Participants at CARD's 1995 Fall Agricultural Policy Conference will hear farmers, industry executives, economists, and legal experts explore all aspects o[ the livestock industry and its impact on rural areas. "Changes and Choices for Agriculture and Rural Communities," to be held December 13, 1995, at Kirkwood Community College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, will feature 20-minute presentations by 11 different speakers with divergent perspectives.

One of the major environmental initiatives of current commodity programs is Conservation Compliance, a provision that requires highly erodible land to be cropped according to a locally approved conservation plan.

Darnell B. Smith, managing director of FAPRI at Iowa State, came to CARD in January 1.993 from the University of Nebraska. A native of the Kearney, Nebraska, area, Darnell taught courses at both t.he University of Nebraska's Lincoln and Kearney campuses and worked on the Rural Policy Research l.nstitute's Nebraska proje.ct in Lincoln . His experience as an analyst of Nebraska's economy and business trends while on the staff at Nebraska's Bureau of Business Research helped prepare him for the rigors of administering the day-to-day operations at FA PRJ.

To provide additional insight to the agricultural policy debate, FAPRI has introduced weather volatility into its analysis or three alternative farm program designs.

What percentage of expected revenue would be assured to agricultural producers if government yield insurance was transformed into a revenue assurance type of safety net program? Recent interest in a potential dual federal crop insurance program that would offer producers the option of yield or revenue insurance at the same level of U.S. government subsidy prompts this question.