Agricultural and Resource Economics Commons^™

Assessment Of Biofuels In California And Potential For Future Utilization, Douglas Williams, James J. Ahern, Keith Ochwat

Agribusiness

This study analyzed the potential energy resources contained in the biomass residues from the leading crops and livestock in California. As compared with an earlier similar study by Knutson and Miller (1982), where a total of 24 million tons of biomass was reported having an energy value of 336,000 billion Btu’s, this current study showed a total of over 18 million tons (excluding 7.2 million tons of lumber mill and forest slash residues), which translates to almost 13 million tons of dry matter. The energy value of this biomass is 189,000 billion Btu’s, about 56 % of the 1982 value. …

The Impact Of Health Information And Women In The Work Force On Aggregate Meat Demand, Christiane Schroeter, Ken Foster

Agribusiness

Over the past few decades, U.S. meat consumption patterns have changed. Changes in food consumption patterns can be the result of changing demographic characteristics, changing lifestyles, increasing health awareness, and nutritional concerns. Prior research suggests that these factors have significant influence on the demand for meat (Capps and Schmitz; Kinnucan, Hsia, and Jackson). The recent interest in low carbohydrate diets and the association with increased red meat consumption is an anecdotal example of this phenomenon.

The Impact Of Health Information And Demographic Changes On Aggregate Meat Demand, Christiane Schroeter, Ken Foster

Agribusiness

Over the past few decades, U.S. meat consumption patterns have changed. Figure 1 shows the U.S. per-capita meat consumption from 1970-1999. Consumers have increased their total meat consumption by 9.3% from 1970 to 1999, however, the composition of the meat consumption changed as well. While beef consumption has consistently decreased since 1985 - that of poultry and fish have increased. Per capita pork consumption has not changed on average from the 1970’s to the 1990’s.

The Impact Of Market Structure On Agricultural Technology Transfer, Charles F. Nicholson

Agribusiness

An agribusiness focus has emerged in public discussions as way to enhance agricultural production in Indonesia and to improve sustainable income for farmers. The focus has led to increased attention on marketing. Marketing agricultural products via processing technologies can indeed address national objectives of rural poverty alleviation. REI-Indonesia observed that limited marketing alternatives are frequently mentioned by farmers as a significant constraint. In Indonesia, a significant amount of institutional support currently exists for the ideas presented in this paper. In particular, one should consider the multifaceted mission of agricultural development in Indonesia, which includes: (a) policies that encourage competition and, …

Cost Of Organic Pork Production: A Seasonal Analysis And Needed Price Premium For Continuous Production, James Kliebenstein, Sean P. Hurley, Ben Larson, Mark Honeyman

Agribusiness

Niche markets of agricultural products are experiencing rapid growth. One such niche market is organic pork. Organic pork production is a relatively new and expanding segment of the pork industry. Similar to some other niche markets, it has also experienced rapid growth (Organic Trade Association). It is well known that the cost of organic pork production is greater than for traditional pork production due to increased feed costs and decreased swine performance. The industry has dealt with this by paying premiums to induce producers to produce the organic product. However, it is not clear on what level or how the …

Household-Level Impacts Of Dairy Cow Ownership In Coastal Kenya, Charles F. Nicholson, Philip K. Thornton, Rahab W. Muinga

Agribusiness

This study uses heteroskedastic Tobit and Censored Least Absolute Deviations models to examine the impacts of dairy cow ownership on selected outcomes for a sample of 184 households in coastal Kenya. The outcomes examined include gross household cash income, gross non-agricultural income, consumption of dairy products, time allocated to cattlerelated tasks, number of labourers hired and total wage payments to hired labourers. The number of dairy cows owned has a large and statistically significant impact on household cash income; each cow owned increased income by at least 53% of the mean total income of households without dairy cows. Dairy cow …

A Cross Comparison Between California And Its Domestic And International Competitors With Respect To Key Labor Issues, Sean P. Hurley

Agribusiness

California had a market value of agricultural products sold of $25.7 billion in the year 2002 ranking it as the top agricultural producing state in the country. Approximately 74% of this market value was attributed to crop sales. California producers spent nearly $20.5 billion on total farm expenses. The largest single expense for agricultural producers in the state was labor at $4.3 billion. Another $1.6 billion was spent on contract labor. Hired and contract labor expenses accounted for nearly 29% of total farm expense. Approximately 34,000 California farms hired over 535,000 laborers. Of these farms, 25% reported hiring migrant labor …

