The impact of soil conservation adoption on yield and yield risk is investigated using a conditionally heteroskedastic production function with endogenous switching. Analysis shows that controlling for plot-specific factors, adopters exhibit lower yields and higher yield variance than non-adopters. Regression results indicate soil conservation increases yields and reduces yield variance.

Contents: Virginia Farming in Transition, by Wayne D. Purcell; Growth in Virginia: People and Jobs on the Move, by Todd McNew and Bradford Mills; Managing Agriculture and Growth in Virginia: The Role of Planning and Zoning, by Michael Chandler; Tools and Incentives to Manage Agriculture and Growth, by Jesse J. Richardson, Jr.; Preserving Farmland: A National Imperative, by Mary Heinricht

We model CAP reform in order to measure the response of production and land allocation to compensatory payments. The application refers to a sample of farms in Italy. The model allows us an analysis of the degree of decoupling and a simulation of the impact of the "Agenda 2000" proposals.

Land titles can increase agricultural productivity by increasing access to collateralized credit. However, increased credit use depends on the assumption that farmers face asset-based credit rationing. This assumption is tested using data from Mexico's voluntary land titling program. The results do not support the existence of widespread credit rationing.

A cost-effectiveness frontier is developed to compare economic and environmental tradeoffs associated with planting a riparian buffer to reduce stream temperature at the watershed scale. Results indicate that total welfare change and its distribution among sectors vary between scenarios. The policy selected may differ if riparian plantings are voluntary rather than mandatory.

This paper evaluates how much longer setback lengths associated with surface application must be to encourage soil injection of swine manure in Kentucky. Results indicate that proposed setback lengths do not encourage odor control via injection; the setback length associated with surface application must be substantially longer than that associated with injection.

This paper examines whether permanent farmland preservation programs are capitalized into farmland prices. We consider the landowner's decision to voluntarily participate and correct for sample selection bias in our estimation of sales prices. Initial results suggest development restrictions resulting from participation in these programs are fully capitalized into farmland prices.

The transition from an open access to a private property rights management regime requires valuation mechanisms that respond to new incentives. The analysis relies on the NPV model, the Arrow Fisher (1972) result and the Black-Scholes option pricing model to describe the necessary elements of resource investment under this transition.