Crop-Yield Distributions Revisited

This article revisits the issue of crop-yield distributions using improved model specifications, estimation, and testing procedures that address the concerns raised in recent literature, which could have invalidated previous findings of yield nonnormality. It concludes that some aggregate and farm-level yield distributions are nonnormal, kurtotic, and right or left skewed, depending on the circumstances. The advantages of utilizing nonnormal versus normal probability distribution function models, and the consequences of incorrectly assuming crop-yield normality are explored.