosate herbicides such as Monsanto’s Roundup (seeds produced in this manner were known as "Roundup Ready").
A developing problem is that scientific studies are finding genetically modified material in seeds and crops that had no history of genetic modification, which means that the GM indistry cannot control genetically modified material. It is being spread by either cross pollination by insects or wind in the natural environment or mistakenly being mixed together through human error. Testing of GM products on human health and the environment is not complete and if it is determined that it is unhealthful or unbeneficial to plant varieties it will be too late to control GMO products that have all ready spread into the environment.
Similarly, regardless of precautions GMO products also enter the human food chain in processed foods in the form of corn syrup, margarine, cooking oils and cornstarch. The immediate concern is whether some new type of allergy may develop among certain consumers but thus far the only reported case was related to GMO Starlink corn, which was withdrawn from the market.
However, the appeal to farmers is that GMO seeds are easier to cultivate and in the long run the higher cost for the seed is offset by the lower cost of not having to add as much pesticide and/or herbacide during the growing season. The situation that developed in Brazil is often used to illustrate the point: Brazil was earning a premium on its non-GMO soybeans compared to the United States and Argentina but Brazilian farmers smuggled in Monsanto produced GMO seeds from Argentina. In a short amount of time the soybean crop became almost entirely GMO-based and the Brazilian House and Senate essentially had to pass the Law of Biosecurity (2004), which authorized the CTNBio (The National Technical Commission of Biosecurity) to approve the planting and selling of genetically modified produce.
The largest seed / agro-biotech companies in the world include Monsanto (the company's Seminis susidiary), Pioneer Hi-Bred International (DuPont), Dow AgroSciences, Sygenta, Bayer CropScience, National Seed Group Corp. In January 2010, Monsanto publicly indicated that it over the next few years the company will allow the patent on several seed brands to expire without restrictions. The patent on Roundup Ready soybeans (approximately 90% of the soybean seed market in the United States) will expire in 2014. However, the company has already commenced sales of its patented Roundup Ready 2 seed. In addition, the U.S. Justice Department commenced an anti-competition investigation of the company in 2009.
1 acre = 43,560 square feet
640 acres = 1 square mile
1 square mile = 1 section
| To convert this: | To this: | Multiply by: |
| short tons | metric tons | .9072 |
| short tons | pounds | 2,000 |
| kilograms | pounds | 2.2046 |
| Pounds | kilograms | 0.4536 |
| Pounds | troy pounds | 1.2153 |
| metric tons | pounds | 2,204.6 |
| metric tons | short tons | 1.1023 |
| metric tons | bushels (60 lbs.) | 36.74 |
| To convert this: | To this: | Multiply by: |
| pounds per acre | kilograms per hectare | 1.14 |
| short tons per acre | kilograms per hectare | 2.25 |
| kilograms per hectare | metric tons per hectare | .001 |
| kilograms per hectare | pounds per acre | .88 |
| tons per hectare | short tons per acre | .44 |
| tons per hectare | kilograms per hectare | 1,000 |
| 1 bushel of: | Weight in Pounds: | Weight in Kilograms: |
| wheat, soybeans, potatoes | 60 | 27 |
| grain sorghum, rye, flaxseed | 56 | 25 |
| beets, carrots | 50 | 23 |
| barley, buckwheat, peaches | 48 | 22 |
| oats, cottonseed | 32 | 14 |
| One metric ton of: | Weight in Pounds: | Number of Bushels: |
| wheat, soybeans, potatoes | 2,204.6 | 36.74 |
| grain sorghum, rye, flaxseed | 2,204.6 | 39.37 |
| beets, carrots | 2,204.6 | 44.09 |
| barley, buckwheat, peaches | 2,204.6 | 45.93 |
| oats, cottonseed | 2,204.6 | 68.89 |
Hydroponics, which grows plants in either water (or in an inert medium such as sand, clay pellets or gravel) and a support system, has been a viable operation for several decades. The key is that the nutrients are dissolved in water and are atrificially introduced to the plants root system directly. Almost any type of plant can be cultivated in this manner (even out of season) and the plant yield is similar to a plant grown outdoors. The advantage to hydroponics is that because of the elimination for the need of soil, the hydroponic growing system can be located within an urban area. The second greatest advantage is that a single system can recirculate water through all of the plants, which substantially reduces that amount of water necessary to produce a crop yield similar to an outdoor farming operation. Thus, the purpose of hydroponics is to augment food supplies due to the finite amount of arable farm land (hydroponic, indoor farming can produce crops all through the year).
