The agricultural lending market providing loans to US farmers and ranchers has been undergoing a rather rapid transformation in the last ten years. It took the proposed sale of the Farm Credit Services of America, a large association in the Farm Credit System, to the Dutch bank Rabobank to underscore how significant these changes could be. Although this sale ultimately fell through, it left in its wake a number of issues facing the Farm Credit System and agricultural lenders in general. The new international accords on banking, known as the Basel Capital Accords (Basel II), represent another force likely to cause change in agricultural lending. This theme focuses on these forces as well as other factors adding to an increasingly complex environment for agricultural lenders. This theme concludes with a long-term look at how the market might evolve by the year 2020.

Are E-Grocers Serving the Right Markets?

The Farmapine Model: A Cooperative Marketing Strategy and a Market-Based Development Approach in Sub-Saharan Africa

Markets are increasingly being used and proposed as a way to address environmental problems and manage natural resources. From water quantity to air pollution, economists and policy makers are developing ways to use markets as an avenue to allocate resources in a way that achieves environmental goals and economic efficiency. This series of articles provides an overview of these policies and looks at the state of the market-based policies for a variety of environmental problems and natural resources. Although market-based instruments certainly appear to be here to stay, they are not the right tool for all problems. Over time, market-based approaches may take a less prominent place in the policy mix, to be seen once again as one tool among many for improved management of our environment and natural resources.