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on Agricultural Economics |
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Issue of 2012‒06‒25
eighty-one papers chosen by |
| By: | Baylis, Katherine R.; Fan, Linlin; Nogueira, Lia |
| Abstract: | China underwent tremendous agricultural market reforms in the 1990s prior to its accession to the WTO, drastically decreasing domestic market distortions. We ask whether these reforms have led to agricultural commercialization and have improved the welfare of rural Chinese households measured by household average share of calories from non-staples. We identify the effect of local market liberalization by calculating the degree to which local markets reflect world prices. We find that farmers have commercialized in response to market liberalization and that particularly for food insecure households, commercialization has increased household nutrition. The commercialization of field crops and horticulture increases nutrition while the commercialization of livestock does not. |
| Keywords: | market liberalization, commercialization, food security, agriculture, China, Agricultural and Food Policy, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Food Security and Poverty, International Development, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea12:124621&r=agr |
| By: | Ifft, Jennifer; Wu, Shang; Kuethe, Todd H. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Agricultural Finance, Land Economics/Use, Risk and Uncertainty, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea12:124317&r=agr |
| By: | Storm, Hugo; Heckelei, Thomas |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Farm Management, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea12:125185&r=agr |
| By: | Ifft, Jennifer; Cooper, Joseph C.; Kuethe, Todd H. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Risk and Uncertainty, |
| Date: | 2012–05–31 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea12:124334&r=agr |
| By: | Harou, Aurélie; Walker, Thomas |
| Keywords: | Agribusiness, Crop Production/Industries, Farm Management, Financial Economics, Marketing, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea12:124982&r=agr |
| By: | Muyanga, Milu; Jayne, T.S. |
| Abstract: | This study analyzes the implications of increasing population density in Kenya’s rural areas on smallholder production and commercialization. Using data from five panel surveys on 1,146 small-scale farms over the 1997-2010 period, we use econometric techniques to determine how increasing rural population density is affecting farm household behavior and its implication to smallholder commercialization. We find that farm productivity and incomes tend to rise with population density up to 600-650 persons per km2; beyond this threshold, rising population density is associated with sharp declines in farm productivity. Currently 14% of Kenya’s rural population resides in areas exceeding this population density. The study concludes by exploring the nature of institutional and policy reforms needed to address these development problems. |
| Keywords: | Land, population density, smallholder agriculture, food security, policy, Kenya, Community/Rural/Urban Development, International Relations/Trade, Production Economics, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea12:124993&r=agr |
| By: | Jansen, Jim A.; Stockton, Matthew C.; Lubben, Bradley D. |
| Abstract: | This work outlines the quantitative procedures and results of the policy effects for alternative designs of federal revenue-based farm income safety net programs on eight individual representative farms across the state of Nebraska. Measures include financial impacts of the farm crop revenue-based safety net with a state revenue trigger versus potential alternative programs involving guarantees at the district, county, and farm levels. The methodology correlates national yield and prices with state, district, county, and farm-level yields. Results indicate that decreasing the aggregation of the revenue guarantee increases expected farm-level payments and program costs for the revenue-based safety net. |
| Keywords: | agricultural policy, commodity programs, farm bill, risk management, Agricultural and Food Policy, Risk and Uncertainty, |
| Date: | 2012–06–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea12:124688&r=agr |
| By: | Samarasinghe, Oshadhi; Daigneault, Adam J.; Greenhalgh, Suzie; Munguia, Oscar Montes de Oca; Walcroft, Jill |
| Abstract: | This paper uses responses from a regional farmer survey that identify farmers’ perceptions of environmental policies to calibrate a catchment-level environmental economic model (NZ-FARM) to estimate the impacts of a nutrient reduction policy in North Canterbury, New Zealand. The model maximizes farm income across a catchment, accounting for changes in land use, farm output, nutrient leaching, and GHG emissions. Simulations estimate that reducing nutrient loads by 15–30% can be achieved with economic impacts ranging between 1 and 10%, based on how willing landowners are to change how they manage their farm. Farmers are often hesitant to implement certain mitigation options, however, which results in higher economic costs than the ‘optimal’ estimates. Farm-level impacts will likely vary through the current farm practice, the farmers’ attitude towards the regulation, and the ability of policymakers to educate and incentivise landowners to adopt a variety of land management options. |
| Keywords: | Agriculture and forestry modelling, land use, nutrient budgeting, water quality, greenhouse gas emissions, farmer perception towards policy, Agricultural and Food Policy, |
| Date: | 2012–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aare12:124439&r=agr |
| By: | Colson, Gregory; Fu, Shengfei; Ramirez, Octavio A. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural Finance, Crop Production/Industries, Farm Management, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea12:124739&r=agr |
| By: | Jonasson, Erik; Filipski, Mateusz; Brooks, Jonathan; Taylor, J. Edward |
| Abstract: | This paper presents a new model which incorporates features of developing country agriculture that may be critical in shaping the welfare outcomes of alternative agricultural policies. The model features heterogeneous households linked through markets in a rural economy-wide structure, with endogenous market participation for farmers facing transactions costs. The model is used for policy simulations, including market price support, production subsidies, input subsidies, transaction cost removal, and unconditional cash transfers. Applications for six countries highlight the diversity of potential impacts of such policies. The simulation results suggest that there are circumstances under which some market interventions, such as input subsidies, may be only slightly less efficient at transferring incomes than direct payments. |
| Keywords: | agricultural household model, agricultural policy, simulation, transaction costs, Agricultural and Food Policy, Consumer/Household Economics, O12, O13, Q12, Q18, |
| Date: | 2012–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae12:125105&r=agr |
| By: | Adjemian, Michael K.; Smith, Aaron D. |
| Abstract: | Using five monthly revisions to USDA crop forecasts (Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct, & Nov), we estimate own‐ and cross‐commodity short‐run demand flexibilities for six domestic agricultural commodities. Our findings indicate that the corn supply influences the expected harvest‐time price of virtually every other major field crop. Moreover, as the share of the corn crop devoted to ethanol production grows, corn and soybean prices become more flexible, while the reverse it true for wheat and oats. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Demand and Price Analysis, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea12:124911&r=agr |
| By: | Meng, Ting; Florkowski, Wojciech J.; Kolavalli, Shashi; Ibrahim, Mohammed |
| Abstract: | The objective of this paper is to identify which household factors and farm features determine the farm income in the rural households in the Northern Region of Ghana, and further to examine how farm income, nonfarm income and other socio-demographic factors affect the household fresh vegetable expenditure. The simultaneous equation model is applied to explore the interacting relationship between farm income and the fresh vegetable expenditure. The results indicate that the farm features such as cultivation of staple crops, total number of acres under groundnut cultivation, and the number of bullocks are the major determinants of the farm income, while the socio-demographic factors such as the nonfarm income, education, household composition, age, and gender of the household head significantly affect the fresh vegetable expenditure in the rural households. |
| Keywords: | Fresh vegetable expenditure, farm income, farm features, socio-demographic characteristics, Agricultural and Food Policy, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Consumer/Household Economics, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea12:124638&r=agr |
| By: | Connolly, Cristina; Klaiber, H. Allen |
| Abstract: | The emergence of community supported agriculture (CSA) farms has provided a new way for small farms to remain competitive while engaging their local community through direct marketing. In this study, we report on some of the first revealed preference valuation of CSA attributes, including the willingness to pay for competing organic certification programs. Using data on the prices and attributes of 188 CSA farms spanning Ohio and Pennsylvania we estimate willingness to pay measures from both hedonic and nearest-neighbor matching methods. Results from a semi-log hedonic reveal a willingness to pay of approximately 9% for organic branding compared to natural, which translates into an additional $48 per summer season share. We also find a statistically significant premium associated with longer seasons, delivery, and the provision of additional products beyond fruits and vegetables. In contrast we find no premium associated with competing certification programs. |
