Grain markets broke out of their midwinter slump with the release of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) January 12, World Agriculture Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE). The report helped fuel a rally that reversed a six-month down trend in crop prices.

New federal regulations focus control at the processing plant level. The project described in this article is designed to evaluate the microbial reductions and costs associated with the use of a Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) system in large pork slaughter and processing plants. The objectives are to measure the efficiency of HACCP systems in achieving lower microbial counts in pork processing, to measure the marginal costs associated with different levels of pathogen reduction in pork processing and to determine implications for mandated HACCP adoption on industry costs. The study considers specific control points or technologies that are used to reduce, control, or monitor levels of microorganisms during the production process in large pork slaughter and processing plants in the upper Midwest.

During the last several years, federally subsidized crop insurance has become a major issue in both farm risk management and government farm policy. In previous articles for this publication, various aspects of crop insurance, the effects on Iowa farmers, and the costs to both farmers and the government have been examined. This article takes a step back to look at the impacts of crop insurance on the Iowa economy.

A previous article in the Iowa Ag Review (Fall 1999, Vol. 5, No. 4) pointed out that because subsidies tend to increase the supply of whatever is subsidized, crop insurance subsidies and emergency disaster assistance will likely increase crop supplies. This supply response will decrease crop prices. That subsidies encourage supply is not controversial; however, some controversy has arisen concerning the estimated magnitude of the resulting price impact