Are U.S. Corn and Soybeans Becoming More Drought Tolerant?
Tian Yu and
Bruce Babcock
Staff General Research Papers Archive from Iowa State University, Department of Economics
Abstract:
The hypothesis that corn and soybeans have become more drought tolerant is tested by regressing county yields on a drought index and time. Results indicate that corn yield losses from drought of a given severity, whether measured in quantity terms or as a percentage of mean yields, have decreased over time. Soybean percentage yield losses have also declined, but absolute losses have remained largely constant. The potential impact of increased drought tolerance on U.S. crop insurance rates is illustrated by comparing Group Risk Plan premium rates assuming time-invariant susceptibility to drought with rates generated from this article’s regression results.
Keywords: corn; crop insurance rates; drought tolerance; soybean; yield risk (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: G22 Q10 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2010-11-15
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (28)
Published in American Journal of Agricultural Economics 2010, vol. 92, pp. 1310-1323
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Related works:
Journal Article: Are U.S. Corn and Soybeans Becoming More Drought Tolerant? (2010) 
Working Paper: Are U.S. Corn and Soybeans Becoming More Drought Tolerant? (2010) 
Working Paper: Are U.S. Corn and Soybeans Becoming More Drought Tolerant? (2009) 
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:isu:genres:32098
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