| Keywords: | Organic, Local, Matching, Hedonic, Community supported agriculture, Agricultural and Food Policy, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Q13, Q51, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea12:124364&r=agr |
| By: | Singerman, Ariel; Hart, Chad E.; Lence, Sergio H. |
| Abstract: | A framework is developed to examine organic crop insurance established by the Risk Management Agency (RMA). Given that RMA links organic and conventional crop prices, the model is calibrated to reflect both markets to illustrate the impacts that pricing has on insurance coverage. Findings indicate that at the 75% coverage level, RMA's fixed price factor implies an effective coverage ranging from 45% to 106% depending on the ratio of planting-time organic to conventional market prices. Results suggest RMA's program is likely to induce adverse selection, because the nominal coverage level is likely to substantially deviate from the effective coverage. |
| Keywords: | crop insurance, organic agriculture, Agricultural and Food Policy, Q18, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea12:124370&r=agr |
| By: | Wang, Sun Ling; McPhail, Lihong Lu |
| Abstract: | This study proposes to use a structural VAR model, using annual percentage change series on U.S. gasoline prices, agricultural productivity, real GDP, agricultural exports, and agricultural commodity prices, to assess the impact of energy shocks on U.S. agricultural productivity growth and food price variations. These data span the period 1948 to 2009. Study results indicate that in the short-run (1 year) an energy shock and a productivity shock each accounts equally for 10 percent of the food price volatility. However, the impact from an energy shock overweighs the contribution of a productivity shock in the intermediate term (3 years), where an energy shock’s contribution increases to twice as much as a productivity shock’s contribution (16 percent compared to 8 percent). Besides the specific food market shock, the global demand shock in U.S. agricultural exports is the major factor in explaining the volatility in U.S. food prices, and accounts for one-third of the food price fluctuations. |
| Keywords: | Energy shock, Total Factor Productivity (TFP), U.S. agriculture, food price, Structural VAR model, Agricultural and Food Policy, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea12:124892&r=agr |
| By: | Hu, Wu-Yueh |
| Abstract: | In the literature, the effect of contract farming on the productivity efficiency or profitability is rarely studied, especially in the crop sector. In this paper, we use a farm-level dataset (Agriculture and Resource Management Survey) to examine the effect of contract farming on the farmers' average return for the corn, soybean and wheat producers. The results of the matching estimation show that without matching, the effect of contract farming on the average returns of the corn and soybean producers might be underestimated, and contract farming might have a negligible (statistically insignificant) effect on the average return of the wheat producer. |
| Keywords: | contract farming, marketing contract, average return, grain industry, Agricultural Finance, Crop Production/Industries, Q10, Q13, L14, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea12:124659&r=agr |
| By: | Lynes, Melissa K.; Bergtold, Jason S.; Williams, Jeffery R.; Fewell, Jason E. |
| Abstract: | The levels of cellulosic biofuel feedstocks that are being produced continue to fall short of standards set by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Technical feasibility studies have been conducted to determine if the levels of production the EPA has mandated are obtainable; and breakeven farmgate studies have shown the costs of growing cellulosic feedstocks. However, very few studies have been conducted on farmers’ willingness to grow these feedstocks. This study examines farmers’ willingness to harvest crop residue, or grow a dedicated annual or perennial bioenergy crop. A Heckman selection model is used to account for selection bias, estimate the probability of a farmer growing a particular feedstock and to determine how many initial acres farmers would be willing to plant of a dedicated annual or perennial bioenergy crop. We find that, due to the variation in the type of crops and feedstocks considered different variables are significant in the farmers’ decision-making process. |
| Keywords: | acreage allocation, annual bioenergy crop, cellulosic biofuel feedstock, crop residue, Heckman selection model, perennial bioenergy crops, willingness to grow, Crop Production/Industries, Environmental Economics and Policy, Farm Management, Q12, Q15, Q16, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea12:124777&r=agr |
| By: | Vickner, Steven S. |
| Abstract: | Poster prepared for presentation at the Agricultural & Applied Economics Association’s 2012 AAEA Annual Meeting, Seattle, Washington, August 12-14, 2012 |
| Keywords: | agribusiness, food recall, hedonic pricing, peanut butter, salmonella, Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Consumer/Household Economics, Demand and Price Analysis, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, |
| Date: | 2012–08–14 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea12:124618&r=agr |
| By: | Hansen, Jim |
| Abstract: | Over the past 20 years increasing global growth and increased per capita income have led to significant changes in food production, consumption and trade for many countries. As incomes and urbanization increase, food consumption patterns exhibit increased demand for a more diversified diet increasing meat and dairy consumption, which leads to improved meat production systems and modern animal science-based feed rations. Greater demand for feed grains and oilseeds is provided by domestic production and through imports. This study analyzes the effects of Southeast Asia's changing food consumption patterns on agriculture production, consumption, and trade out to the year 2021. The impact of increasing consumption of poultry and pork and increased meat production and feed demand on domestic agricultural markets of Southeast Asia and international markets is assessed. Countries analyzed include Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, and Malaysia. Results provide insights to potential higher global feed prices in the near future and constraints to expanding production. Global markets respond to higher feed prices through increased production and decreased demand. |
| Keywords: | Southeast Asia, food consumption, feed demand, poultry and pork livestock industry, trade, emerging markets, dynamic partial equilibrium simulation model, Demand and Price Analysis, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, International Relations/Trade, Livestock Production/Industries, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea12:124683&r=agr |
| By: | Dhanireddy, Pavan Kumar Reddy; George Frisvold |
| Abstract: | This research examined factors influencing farmer purchase of crop insurance and receipt of disaster assistance payments using survey data for more than 13,000 farms across 27 U.S. states. Using a bivariate probit model some main findings are as follows. The probability of participating in federal crop insurance programs is (a) lower for farmers more than 65 years of age; (b) increasing with farmer education and farm sales; (c) lower for farms where farm income is a small share of household income; and (d) higher in states with higher average temperatures and lower average precipitation. The probability of receiving disaster payments (a) increases as farms depend more on farm income for their total household income; (b)increases with sales in peanut farming and cattle ranching; (c) greater in states experiencing drier or wetter than normal hydrologic conditions; and (d) greater in states experiencing warmer than normal temperatures. In addition, previous research using state-level data found agricultural disaster payments were higher in states with congressional representation on subcommittees overseeing USDA’s direct disaster payment program. The farm-level analysis of this thesis supports this earlier finding. Farmers in states with such representation had higher probabilities of receiving disaster payments, controlling for other factors. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural Finance, Crop Production/Industries, Farm Management, Risk and Uncertainty, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea12:124720&r=agr |
| By: | Daigneault, Adam J.; Greenhalgh, Suzie; Samarasinghe, Oshadhi |
| Abstract: | Agricultural and forestry GHG emissions are a key feature of New Zealand’s emissions profile, and New Zealand is the only country, to date, to have indicated that agricultural and forestry emissions will be covered under their domestic climate policy – the New Zealand Emissions Trading Scheme. Coupled with climate policy development is the increasing scrutiny of agricultural impacts on water. This paper uses New Zealand Forest and Agriculture Regional Model (NZ-FARM) to assess the potential economic and environmental impacts of imposing both a climate and nutrient reduction policy on the agricultural and forestry industries in the Manawatu and Hurunui/Waiau catchments in New Zealand. We find that adding a scheme that reduces catchment-level nutrients by 20% on top of a national policy that puts a price of $25 per ton carbon dioxide equivalent on agricultural GHG emissions could result in greater environmental benefits at a relatively small cost, but the converse is not always true and could be significantly more costly for landowners. |
| Keywords: | Agriculture and forestry modelling, land use, climate policy, water quality, greenhouse gas emissions, nutrient leaching, Environmental Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2012–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aare12:124284&r=agr |
| By: | Marenya, Paswel Phiri; Smith, Vincent H.; Nkonya, Ephraim M. |