Vertical farming is the practice of having hydroponic systems stacked one above the other in order to increase the number of plants that can be grown within the fixed space of an indoor area. The ideal situation is that abandoned buildings be utilized for vertical farming operations. However, existing buildings are not designed to allow in sunlight and air in a sufficient enough amount to support intensive agriculture. Thus, the disadvantage is that an indoor farming operation would require additional artificial lighting, which is expensive. Similarly, the building would require additional heating during the Winter months, which is also expensive.
In the United States, food and produce inspection and monitoring is split between the Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The USDA inspects fresh meat and poultry, including fresh eggs, and the FDA inspects all other produce and processed foods.
Alabama Department of Agriculture and Industries agri-ind.state.al.us/
Illinois Department of Agriculture www.agr.state.il.us/
Indiana State Department of Agriculture www.in.gov/isda/
Kentucky Department of Agriculture www.kyagr.com/
Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry www.ldaf.state.la.us/
Maine Department of Agriculture www.maine.gov/agriculture/index.shtml
Minnesota Department of Agriculture www.mda.state.mn.us/
Mississippi Department of Agriculture and Commerce www.mdac.state.ms.us/
Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture www.agriculture.state.pa.us/
Texas Department of Agriculture www.agr.state.tx.us/
Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services www.vdacs.virginia.gov/
West Virginia Department of Agriculture www.wvagriculture.org/
Canadian Co-operative Association (CCA) www.coopscanada.coop/
Iowa Farmer's Union www.iowafarmersunion.org/
Minnesota Farmer's Union www.mfu.org/
National Council of Farmer Cooperatives (NCFC) www.ncfc.org/
National Farmer's Organization www.nfo.org/
National Farmer's Union nfu.org/
Nebraska Farmer's Union www.nebraskafarmersunion.org/
North Dakota Farmer's Union www.ndfu.org/
Ohio Farmer's Union www.ohfarmersunion.org/
Environmental Working Group (EWG) Farm Subsidy Database farm.ewg.org/farm/
African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF) www.aatf-africa.org/
Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) www.aciar.gov.au/
Biodiversity International www.bioversityinternational.org/
Consultive Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) www.cgiar.org/
International Food Policy Research Institute www.ifpri.org/
International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) www.iita.org/
International Potato Center / Centro Internacional de la Papa (CIP) www.cipotato.org/
South Africa Agricultural Research Council (ARC) www.arc.agric.za/
Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago AgLetter www.chicagofed.org/economic_research_and_data/ag_letter.cfm
Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas Survey of Agricultural Credit Conditions www.dallasfed.org/research/agsurvey/index.html
Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City Survey of Agricultural Credit Conditions www.kc.frb.org/home/subwebnav.cfm?level=3&theID=9754&SubWeb=12
Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis Survey of Agricultural Credit Conditions minneapolisfed.org/pubs/agcredit/
Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond Survey of Agricultural Credit Conditions www.richmondfed.org/research/regional_conditions/agriculture/index.cfm
Commodity Credit Corporation Current Loan Rates www.fsa.usda.gov/FSA/webapp?area=about&subject=landing&topic=sao-cc-cr
Commodity Credit Corporation Historical Lan Rates www.fsa.usda.gov/FSA/webapp?area=about&subject=landing&topic=sao-cc-hr
United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) www.usda.gov/
USDA, Farm Service Agency (FSA) www.fsa.usda.gov/
USDA, Farm Service Agency (FSA), Commodity Credit Corporation Charter Act (15 U.S.C. 714, et seq.) www.fsa.usda.gov/Internet/FSA_File/charteract2008.pdf (.pdf format)
USDA, Farm Service Agency (FSA), Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) Export Credit Guarantee Program (GSM-102) www.fas.usda.gov/excredits/exp-cred-guar-new.asp
USDA, Farm Service Agency (FSA), Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) www.fsa.usda.gov/FSA/webapp?area=home&subject=copr&topic=crp
USDA, Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) www.fas.usda.gov/
USDA, National Agricultural Library, Community Supported Agriculture www.nal.usda.gov/afsic/pubs/csa/csa.shtml
U.S. House Committee on Agriculture agriculture.house.gov/
European Fertilizer Manufacturers Association (EFMA) www.efma.org/
Fertilizer Institute www.tfi.org/
International Fertilizer Industry Association (IFA) www.fertilizer.org/
