The Dynamics of Agricultural Commodities and Their Responses to Disruptions of Considerable Magnitude

An agricultural commodity production cycle model consisting of corn, beef, and dairy sectors was constructed for the purpose of exploring the propagating effects of large-scale disruptive events. In an initial proof-of-concept exercise, we considered an agricultural disruption scenario in which foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) is introduced into the U.S., causing a large-scale outbreak of the disease in both beef and dairy cattle. The magnitude of disruption to the beef and dairy sectors are presented under the existing W response policy and then improvements under two alternative policies are shown.