| Abstract: | Land degradation in most sub Saharan Africa is a widely recognized problem and is due in large part to poor land management practices. To address this problem, several policy-based incentives to increase the adoption of better land management practices have been proposed, including fertilizer subsidies, cash payments and, more recently, subsidized or commercially offered weather index-based insurance contracts. However, little is known about farmers’ preferences among these policy alternatives, their relative effectiveness, and their likely fiscal implications. Using survey and choice elicitation data from 271 farmers in Central Malawi, this study examines smallholder farmers’ preferences among four major policy options that provide incentives for adopting agroforestry based conservation practices. Our results suggest that even when the expected value of an ideal insurance contract which has no basis risk was 25 percent higher than the cash payment option, sixty percent of the sample preferred the cash payment. Further, the empirical results indicated that cash flow or liquidity constraints may limit farmers’ willingness to use crop insurance as a risk management tool. We conclude that the potential scope for increasing the use of improved land management techniques through fertilizer subsidies, or cash or insurance incentives payments may be substantial, although fertilizer subsidies and cash payments may be less costly approaches than subsidizing insurance contracts. |
| Keywords: | choice elicitation, cash transfer, fertilizer subisdy, incenitves, indemnity insurance, Malawi, Agricultural and Food Policy, International Development, Q12, Q24, |
| Date: | 2012–05–29 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea12:124010&r=agr |
| By: | Deepak, Shah |
| Abstract: | Although the global economic downturn has resulted in large-scale job losses and mass unemployment in many export-oriented sectors, the situation in food and agricultural sector has remained stable with little job losses. However, since agricultural sector in India has somewhat different entity, the impact of global crisis in this sector is seen to have percolated in varied forms. During the period of slowdown when there stood virtual ban on foodgrain exports, the raw sugar was subjected to zero import tariff, leading to widespread protest by the sugar industry. The “free” imports of raw sugar raised concerns regarding cultivation of sugarcane in the country. Adequate control obviously needs to be exercised on the domestic prices of all essential commodities of common consumption, including sugar. Interestingly, despite decline in income elasticity of demand for cereals in India, the low-income groups still show positive income elasticity of demand for cereals, indicating little tendency of decline in demand for cereals even if income falls marginally. This not only ensures higher demand for farm produce but also significantly high demand for labour in agriculture. However, the global economic recession has certainly compounded the problems of cash crop growers as the farmers producing cash crops saw lower prices on offer for their produce despite rise in food prices. Further, though prices of edible oil in India declined due to crash in world prices of oilseeds, the price of non-food primary products hardly changed. Nonetheless, the major cause of concern for the food sector of India is the 10 per cent rise in wholesale prices of cereals between December 2007 and December 2008 period as this has resulted in reduction in real income of all urban and rural household. Although government has resorted to initiate some measures to check prices, there still stand various other measures to be initiated to safeguard Indian economy from global economic slowdown. |
| Keywords: | Economic Crisis Agricultural Sector India |
| JEL: | Q18 |
| Date: | 2012–03–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:39298&r=agr |
| By: | Zhang, Wendong; Irwin, Elena G.; Nickerson, Cynthia J. |
| Abstract: | Selected Paper prepared for presentation at the Agricultural & Applied Economics Association's 2012 AAEA Annual Meeting, Seattle, Washington, August 12-14, 2012. This research was supported by a cooperative agreement with U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Economic Research Service. We thank Ryan Williams and Vince Breneman of ERS for support with the GIS data and variable generation. The views in this paper are attributable to the authors and not to USDA. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural land values, Ethanol, Propensity score matching (PSM), Difference-in-difference (DID) regression, Housing market bust, Structural change, Agricultural and Food Policy, Crop Production/Industries, Environmental Economics and Policy, Land Economics/Use, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, Q16, Q24, Q42, Q15, R14, C21, |
| Date: | 2012–06–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea12:124690&r=agr |
| By: | Yang, Xi; Paulson, Nick; Khanna, Madhu |
| Abstract: | There is growing interest in biomass from perennial grasses (e.g. switchgrass and miscanthus) for bioenergy production because of their high yields, their potential to be grown on low quality land with minimal competition with food crops and, and their ability to achieve significant reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions relative to fossil fuels and corn ethanol. In order to guarantee the steady supply of biomass feedstock for mandated biofuel production, a crucial question confronting the biorefinery and policy makers is how to coordinate a market for biomass production. This paper addresses this issue by analyzing the potential design of biomass production contracts between biomass growers and biorefineries to promote the development of the industry. We approach the issue from both the landowner and biorefinery perspectives. We analyze and examine how the optimal contract design depends on both the farmers’ and biorefinery’s characteristics. We also contribute to the existing literature examining the role of risks in contract design by how the risks from multiple sources interact and jointly determine the optimal contract terms. Our preliminary findings suggest that farmers’ land allocation decisions depend on the joint distribution of their individual land quality and risk preferences. For a given level of risk aversion, farmers with low land quality are more willing to sign contracts with biorefineries to produce bioenergy crops due to the low opportunity cost of foregoing row crop production. For a given land quality, the farmer’s choice of biomass contract design varies with their level of risk aversion. More risk averse farmers prefer the fixed lease design to avoid exposure to yield and price risk. As the level of risk aversion is reduced, preferences shift towards the fixed price and profit sharing contract designs since they can gain higher payoff in exchange for the higher risks they are bearing. For reasonable ranges of land quality levels and heterogeneity of risk aversion levels, the optimal solution for the biorefinery tends to include offering of multiple contract designs to producers in the region. The biorefinery can induce highest participation and obtain highest profit in a region with higher concentrations of low land quality. Furthermore, greater profits can be obtained by establishing a processing plant in an area where farmers have low risk aversion. |
| Keywords: | Contract Farming, Bioenergy Crops, Risk Preference, Crop Production/Industries, Land Economics/Use, Risk and Uncertainty, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea12:124699&r=agr |
| By: | Capitani, Daniel H. D.; Mattos, Fabio |
| Keywords: | Food Security and Poverty, International Relations/Trade, Risk and Uncertainty, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea12:124761&r=agr |
| By: | Mukherjee, Monobina; Schwabe, Kurt A. |
| Abstract: | Increasing aridity, more frequent and intense drought, and greater degrees of water scarcity create unique challenges for agriculture. In response to these challenges, which often manifest themselves in the form of lower and more variable surface water supplies as well as depleted and degraded ground water supplies, growers are apt to seek out opportunities to adapt. One option confronting growers to reduce their exposure to water scarcity and heightened uncertainty is to diversify. Indeed, having access to a portfolio of supplies is one way in which water and irrigation districts as well as individual growers are responding to the changing landscape of water resource availability. The objective of this paper is to evaluate the benefits to irrigated agriculture from having access to multiple water supply sources, i.e., a water portfolio. With farm-level information on approximately 2000 agricultural parcels across California, we use the hedonic property value method to investigate the extent growers’ benefit from having access to multiple sources of water (i.e., a water portfolio). Our results suggest that while lower quality waters, less reliable water, and less water all negatively impact agricultural land values, holding a water portfolio has a positive impact on land values through its role in mitigating the negative aspects of these factors and reducing the sensitivity of agriculture to climate-related factors. From a policy perspective, such results identify a valuable adaptation tool that water and irrigation districts may consider to help offset the negative impacts of climate change, drought, and population increases on water supply availability and reliability. |
| Keywords: | Non-market Valuation, Hedonics, Multiple Water Supply Sources, Water Districts, Groundwater, Spatial Econometrics, Agricultural and Food Policy, Environmental Economics and Policy, Q51, Q15, Q18, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea12:124604&r=agr |
| By: | Raghav Gaiha (Department of Urban Studies and Planning, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA); Nidhi Kaicker (School of Business, Public Policy and Social Entrepreneurship, Ambedkar University, Delhi, India); Katsushi S. Imai (Economics, School of Social Sciences, University of Manchester (UK) and RIEB, Kobe University (Japan)); Ganesh Thapa (International Fund for Agricultural Development, Rome, Italy) |
