Export demand, US farm income, and land prices: 1949-1985

The growing openness of the US economy has caused world supply and demand conditions to have significant farm-level impacts, emphasizing the important macroeconomic linkages between capital, goods, and factor markets in agriculture. This study considers the linkage from the international grain market to US farm income in the post-war period, 1949-85. This linkage suggests that export demand may also have played an important role affecting land and other input prices through the derived demand relationship. This study seeks to supplement other studies by examining the relative role of exports in determining these returns over time. Empirical results clearly show the export/farm income connection. -from Authors