Consumer Knowledge And Acceptance Of Agricultural Biotechnology Vary, Jennifer S. James

Agribusiness

Results from consumer surveys reveal some basic conclusions about consumer attitudes toward agricultural biotechnology. First, consumers do not agree about whether biotech foods are good or bad. Second, a small group of people strongly opposes them. Third, the majority of consumers are uninformed about the technology and how food is produced. Relatively small but vocal anti-biotechnology activist groups are successful at influencing public opinion because of consumers’ lack of knowledge, creating a role for universities and government agencies to provide clear, objective and accessible information.

Levy-Funded Research Choices By Producers And Society, Jennifer S. James, Julian M. Alston, John W. Freebairn

Agribusiness

Commodity levies are used increasingly to fund producer collective goods such as research and promotion. In the present paper we examine theoretical relationships between producer and national benefits from levy-funded research, and consider the implications for the appropriate rates of matching government grants, applied with a view to achieving a closer match between producer and national interests. In many cases the producer and national optima coincide. First, regardless of the form of the supply shift, when product demand is perfectly elastic, or all the product is exported, domestic benefits and costs of levy-funded research all go to producers and they …

Us Dairy Product Trade: Modeling Approaches And The Impact Of New Product Formulations, Charles F. Nicholson, Phillip M. Bishop

Agribusiness

Several domestic and international developments increased interest among the US dairy industry in world markets during the 1990s. One development was the passage of the NAFTA and Uruguay Round (URA) trade agreements in the mid-decade, and their successors, the current “Doha Round” of international trade negotiations now underway. Another development during the 1990s was additional (positive) experience gained by the US dairy industry in export markets. Much of this experience came about because increases in world market prices for butter and powder in 1995-96 made US exports more competitive. The Dairy Export Incentive Program (DEIP) is also credited with improving …

Livestock, Land Use Change, And Environmental Outcomes In The Developing World, R. W. Blake, C. F. Nicholson

Agribusiness

No Abstract

Maine Food Trader, New England Environmental Finance Center, University Of Southern Maine

Local Food Systems

A free website for buying, selling, trading and donating local food. Keep food from going to waste and help make food production a good way to make a living in Maine.

Interpreting Bids From A Vickrey Auction When There Are Public Good Attributes, Sean P. Hurley, James B. Kliebenstein

Agribusiness

This paper provides a model that allows for interpreting bids in a Vickrey auction when the good has public good attributes. It also examines information obtained from a Vickrey auction, which collected consumer’s willingness-to-pay for pork products that had embedded environmental attributes, and applies the new interpretation to the bids.

Dairy Cow Ownership And Child Nutritional Status In Kenya, Charles F. Nicholson, Lucy Mwangi, Steven J. Staal, Philip K. Thornton

Agribusiness

This study examines the hypothesis that dairy cow ownership improves child nutritional status. Using household data from coastal and highland Kenya, three econometric model formulations are estimated. Positive impacts on chronic malnutrition are observed for coastal Kenya. No negative effects on acute or chronic malnutrition are found for either region.

A Tale Of Two Premiums—Examining Bids From A Multiple Round Vickrey Auction With Differing Information Sets, Sean P. Hurley, James B. Kliebenstein

Agribusiness

Two definitions of willingness-to-pay derived from a Vickrey auction with multi-product and multiple rounds with different information sets are examined. These definitions are examined in the context of valuing pork products with embedded environmental attributes and we show how information can have adverse effects on a base product of comparison.