| Abstract: | Our analysis illustrates one pathway between agriculture and nutrition through production of nutrients by crop and size as well as through livestock. As this pathway is subsumed in agriculture and nutrition studies focusing on anthropometric outcomes, and hardly any light is thrown on the contribution of smallholders, it is emphasised that they play an important role as producers of nutrients. Specifically, despite various disadvantages (e.g. inadequate access to extension, technology, credit and markets), they contribute largest shares of calories, protein and fats. However, profits earned (using an approximate measure) are considerably lower among them than among medium and large landholders. At least two reasons are identified in our analysis: one is limited access to markets and another is lower crop prices. A much greater emphasis on enabling higher investment, access to technology and markets through better rural infrastructure would help increase profitability of crop production. Equally important are market imperfections that manifest in lower crop prices for smallholders. How economies of scale could be exploited through farmers' groups needs careful scrutiny. |
| Keywords: | Agriculture, Food crops, Livestock, Smallholders, Calorie, Protein and fat |
| JEL: | I15 Q18 N35 |
| Date: | 2012–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:kob:dpaper:dp2012-16&r=agr |
| By: | Uregia, Nigussie Tefera; Desta, Mulat Demeke; Rashid, Shahidur |
| Abstract: | Ethiopia has experienced high food prices since early 2004. This paper examines the welfare impacts of rising food prices in rural Ethiopia using Quadratic Almost Ideal Demand System (QUAIDS) approach controlled for expenditure endogeniety and zero consumption expenditure. The elasticity coefficients from QUAIDS are used to estimate Compensated Variations (CV), which explicitly accounts for profit function and substitution effects. The study uses Ethiopia Rural Household Survey (ERHS) panel data in four waves encompassing both low and high price periods. The results have shown high food prices in recent years (between 2004 and 2009) increased welfare gain of rural households by about 10.5 percent on aggregate, as compared to less than 1 percent for the reference period (between 1994 and 2004). The welfare gains further improved to 18 percent (high price periods) with substitution effects, compared to 7.2 percent (low price periods). The welfare gains at aggregate level may not be equally distributed among rural households as about 37-46 percent of the sample households were net-cereal buyers (major staple crops) over the survey periods. However, the analysis has revealed high food price benefits not only net-cereal sellers but also autarkic and net-cereal buyers. The autarkic and net-cereal buyers could diversify income sources and benefits from high prices of other commodities such as such as pluses, fruits & vegetables, animal and animal products. They could also diversify to off-farm activities as average income from wage and transfer has indeed increased in 2009. Only poor families with limited farm and non-farm income need to be supported with safety net programs (both input and consumption support). It should be noted that, in the long-run, high prices could encourage net-sellers to invest and increase production which will eventually lead to lower food prices, which in turn benefit net-buyers. Meanwhile, many current net buyers could become net-sellers if grain prices are stable and favourable and if productive inputs are made available and affordable. |
| Keywords: | welfare, rising food prices, panel data, rural Ethiopia, Demand and Price Analysis, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Food Security and Poverty, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae12:124861&r=agr |
| By: | Lee, Jaehyuk; Nadolnyak, Denis |
| Abstract: | Global warming has been an issue lately in many aspects because it has been in increasing trend since 1980s. This paper estimates the climate change effects on U.S. agriculture using the pooled cross-section farm profit model. The data are mainly based on the annual Agricultural Resource Management Survey (ARMS) from USDA for the time period between 2000 and 2009 in the 48 contiguous States. For climate measure, growing season drought indices (the Palmer Drought Severity Index (PDSI) and Crop Moisture Index (CMI)) are applied to the analysis and both indices have a negative relationship with temperature. The estimates indicate that one unit increase in PDSI (CMI) leads to 5.5% (13.9%), 4% (9%), and 5% (14%) increase in farm profits for all farms, crop farms, and livestock farms. This paper provides several contributions to the literature. First, the data set is very rare and unique national survey that provides an individual farm level observation. Therefore, it gives more detailed farm structure and financial information for the analysis compared to other studies. Second, drought indices (PDSI and CMI) are used for estimating the impact of weather on farm profits while temperature, precipitation, and growing degree-days are typical weather variables in literatures. |
| Keywords: | Climate change, Farm profits, Drought Index, the Palmer Drought Severity Index (PDSI), Crop Moisture Index (CMI), Environmental Economics and Policy, Q54, D24, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea12:124801&r=agr |
| By: | Ricker-Gilbert, Jacob; Jones, Michael |
| Abstract: | To date there is limited knowledge on the role that post-harvest storage protectants, chemical or otherwise, play in a smallholder farmer’s decision to adopt of high-yielding improved maize varieties. This is a key issue because higher yielding varieties are often more susceptible to storage pests than lower yielding traditional varieties. We present novel evidence from Malawi which shows that access to storage chemicals has a positive and significant effect on both farmer adoption of improved seed and the area that households plant to improved maize. Results have important implications for input support programs because failing to account for small holder storage challenges may reduce a farmer’s incentive to adopt modern seed varieties that can enhance staple crop production and food security. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Crop Production/Industries, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea12:124658&r=agr |
| By: | Boussios, David; Barkley, Andrew P. |
| Abstract: | This research identifies and quantifies the impact of biophysical and economic variables on Kansas grain supply for the period 1977- 2007. This research estimates total supply response by aggregating yield and acreage responses. Previous methods have effectively analyzed the response of crop supply through either acreage or yield responses. However, the method proposed in this research incorporates both yield and acreage response to various production variables through recursive modeling. The results include the negative impact of acreage expansion on aggregate yields and thus the impact on total supply. The results also show that previous methods underestimate supply response elasticities by as much as 97%. Furthermore, this research estimates supply response to estimated changes in climate temperatures and precipitation. Results show the importance of incorporating both responses in estimating supply as acreage and yields are constantly changing, sometimes in contradictory ways. This research extends previous research on producer price expectations. The results show strong statistical significance of both futures and basis prices affecting total supply, which indicates both prices are instrumental in estimating expectations. Understanding these results is important given the volatility in current agricultural commodity markets. |
| Keywords: | Yield, Acreage, Supply, Grain, Extensive Margin, Producer Expectations, Climate, Weather, Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Crop Production/Industries, Environmental Economics and Policy, Land Economics/Use, Production Economics, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2012–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea12:124385&r=agr |
| By: | Severini, Simone; Tantari, A. |
| Abstract: | Farm direct payments (DPs) have been the main instrument of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) to support farm income in the EU. After the decoupling of DPs from production levels, the distributional objectives are among the major justifications of DPs. This paper addresses their role in the distribution of farm inc come among farmers. The analysis accounts direct payments granted in the context of the market and income supp port policies and of rural development policies. Using the Gini coefficient and its d disaggregation, this study investigates the impact of b both kinds of payments on farm income inequality among a large sample of farms in Italy. The analysis is developed a at a national level but also considering the three main regions of Italy and three types of farming. DPs are very concentrated but reduce fa arm income inequality. Therefore, their reduction should result in an increase of farm income concentration particularly y in some of the considered types of farming. Results suggest that the CAP reform has decreased the role DPs have played in reducing farm income inequality. This is not just because of a change in their relative importance, but especially because of changes in the patterns of their distribution. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aieacp:124099&r=agr |
| By: | Plesha, Nataliya; Ray, Subhash C.; Nehring, Richard F.; Ball, Eldon |
