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BiorenewablesRAPS (Resource and Agricultural Policy Systems)
RAPS is a modeling system that integrates economic and physical process simulation models to estimate the environmental impact of farming practices and policy in the Central United States. RAPS models use National Resources Inventory (NRI) data compiled by USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service. Using the NRI data, Resource and Environmental Policy researchers have been able to create and maintain site-specific models that predict how farming practices, soil characteristics, and climate factors all intertwine to affect the environment. Links in this section include recent updates on the economic models that constitute RAPS, as well as to the programs that facilitate execution of the physical process models they are named for.
Technical documentation of RAPS is available in CARD Technical Report 00-TR 45
Conservation tillage adoption model
The model developed allows for each 1992 NRI site prediction of the probability of conservation tillage adoption in response to a subsidy. For more details please see CARD Working Paper 01-WP 286.
An adaptation of this model for use with 1997 NRI data is currently in the works. For more details, see "Estimation of a Discrete Choice Model When Individual Choices Are Not Observable": paper and presentation
Use of farm-level survey data in the development of production budgets
An effort is underway to develop a consistent system of production budgets for use with NRI data for conducting evaluations of the effects of potential policy changes on agricultural production and the environment. The direct use of USDA's Cropping Practices Survey and Agricultural Resource Management Survey data allows statistically sound representation of "representative" crop production systems for multi-state regions. A report is being prepared that will contain (1) a description of how the survey data are used to construct "representative" machinery and fertilizer application schemes by state, irrigation, crop, previous year crop, and tillage type; (2) formulas for cost calculation; (3) summaries of production cost estimates; and (4) comparison of the estimates with those from reported aggregate data. See "Use of Farm-Level Survey Data in the Development of CARD Production Budgets."