Dairy Policy And Price Volatility, Charles F. Nicholson, Thomas Fiddaman

Agribusiness

The US dairy industry is shaped by a patchwork of regulations accumulated over a long history of intervention to achieve various, sometimes conflicting, policy goals. Price supports have long been a central feature of dairy markets, but were largely withdrawn beginning in 1988. Since that time, there has been a dramatic increase in the variability of farm milk and milk product prices. The origins and desirability of volatility has been the subject of much debate; unfortunately models in existence to date have shed little light on the question due to their adoption of essentially non-dynamic methods. This article introduces a …

Predicting Nutritional Requirements And Lactation Performance Of Dual-Purpose Cows Using A Dynamic Model, O. Reynoso-Campos, D. G. Fox, R. W. Blake, M. C. Barry, L. O. Tedeschi, C. F. Nicholson, H. M. Kaiser, P. A. Oltenacu

Agribusiness

A dynamic application of the Cornell Net Carbohydrate and Protein System (CNCPS) model was developed to predict annual cycles in animal nutrient requirements and performance of dual-purpose (milk and beef) cows. Interactions from mobilisation and repletion of body tissue reserves and feed biological values are accounted with a time step of one day, which considers physiological status of the animal, variation in dietary composition, and other environmental factors. This outcome was achieved by modifying the input and output structure of the CNCPS version 4.0 to compute body weight and changes in body reserves based on predicted milk production, intake of …

Maine Ag Trader, New England Environmental Finance Center, University Of Southern Maine

Local Food Systems

A free classified advertising website for listing anything you need to make your Maine food business succeed.

The Crop-Livestock Subsystem And Livelihood Dynamics In The Harar Highlands Of Ethiopia, Habtemariam Kassa, Robert W. Blake, Charles F. Nicholson

Agribusiness

Policy makers and extension planners often assume smallholder mixed farming systems are incapable of evolving fast enough to meet growing food demands and that livestock are relatively unimportant to household food production or welfare (FDRE, 1994), except for intensive units. The resulting policy promotes substitution of either intensive cropping or livestock production in place of the traditional mixed portfolio. Although widely promoted in the Harar Highlands, farmers resist these recommendations in favour of more diverse and integrated systems with crops, livestock, and non-agricultural activities. The contrast between what policy makers and development practitioners think and what farmers do signifies misunderstanding …

Soil, Plant And Cattle Nutrient Dynamics On Pastures Of The Western Amazon Of Brazil, B. Rueda, R. W. Blake, E. Fernandes, Charles F. Nicholson, J. F. Valentim

Agribusiness

Cattle production on Brachiaria pastures is a primary use of cleared forestland in the western Brazilian Amazon. About 6.8 million hectares in the States of Acre and Rondônia have been deforested, where 75% of land is now grazed (IBGE, 1998). The principal pasture species are B. brizantha and B. decumbens with the latter in decline from spittlebug susceptibility (Deois incompleta; Gonçalves et al., 1996). The general pattern of pasture establishment in the Amazon basin includes felling and burning forest biomass, planting annual crops for one to three years (especially on small farms), and then seeding to grasses. The …

Livestock Land Use Change, And Environmental Outcomes, Robert W. Blake, Charles F. Nicholson

Agribusiness

Rapid predicted worldwide growth in demand for animal products to 2020—the so-called “next food revolution” in animal agriculture—portends complex interactions among people, biological and geophysical resources, and economic objectives. A restructuring of global food demands is expected: in contrast to current patterns, most (>60%) global production of meat and milk will be consumed by households in the developing countries (Delgado et al., 1999). The key drivers of this change are income growth, population growth, urbanization, and increased opportunities for trade. We identified some of the environmental risks, and recuperative effects, of animal agriculture in a recent article (Nicholson et …

Affects Of Organic Fertilizers On The Growth And Biomass Production Of Agricultural Crops, Deanna Marshik

Honors Capstones

Capstone submitted as a graduation requirement for the BSU Honors Program.

The Economic Feasibility Of Forming A California Wheat Cooperative, Jay E. Noel, James J. Ahern, David J. Schaffner, Jill Johnson, Kristina Muelrath, Kyle Schroeder

Agribusiness

Recent concerns relative to California farm gate prices for wheat and a lack of profitability in wheat production has been expressed by a group of California wheat growers. Their dissatisfaction has resulted in their consideration to form a California wheat grower cooperative. The cooperative would become the marketing agent for the growers and potentially allow growers to pool their production for greater market power as well as capture profits beyond the farm gate. Two feasibility issues are addressed by the study: 1) The organizational feasibility of forming the cooperative, and 2) The economic feasibility of a California wheat growers cooperative …

Taxes And Quality: A Market-Level Analysis, Jennifer S. James, Julian M. Alston

Agribusiness

A conventional assumption of product homogeneity when the commodity of interest is actually heterogeneous will lead to errors in an analysis of the incidence of policies, such as taxes. In this article, an equilibrium displacement model is used to derive analytical solutions for price, quantity, and quality effects of ad valorem and per unit taxes. The results show how parameters determine the effects of tax policies on quality. The potential for tax-induced distortions in quality, and the distributive consequences of those distortions, are illustrated in a case study of the market for Australian wine.