| Abstract: | Productive utilization of resources has enabled American agriculture to supply the nation with vast quantities of food at a high level of efficiency. However, the USDA shows that 2011 pesticide expenses increased by about $100 million resulting from a slight increase of planted acres and a one-percent rise in prices paid. Some believe that increased food and fiber production has come at a cost to environmental quality. Modern pest management utilizes a wider range of appropriate pest management options despite the diversity of chemical use in agriculture. In fact, modern agriculture may suffer significant economic losses in yield and quality without intensive use of pesticides and other chemicals. This paper presents findings on the efficiency score measures with undesirable or bad outputs and the offending bad input (i.e., pesticides and fertilizers) for twelve key corn producing states, twelve key cotton producing states, and fifteen key soybean producing states using a unique panel of state-level data set for 1960-1997. Our preliminary findings indicate that the efficiency scores for corn, cotton, and soybean producing states are consistent with the pesticide risk indicators for protection of drinking water patterns discussed in Kellogg et al, 2002. In general, there is more room for reducing the bad output along with the polluting input (e.g., pesticide and fertilizer) than for expanding the good outputs (e.g., crops, livestock, and farm related output) in the major corn and soybean producing states. Only half of the 12 cotton producing states were found to be efficient over the entire period. Our findings using the updated, revised and extended through 1997 USDA data on “goods” and “bads” differ from the previous results reported in Harper et al. “New Developments in Productivity Analysis” (2001) due to the different approach (i.e., measured efficiency scores) used in this study. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural productivity, Good Outputs, Undesirable or bad outputs, Data envelopment analysis, Environmental Economics and Policy, Production Economics, Productivity Analysis, Q18, Q10, Q50, D24, |
| Date: | 2012–06–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea12:124585&r=agr |
| By: | Key, Nigel D.; McBride, William D. |
| Abstract: | Antimicrobial drugs are frequently fed to hogs at sub-therapeutic levels to promote feed efficiency and growth. However, in response to concerns that sub-therapeutic antibiotics (STAs) are promoting the development of antimicrobial drug-resistant bacteria, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently adopted a strategy to phase out antibiotics for such “production uses.” This study uses a stochastic frontier model to estimate the costs to U.S. hog producers of a ban on STAs for growth promotion. To address potential sample selection issues, we employ a recently developed empirical approach that corrects for biases from both observed and unobserved variables. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Agricultural Finance, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Health Economics and Policy, Livestock Production/Industries, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea12:124725&r=agr |
| By: | Dimitri, Carolyn; Geoghegan, Jacqueline; Hansen, Laura |
| Keywords: | Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaeafe:123979&r=agr |
| By: | Adu-Nyako, Kofi; Okafor, Ralph |
| Keywords: | Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaeafe:123981&r=agr |
| By: | Keske, Catherine M.; Brandess, Andrew; Hoag, Dana L.; Pearson, Calvin |
| Abstract: | As is the case with most rural agricultural communities, western Colorado is dependent on fossil fuels transported from distant sources. This results in vulnerability to fuel supply disruptions and price shocks (Ederington et al., 2011; Yu, Wang, and Lai, 2008). A predictable and locally derived fuel source may provide stability to the agricultural production supply chain as well as to local commerce (Tareen, Wetzstein, and Duffield , 2000; Western Organization of Research Counsels, 2009). This research project evaluates the economic feasibility of bio-butanol as a locally grown biofuel in western Colorado as a means to encourage farm-level and regional energy sovereignty. |
| Keywords: | Biobutanol, Biofuels, Marginal Lands, Western Colorado, Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, |
| Date: | 2012–05–29 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea12:124047&r=agr |
| By: | Bimbo, Francesco; Bonanno, Alessandro; Nardone, Gianluca |
| Keywords: | Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaeafe:123978&r=agr |
| By: | Hogan, John J.; Berning, Joshua P. |
| Abstract: | As food insecurity and obesity become more severe, researchers and policy makers have increased their efforts to understand the causes of these problems. The purpose of this paper is to examine what effect education has on household expenditure for healthful foods, especially among the food insecure. Using the 2009 Consumer Expenditure Survey, we estimate a two step model that addresses endogenous selection into different levels of education. We find that investments made in education can increase expenditure on fresh fruits and vegetables among food insecure households. Therefore policies that increase educational programs in conjunction with food assistance programs could reduce both food insecurity and obesity levels. |
| Keywords: | Food Insecurity, Education, Healthful Food Choices, Agricultural and Food Policy, Consumer/Household Economics, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Food Security and Poverty, Health Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2012–06–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea12:124595&r=agr |
| By: | Kropp, Jaclyn D.; Peckham, Janet G. |
| Abstract: | Prices for prime farmland have increased significantly in recent years. But, is the dramatic increase the result of a speculative bubble or is it consistent with market fundamentals with increases driven by growing global demand and recent changes to U.S. agricultural and energy policies? This research investigates the impacts of recent agricultural support policies and ethanol policies on farmland values and rental rates. Using weighted ordinary least squares and two stage least squares, we find that government payments, urban pressure and the proximity of the farm to an ethanol facility have a positive impact on both farmland values and rental rates. |
| Keywords: | capitalization, decoupled payments, ethanol, farmland values, rental rates, subsidies, Agricultural and Food Policy, Agricultural Finance, Land Economics/Use, Q18, Q15, Q16, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea12:124579&r=agr |
| By: | Olen, Beau; Wu, JunJie; Langpap, Christian |
| Abstract: | The prospect of climate change has aroused growing interest in the influence of climate and water scarcity on agricultural production. Many studies continue to aggregate disparate crops when modeling irrigation choices. That approach confounds the crop-specific effects of climate and water scarcity that govern irrigation choices. This paper addresses the impact of climate and water scarcity on irrigation choices through models of land proportion irrigated (PI), and crop-specific models of irrigation technology choice (TC) and water application rates (AR). This approach is applied to major crops on the West Coast. Understanding how climate and water scarcity affect crop-specific irrigation choices informs water policy and provides valuable information about how western farmers would respond and adapt to future climate change. |
| Keywords: | crop-specific modeling, irrigation choices, climate, water scarcity, asset heterogeneity, Crop Production/Industries, Environmental Economics and Policy, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea12:124843&r=agr |
| By: | Ladislav Krištoufek (Institute of Economic Studies, Faculty of Social Sciences, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic); Karel Janda (Institute of Economic Studies, Faculty of Social Sciences, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic); David Zilberman (University of California in Berkeley) |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we analyze the relationships between the prices of biodiesel, ethanol and related fuels and agricultural commodities with a use of minimal spanning trees and hierarchical trees. We find that in short-term, both ethanol and biodiesel are very weakly connected with the other commodities. In medium-term, the biofuels network becomes more structured. The system splits into two well separated branches -- a fuels part and a food part. Biodiesel tends to the fuels branch and ethanol to the food branch. When the periods before and after the food crisis of 2007/2008 are compared, the connections are much stronger for the post-crisis period. This is the first application of this methodology on the biofuels systems. |
| Keywords: | biofuels, networks, minimal spanning tree, hierarchical tree |
| JEL: | C38 Q16 Q42 |
| Date: | 2012–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fau:wpaper:wp2012_15&r=agr |
| By: | Branca, Giacomo; Lipper, Leslie; Sorrentino, Alessandro |
| Abstract: | Agriculture in Africa requires substantial investments, public and private, to increase agriculture productivity and achieve food security. Climate-smart agriculture options showing a win-win potential between food security and climate change adaptation on one side, and mitigation on the other side would enhance the capacity of the agriculture sector to sustainably support food security, incorporating the need for adaptation and the potential for mitigation into development strategies. The paper discusses a three-phase methodology to analyze the national agriculture investment plans with reference to climate change mitigation, through a combination of biological and economic modeling. Agriculture investments which can deliver food security and adaptation benefits are tested for their mitigation potential through a rapid screening methodology aimed at verifying the potential increase in Carbon sequestration and reduction in greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions. The mitigation benefits are estimated using the Ex-ante Carbon balance Tool (Ex-act) which can estimate the impact on GHG emissions and carbon sequestration of different land use and change scenarios. Last, Marginal abatement cost (MAC) curves are built in order to identify the least cost options. MAC curves show the order in which measures can be implemented and the relative cost of mitigation measures. Malawi case study is used as empirical application of the proposed methodology. |
