This paper describes a comparative analysis of alternative methods of constructing composite indicators to measure the sustainability of the agricultural sector. The three methods employed were Principal Component Analysis, the Analytic Hierarchy Process and a Multi-Criteria technique. The comparison focused on the irrigated agriculture of the Duero basin in Spain as a case study, using a datas...

The involvement of public health professionals in food and agricultural policy provides tremendous opportunities for advancing the public's health. It is particularly challenging, however, for professionals to understand and consider the numerous policy drivers that impact the food system, which range from agricultural commodity policies to local food safety ordinances. Confronted with this com...

This paper addresses the adequacy and perspectives of multi-agent system (MAS) models in the context of policy support for agricultural policy makers. The paper starts illustrating what MAS are and how they may be used. The general presentation is followed by the description of an exemplary spatial dynamic model of a large number of interacting farms (agents). This model is simulated for differ...

Researchers are currently refining the concept and theory of trust to focus on identifying the bases of trust within specific domains. This paper examines the development of trust within the domain of agricultural water policy, where trust is a critical resource for solving collective action problems. The analysis uses data from a mail survey of farmers in agricultural water policy to integrate...

Land-use change to meet 21st-century demands for food, fuel, and fiber will depend on many interactive factors, including global policies limiting anthropogenic climate change and realized improvements in agricultural productivity. Climate-change mitigation policies will alter the decision-making environment for land management, and changes in agricultural productivity will influence cultivated...

2005 is shaping up to be an interesting year for agricultural policy in the United States. Here we are, three years into a six-year farm bill, and commodity organizations and other agricultural interest groups are starting to get itchy. Most agricultural policy observers would agree that any changes made to existing agricultural policies during 2005 will result in less support for agriculture r...

The Agricultural Act of 2014 solidified insurance as the cornerstone of U.S. agricultural policy. The Congressional Budget Office (2014) estimates this Act will increase spending on agricultural insurance programs by $5.7 billion to a total of $89.8 billion over the next decade. In 2014, total government liabilities associated with the crop insurance program exceeded $108.5 billion. In light of...