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 AGRICULTURE GUIDELINES AND RESOURCES

AGRICULTURE OVERVIEW

Agribusiness firms sell farm inputs and services to farmers, buy output from farmers to manufacture and process into food products, or sell food to consumers. A significant trend is agribusiness concentration -- the emergence of fewer but larger firms in certain markets -- and the resulting impact on farm and retail food prices, industry structure, and innovation.

Food processors transform raw agricultural and marine products into intermediate foodstuffs and edible final products. New procedures and technologies are changing this sector's organization and production costs. These changes affect farm prices, food prices and product qualities.

Retail stores, like grocery stores (supermarkets, superettes, small grocery stores, and convenience stores) and specialized foodstores (including retail bakeries, meat, seafood, and produce markets) sell 82 percent of all retail food consumed at home, and the top 20 retailers now account for 51.9 percent of sales compared with 34.8 percent in 1972. Consolidation (merging) of retail food stores affects consumers and grocery suppliers, expenditures by households on food-at-home, and whether low-income households face higher food prices than other households.

Food wholesale firms assemble and store goods, and transport them to retailers, food service firms, farmers, other wholesalers, and institutions such as schools and government. Structural changes in the number and size of food wholesaling firms and their contracting methods affect prices and other market outcomes.

Emerging agricultural inputs, such as genetically modified seeds and pharmaceuticals for livestock, are the products of expensive R&D programs. Factors such as complementarities in research and production, and ownership of the intellectual property embodied in these inputs can shape competition in these industries. Understanding R&D requires keeping up with industries evolving structure of input industries—including the strategic behavior and economic consequences of mergers and acquisitions.

Commercial inputs-including pesticides, fertilizer, machinery, energy, seed, and biotechnology products—have an impact on crop production, as well as on natural resources such as air, water, and wildlife.

Agriculture Associations
American Farm Bureau | Voice of Agriculture Ag Links | Agriculture Council
of America | Culinary.net | Agri-Find | United States Department of Agriculture

Agriculture Magazines
American Small Farm | Farm Show | Ag Professional | Agri-News |
More Agriculture Magazines

Agriculture Colleges/Universities
Agri-Find

Agriculture Helpful Links
University of Nebraska Reference Site | United Kingdom Dairy Industry
Virtual Farm Tour | Dairy Cattle Information & Links To Additional Websites