| Keywords: | food security, adaptation, mitigation, benefit-cost analysis, externalities, Environmental Economics and Policy, D61, D62, H54, O13, Q55, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aieacp:124109&r=agr |
| By: | Ozaki, Vitor A.; Campos, Rogério C. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural Finance, Crop Production/Industries, Risk and Uncertainty, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea12:124753&r=agr |
| By: | Yang, Juan; Leatham, David J. |
| Abstract: | In this paper we examine price transmission for major agriculture (food) and energy products in China for the years 2004 to 2010. The Error correction model (ECM) and the directed acyclic graphs (DAG) are applied to identify price dynamics among these six variables: rice, wheat, corn, coal, crude oil and ethanol. Our major contribution to the existing literature lies in two perspectives: 1) We firstly employ the error correction model with directed acyclic graphs to study the price dynamics in the food-energy sector in China. The advantage of this approach is that it can offer data-determined (as opposed to a subjectively-determined) pattern for the contemporaneous causal flows which are then used to conduct a more reliable innovation accounting analysis of the ECM shocks. 2) We uncover a recent price transmission among major food-energy markets in China and provide a broad understanding of price adjustments across markets. The result indicates that in the short run, crop price is driving the energy price, while in the long run, crude oil is the leading factor that drives food and other energy prices. We also find that ethanol price is neither in the long-run equilibrium nor responding to deviation from long-run equilibrium. It supports that under the current policy, Chinese government has done well to prevent the ethanol price driving up the food price. The biofuel production is not the cause of rising food price in China. |
| Keywords: | energy, food, biofuel, ethanol, error correction model, direct acyclic graph, Agricultural and Food Policy, Demand and Price Analysis, Environmental Economics and Policy, Food Security and Poverty, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea12:124631&r=agr |
| By: | Babili, Mahmoud; Sleman, Amer; Farfour, Somar |
| Abstract: | This study sets several possible scenarios for Syria's accession to the WTO, and evaluates the impacts of each of them on the farming sector in Syria, focusing on agricultural trade in particular. |
| Keywords: | Syria, agricultural trade, WTO, Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Agricultural Finance, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Food Security and Poverty, Institutional and Behavioral Economics, International Relations/Trade, |
| Date: | 2012–05–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:napcwp:125176&r=agr |
| By: | Browne, Natalie; Kingwell, Ross S.; Behrendt, Ralph; Eckard, Richard |
| Abstract: | Dryland farming is commonplace in Australia so the profitability of dryland farms often depends on the amount and timing of rainfall. With drier weather conditions featuring in climate change projections for southern Australia, it is important to understand the relationships between rainfall, commodity prices and farm profitability. Using correlated farm commodity and input prices from the past nine years, farm profitability was calculated for a range of farm types in southwest Victoria under low, average and high rainfall scenarios. Fourteen representative farms were examined that included production of Merino fine wool, prime lamb, beef cattle, milk, wheat and canola. This paper compares and contrasts the spread of profitability of these farms against the backdrop of price variability and rainfall scenarios. Inferences about the resilience to climate and price volatility of the different farm types are made. The type of metric used to describe profitability is shown to importantly affect the nature of inferences to be drawn through the comparison of farms. |
| Keywords: | dryland farming, farm enterprises, climate change, price variability, Crop Production/Industries, Environmental Economics and Policy, Livestock Production/Industries, |
| Date: | 2012–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aare12:124249&r=agr |
| By: | Lybbert, Travis J.; Foltz, Jeremy D. |
| Abstract: | The potential of agricultural biotechnology to produce seed traits that reduce yield risk generates widespread excitement. Hopes are high that in an era of tightening water constraints and climate change drought tolerant (DT) crop varieties will stabilize food production and allow for greater adaptation to changing production conditions. Although the DT agenda has united the public and private agricultural research system around concerns that seem to span rich and poor countries alike, the underlying crop-drought relationships differ substantially over space. We devise a methodology for characterizing these spatial differences in ‘optimal drought severity’ across two locations in Africa (Ethiopia and Mali) and one in the U.S. (Wisconsin) and analyze these differences to infer implications for the diffusion and impact of DT crop varieties. Drought-conditioned yield distributions for non-DT maize provide the benchmark against which we assess relative DT benefits in each setting. We construct a distribution of expected relative DT benefits as the product of the site-specific relative DT benefits distribution by rainfall and the site-specific rainfall distribution. We discuss how spatial differences in these expected relative DT benefit distributions may affect farmer decision making and welfare as well as agricultural adaptation to climate change. |
| Keywords: | Food Security and Poverty, International Relations/Trade, Production Economics, Productivity Analysis, |
| Date: | 2012–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea12:124794&r=agr |
| By: | Rao, Xudong; Hurley, Terrance M.; Pardey, Philip G. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Food Security and Poverty, International Development, Productivity Analysis, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea12:124581&r=agr |
| By: | Effland, Anne; Arriola, Christine |
| Abstract: | The 2008 Farm Act introduced a wholly new type of commodity program intended to protect producers against price and yield variability through a market-oriented revenue guarantee. Expectations were high in 2009 that many producers would choose the new Alternative Crop Revenue Election (ACRE) program, but that did not happen. We analyze this unexpected outcome by using newly available farm-level administrative data to examine a range of characteristics of individual farms and multi-farm operations that enrolled and did not enroll in ACRE. We both confirm some previous survey and county-level findings and identify some additional characteristics associated with the decision. Using a logit model, we examine the probability that non-enrollment might be linked to the number of stakeholders on a farm, since enrollment required unanimous agreement. Unexpectedly, we find that the number of signatories on a base contract did not seem to affect the ACRE decision; if anything, there was a very slight probability that increasing the number of signatories might positively affect the ACRE decision. We also find that on multi-farm operations with some ACRE enrollment, those farms not enrolled in ACRE are distinctly different from the ACRE-enrolled farms and average farms in their regions, a finding we believe warrants additional investigation. |
| Keywords: | commodity policy, Direct and Countercyclical Program (DCP), Average Crop Revenue Election (ACRE) program, Farm Services Administration (FSA), regional farm program participation, Agricultural and Food Policy, Risk and Uncertainty, |
| Date: | 2012–06–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea12:124626&r=agr |
| By: | Kung, James; Shimokawa, Satoru |
| Abstract: | Based on a unique farm survey, this article intends to shed new light on the intriguing relationship between administrative land reallocations and the development of land rental markets in China. We find that the two alternative mechanisms of allocating arable land tend to be substitutes where land is reallocated “partially” only among households affected by demographic change (PLR). Where village-wide or “full-scale” reallocations (FSLR) are conducted among all households, however, land rental market transactions have increased in response to the enlarging mismatch in labor-land ratios across households; transactions that would not have occurred otherwise. While inefficient in the short-run, FSLR potentially facilitates the development of land rental markets as it unwittingly brings together parties with a mere arms-length relationship (e.g., non-relatives) to contract with each other, in light of the finding that households affected by PLR tend to lease land primarily to/from their own relatives or through the village authorities. |
| Keywords: | Land reallocations, Passive Land rental, Rural, China, Agricultural and Food Policy, Land Economics/Use, O12, Q12, Q15, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae12:125099&r=agr |
| By: | Brown, James; Bekkerman, Anton; Atwood, Joseph A.; Watts, Myles J. |
| Abstract: | In the late 2000s, corn prices rose rapidly and were closely followed by prices of other major agricultural commodities. A widespread explanation for these market changes is an increased demand for corn in the production of ethanol, prompted by the introduction of programs intended to encourage biofuels production in the United States. In response to political pressures, the U.S. Congress considered amending three ethanol policies. It is likely that the interaction among the three policies can exacerbate these distortions. This study seeks to model the effects of simultaneous policy changes on multiple sectors of the blended gasoline marketing channel. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea12:124177&r=agr |
| By: | Röder, Norbert; Osterburg, Bernhard |