A Multiattribute Utility Analysis Of Technological Choice In The California Wild Rice Industry, Jay E. Noel, James J. Ahern, Jess Errecarte, Kyle Schroeder

Agribusiness

The California wild rice industry in 2001 is undergoing change. This change is being driven by increased wild rice production, changes in wild rice demand, and buyer concerns relative to product quality and food safety. These changes necessitate the need for the industry to evaluate its operational and marketing strategies. A major concern of the industry is how to meet the on-going changes while remaining profitable. The major emphasis of this study to evaluate two of the technological choices that are available to meet those changes. The technologies are a traditional technology and newer experimental technology that has been conceptualized, …

Oak Woodland Economics: A Contingent Valuation Of Conversion Alternatives, Richard P. Thompson, Jay E. Noel, Sarah P. Cross

Agribusiness

Decisions on how much land should be devoted to oak woodland preservation is ultimately determined by society's valuation of its benefits and relative scarcity. Scarcity value can be measured by people's willingness-to-pay (WTP) to prevent oak woodland conversion to higher value land uses. In this study, we used the contingent valuation (CV) method to estimate WTP for oak woodland preservation in San Luis Obispo County (over 700,000 acres). Estimates ranged between $75 and $83 per voter, providing only about $12 million for land or easement purchases.

The Incidence Of Agricultural Policy, Julian M. Alston, Jennifer S. James

Agribusiness

This chapter first discusses what economists mean by "the incidence of agricultural policy" and why we care about it. Then it reviews models of the determinants of the differential incidence of different policies among interest groups such as suppliers of factors of production, consumers, middlemen, taxpayers, and others. Results are represented in terms of Marshallian economic surplus, and surplus transformation curves. After reviewing the results from standard models under restrictive assumptions, certain assumptions are relaxed in order to analyze the effects of imperfect supply controls, variability, cheating and imperfect enforcement of policies, and the dynamics of supply.

Evaluation Of Cauliflower Varieties, Department Of Agriculture, Western Australia, Horticulture Australia

Horticulture research reports

This document has been prepared from a cauliflower variety evaluation trial conducted at the Manjimup Horticultural Research Institute, South West Highway, Manjimup WA 6258. The results reflect the growth characteristics, yield, quality and density of the cauliflower varieties as recorded at this site during the conditions of the growing period (May 2002 to September 2002).

This report is the thirty-fourth in a series produced from the evaluation of cauliflower and broccoli varieties, conducted at Manjimup Horticultural Research Institute. Cauliflower only has been evaluated in this and in subsequent trials.

The results are provided to allow seed suppliers, seedling nurseries, growers, …

Beggar-Thy-Neighbor Advertising: Theory And Application To Generic Commodity Promotion Programs, Jennifer S. James, Julian M. Alston, John W. Freebairn

Agribusiness

Profits from generic advertising by a producer group often come partly at the expense of producers of closely related commodities. The resulting tendency toward excessive advertising is exacerbated by check-off funding. To analyze this beggar-thy-neighbor behavior we compare a scenario where different producer groups cooperate and choose their advertising expenditures jointly to maximize the sum of profits across the groups, and a scenario where they optimize independently. In an illustrative example using 1998 data for U.S. beef and pork, the noncooperatively chosen expenditure on beef and pork advertising is more than three times the cooperative optimum.

Technological Choice: California Wild Rice Processing Under Uncertain Demand, Jay E. Noel, James J. Ahern, Jess Errecarte, Kyle Schroeder

Agribusiness

This study is concerned with technological choice under uncertain demand conditions. It begins with an overview of the California wild rice market. The wild rice product is described, the wild rice industry is review and wild rice market conditions are explored. The overview is followed by a discussion of wild rice processing. Technological choice and competitive strategy issues are reviewed and then a framework for choosing between two competing technologies is proposed. The two competing technologies differ in their ability to store and process wild rice over a marketing year. The traditional technologies requires almost immediate processing of the harvested …