Agriculture is one of the defining elements of a nation. This series consists of analyses on a variety of agricultural issues including (but not limited to) the developments, policies, programs, trade, trends and economics of agriculture. Topics will be seen from a U.S. perspective, but not to the exclusion of other countries particularly when the discussion has an international scope. Topics discussed in this issue include the United States' farm income; agriculture in the World Trade Organization; agricultural disaster assistance; weather effects on expected corn and soybean yields; and air quality issues and animal agriculture.