| Abstract: | Roughly 4.9% of the German utilized agricultural area is located on organic soils (fens and bogs). Nevertheless, the drainage of these areas in order to allow their agricultural utilization causes roughly a third of the greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) of the German agricultural sector, being equivalent to 2.3% of the total German GHG emissions. Obviously, German policies trying to reduce the GHG emissions successfully must tackle this issue. The abandonment of the cultivation of organic soils would be an effective policy to reduce the GHG emissions however the question remains whether it is an efficient measure compared with the other options? In the paper we assess the mitigation costs on the basis of the standard gross margin and tenure of the agriculturally used peatlands and with the sector model RAUMIS. Without engineering and transaction costs the mitigation costs are below 50 € per Mg CO2eq. This makes rewetting of peatlands at least in the medium and long run a fairly efficient options for reducing GHG emissions, especially as the implications on the sector due to reallocation affects are fairly small. |
| Keywords: | GHG-Mitigation, Landuse, peatland, Agricultural and Food Policy, Environmental Economics and Policy, Land Economics/Use, Q24, Q54, Q57, Q58, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae12:125134&r=agr |
| By: | Chakravorty, Ujjayant (University of Alberta, Department of Economics); Hubert, Marie-Helene (Economics and Management Research Centre); Nostbakken, Linda (University of Alberta School of Business) |
| Abstract: | More than 40% of US grain is now used to produce biofuels, which are used as substitutes for gasoline in transportation. Biofuels have been blamed universally for recent increases in world food prices. Many studies have shown that these energy mandates in the US and EU may have a large (30-60%) impact on food prices. In this paper we show that demand-side effects - in the form of population growth and income-driven preferences for meat and dairy products rather than cereals - may play as much of a role in raising food prices as biofuel policy. By specifying a Ricardian model with differential land quality, we show that a significant amount of new land will be converted to farming which is likely to cause a modest increase in food prices. However, biofuels may increase aggregate world carbon emissions, due to leakage from lower oil prices and conversion of pasture and forest land for farming. |
| Keywords: | clean energy; food demand; land quality; renewable fuel standards; transportation |
| JEL: | Q24 Q32 Q42 |
| Date: | 2012–05–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:albaec:2012_011&r=agr |
| By: | Pozo, Veronica F.; Schroeder, Ted C. |
| Keywords: | Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Health Economics and Policy, Livestock Production/Industries, Productivity Analysis, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea12:124798&r=agr |
| By: | Allen, Shannon; Goddard, Ellen W.; Farmer, Anna |
| Keywords: | Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaeafe:123982&r=agr |
| By: | Saenger, Christoph; Torero, Maximo; Qaim, Matin |
| Abstract: | Asymmetry of information is a fundamental problem in agricultural markets. Production contracts remain incomplete if product quality attributes measured by the buying company remain unobservable for the selling farmer. Opportunistic buyers would report lower than actual output quality, negatively affecting farmers’ compensation given it is directly linked to quality. When farmers factor in the buyer’s opportunistic behavior, underinvestment may occur, negatively affecting farm productivity. Using the example of the Vietnamese dairy industry, a field experiment is conducted in which randomly selected dairy farmers are entitled to independently verify milk testing results. Farm-level output data are complemented with household information from two rounds of comprehensive surveys conducted before and at the end of the intervention. We find a 10 percent higher use of inputs for treatment farmers, also resulting in significantly higher dairy output; welfare levels increase for a specific subgroup of farmers. As the buying company had not underreported output quality despite the existing information asymmetry, third-party enforcement enabled the company to credibly signal its fair type to farmers, leading to a Pareto improvement in the supply chain. While producers benefit directly from higher farm productivity, buying companies are better off due to lower per-unit transaction costs when procuring the farm output. |
| Keywords: | contract farming, dairy, Vietnam, field experiment, RCT, information asymmetry, developing country, smallholder, Agribusiness, Institutional and Behavioral Economics, International Development, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea12:124628&r=agr |
| By: | Smith, Trenton G.; Tasnádi, Attila |
| Keywords: | food demand, search theory, obfuscation, Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Consumer/Household Economics, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Health Economics and Policy, Industrial Organization, Marketing, Political Economy, Public Economics, Risk and Uncertainty, D18, D83, N31, N32, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea12:125103&r=agr |
| By: | Laukkanen, Marita; Nauges, Celine |
| Keywords: | Common Agricultural Policy, agri‐environmental regulation, nutrient loading, panel data, Finland, Environmental Economics and Policy, Farm Management, |
| Date: | 2012–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aare12:124347&r=agr |
| By: | Moon, Jin-Young; Apland, Jeffrey; Folle, Solomon; Mulla, David |
| Abstract: | The emergence of markets for cellulosic biofuel feedstocks may lead to substantive tradeoffs between economic and environmental goals in agricultural regions, and will raise environmental and energy policy concerns. This paper examines the potential tradeoffs between cellulosic feedstock production and water quality and analyzes policy options to address those tradeoffs for a northern corn-belt watershed. Policy alternatives considered include restrictions on total nitrate-N load in the watershed and production subsidies for switchgrass - an energy crop with potential environmental benefits. Restricting nitrate-N loads increases the cost of cellulosic feedstock supply and in some circumstances makes switchgrass production an economical alternative. Switchgrass production subsidies, if sufficiently high can increase feedstock supply while reducing or eliminating the negative effects of feedstock production on water quality. |
| Keywords: | Crop Production/Industries, Environmental Economics and Policy, Land Economics/Use, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea12:125016&r=agr |
| By: | Adu-Nyako, Kofi; Okafor, Ralph |
| Keywords: | Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaeafe:123987&r=agr |
| By: | Richards, Timothy J.; Mancino, Lisa |
| Keywords: | Demand and Price Analysis, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea12:125085&r=agr |
| By: | Monjardino, M.; McBeath, T.; Brennan, Lisa E.; Llewellyn, R. |
| Abstract: | Cropping in low-rainfall regions can be risky business. Farms are often characterized by high climatic and spatial variability, while input prices, particularly nitrogen (N) fertilisers, are rising steadily relative to grain prices. Consequently, in anticipation of having a poor season, farmers minimize downside-risk, which is perceived as far more likely than upside gain in such risky environments, by applying fixed low rates of N to their cereal crops. However, farmers might benefit from using higher fertiliser rates and adjusting the rate of N fertiliser applied during the growing season, because if seasons are favourable the crop demands more nutrients. Using a combination of crop simulation, probability theory, profit function and finance techniques to quantify the trade-offs between magnitude and variability in net returns, we found that the use of higher N rates (relative to the region’s average) can reduce risk in a highly variable dryland environment like the Mallee region in south-eastern Australia. Overall, typically risk-averse Mallee farmers with low starting N seem likely to benefit from increasing their N rates to up to 60 kg N ha-1 from the 15 kg N ha-1 currently applied, with less risk-averse farmers being likely do this by adopting a more tactical approach to N fertilisation. |
| Keywords: | nitrogen fertilization, risk, crop simulation, economic net returns, decision analysis, Mallee, Agricultural and Food Policy, Farm Management, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae12:124976&r=agr |
| By: | Stott, Kerry; Doole, Graeme J.; Vigiak, Olga; Kumaran, Thabo; Roberts, Anna M. |
| Abstract: | Ambitious nutrient reduction targets have been set for the Gippsland Lakes, Victoria but at what cost to productive agriculture? An interdisciplinary approach is addressing this question for the Moe River catchment, a dairy-dominated catchment that is a major source of pollutants to the Gippsland Lakes. Off-farm nitrogen exports are being estimated by biophysical modellers, and economists are quantifying the impact of farming systems and agricultural practices on farm profitability. This information is assembled to form the interim profit-pollution frontier for nitrogen reported in this paper, and to calculate abatement costs. Phosphorus and sediment exports will be considered in future work. This information is intended for use in a landscape-optimisation model that highlights how land uses can best be spatially allocated in the catchment to meet end-of-valley pollution targets at least cost. |
| Keywords: | nutrient management, profit-pollution frontiers, abatement costs., Farm Management, |
| Date: | 2012–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aare12:124454&r=agr |
| By: | Godo, Yoshihisa |
