EVALUATING ENERGY SCENARIOS WITH LINEAR PROGRAMMING MODELS

Many economic impacts are of interest in analyzing an energy scenario. It would be useful to have a set of models to estimate the effect of an energy scenario on: (1) the prices farmers pay for purchased inputs; (2) the impact at the farm firm level on the product mix, systems of production and income level by size of firm; (3) the regional distribution of production; (4) regional employment and income levels; (5) the supply-demand balance for agricultural products and the resulting food prices; (6) the major environmental effects; (7) the impact on the structure of the agricultural industry; (8) the quantities of alternative types of energy used on farms and in other parts of the food and fiber system; and (9) the effect on other sectors of the economy. Furthermore, the model (s) should trace these effects through time rather than comparing the current situation with the static equilibrium at some future time