| Abstract: | Until 2009, Japan’s attitude towards domestic agricultural policy reforms had been one of compliance with the guidelines provided by the WTO, which requests that member countries reduce their aggregate measures of support by trimming trade-distorting (amber box) support and/or transforming traditional agricultural subsidies to decoupled ones. However, in 2010, Japan repealed the 2007 reforms and implemented a new direct payment program called the Income Compensation Program, which has led to obvious trade-distorting effects. The present paper provides a comprehensive picture of how and why Japanese agricultural policy has changed in recent decades. |
| Keywords: | Aggregate Measures of Support (AMS), Overall Trade-distorting Domestic Supports (OTDS), Doha draft modalities, political dynamics, farming community, Agricultural and Food Policy, International Relations/Trade, Land Economics/Use, Q15, Q17, Q18, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae12:125102&r=agr |
| By: | Tran, A. Nam; Welch, Jarrod R.; Lobell, David; Roberts, Michael J.; Schlenker, Wolfram |
| Abstract: | Mounting evidence indicates climate change will adversely influence agricultural crop yields and cause greater year-to-year variability. This paper considers how a rational, forward-looking and competitive commodity market would account for these anticipated changes and thereby influence time path of storage, prices, price volatility, and social welfare. We forecast 1600 hypothetical yield paths from 2000 to 2080 using estimates from a recent global statistical analysis of weather and crop yields combined with projections from 16 climate models. We then extend the dynamic competitive storage model to account for land response to price and anticipated yield shift. We simulate 1600 stochastic-equilibrium price paths under climate change relative to a baseline of stable prices using our hypothetical yield paths together with estimated demand and supply elasticities and storage cost from the literature. Our results indicate that, under the impact of climate change, world crop price level will increase twofold and world crop price volatility will increase vefold between 2000 and 2080. Welfare analysis suggests that by 2020, the world would have welfare loss equivalent to food for 180 to 200 million people annually. |
| Keywords: | Crop Production/Industries, Demand and Price Analysis, Environmental Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea12:124827&r=agr |
| By: | Rodrigo, Maria F. |
| Keywords: | Poverty trap, Cooperatives, Agricultural and Food Policy, Community/Rural/Urban Development, International Development, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea12:124388&r=agr |
| By: | Kirby, Mac; Connor, Jeffery D.; Bark, Rosalind H.; Qureshi, Ejaz; Keyworth, Scott |
| Abstract: | The recent drought saw the lowest inflows on record in the Murray-Darling Basin in 2006. Water use by irrigation in 2007-8 and 2008-9 was about one third that of pre-drought levels. Understanding how irrigation adapted to less water is key both to provide information to help plan for the future and data for model calibration. Complicating this objective was the concurrent international food price crisis of 2008 and an increase in water trading in the basin. This presents a challenge in unpacking the effects of commodity price changes, input substitution, productivity gains and water trading from the effect of reduced water availability. In this paper we seek Our objective is to unpack the various effects. We used publicly available price and production data to calculate a price index and adjust gross value data in actual dollars using this index; some price and volume data are not available, so the adjustment is approximate for total irrigation. We calculated productivity both in terms of output volumes per unit of water and in terms of adjusted gross value per unit of water. In 2007-8 and 2008-9, overall water use in irrigation was down to about 31 % and 33 % respectively of the 2000-01 value. In 2008-9, the gross value of irrigated agricultural production was down to 86 % in unadjusted terms, but 80 % in commodity price adjusted terms. The gross value (adjusted) per unit of water more than doubled (at 241 %). The aggregated data obscure the variation of water use in different industries. Water use by cereals, grapes and fruit and nuts changed little. Rice, cotton, meat (pasture) and dairy all reduced their water use substantially (to as little as 1 % of the 2000-1 value in the case of rice in 2007-8). Dairy, cereals, rice and meat all experienced significant price rises in 2007-8, whereas prices of cotton and grapes fell. In cereals, the higher prices and the modest change to water use resulted in a large increase (to 187 %) in gross value; some of this was due to higher prices, the remainder to productivity gains. Cereal production increased in the north of the MDB and fell in the south; we speculate that cotton growers swapped to winter cereals, whereas rice growers did not. For rice, which is a high water use crop, the price rise was insufficient to outweigh the decline in water availability, and production fell. All industries show increases in productivity by value or by volume per unit of water. The greatest increase was in dairy: dairy farmers adapted to water scarcity and high water prices by substituting bought-in feed for irrigated pasture. Water trading increased after 2006; importantly, inter-regional trade increased greatly, from a few tens of gigalitres (GL) per year before 2006 to more than 500 GL/yr in 2008-9. The source of traded water was from the Murrumbidgee and to a lesser extent Murray NSW; buying regions were South Australia and to a lesser extent Murray Victoria. Much of this trade was away from rice and dairy and towards horticulture. Trade thus offset some of the impact of reductions in water availability, buffering South Australia and the Victorian Lower Murray from very low allocations. |
| Keywords: | Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2012–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aare12:124490&r=agr |
| By: | Rocchi, Benedetto; Stefani, Gianluca; Romano, Donato; Landi, C. |
| Keywords: | income distribution, agricultural households, Farm Problem, Italy, Consumer/Household Economics, Q12, I32, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aieacp:124128&r=agr |
| By: | Jablonski, Rebecca; Mansury, Yuri |
| Keywords: | Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaeafe:123974&r=agr |
| By: | Akaichi, Faical; Nalley, Lanier; Nayga, Rodolfo M., Jr. |
| Keywords: | Demand and Price Analysis, Environmental Economics and Policy, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea12:124781&r=agr |
| By: | Lim, Kar Ho; Hu, Wuyang; Maynard, Leigh J.; Goddard, Ellen W. |
| Keywords: | Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaeafe:123977&r=agr |
| By: | Colin-Castillo, Sergio; Capps, Oral, Jr.; Hernandez, Manuel A. |
| Keywords: | Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea12:124966&r=agr |
| By: | Matin, Anahita Hosseini; Goddard, Ellen W.; Lusk, Jayson L.; Hiltz, Diane McCann; Chase, Darren |
| Keywords: | Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Livestock Production/Industries, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea12:124972&r=agr |
| By: | Weaver, Lance; Campiche, Jody; Dicks, Mike |
| Keywords: | Farm Management, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea12:124886&r=agr |
| By: | Simpson, Amanda N.; Campiche, Jody L.; Holcomb, Rodney B. |
| Keywords: | Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaeafe:123989&r=agr |
| By: | Choi, Hee Jung; Wohlgenant, Michael K. |
| Keywords: | Demand and Price Analysis, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Industrial Organization, Marketing, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea12:124746&r=agr |
| By: | Corsi, Alessandro; Salvioni, Cristina |
| Abstract: | The process of change in the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) from trade and market distorting measures to more neutral interventions has been long, but in this process the 2003 reform (the so-called Fischler reform) has been the most important step, leading to a more decoupled, and hence less market distorting, support (Oecd, 2004) and introducing the fully decoupled Single Farm Payment Scheme (SFP). In this paper, we estimate a model of operators’ off-farm labour participation from a panel of Italian COP farms drawn from the FADN. To this purpose we use a random effects probit model, thus controlling for unobserved heterogeneity. The results suggest that the effects of the reform on off-farm labour participation, if any, are weak. No variable directly related to the CAP reform is significant. These results are not in contrasts with the theoretical considerations, since the reform entails both wealth and substitution effects that tend to offset each other. Also, rigidities in the labour market tend to contrast adjustments to the changing conditions. Our results also suggest that changes in relative prices affect off-farm labour participation of farm operators, but that this effect depends on the labour intensity of the different crops. Therefore, the effects of the reform on off-farm labour participation can be due to these changes, but the role of the CAP reform in the changes in relative prices is uncertain, and out of the scope of this paper. |
| Keywords: | CAP reform, off-farm work, farm household, Agricultural and Food Policy, J220, J430, Q120, Q180, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aieacp:124098&r=agr |
| By: | Li, Lan |
| Keywords: | Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Institutional and Behavioral Economics, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea12:125002&r=agr |
| By: | Moss, Charles B.; Mishra, Ashok K.; Uematsu, Hiroki |
| Abstract: | Factors affecting the level of farm and household debt have been of sporadic concern in agricultural economic literature. In the Mid 1980s, farm business and household debt was hypothesized to contribute to the farm financial crisis. This paper examines factors affecting the probability of farm business and household debt and the level of that debt. The results indicate that farm debt is a decreasing function of operator age, importance of government payments, and significance of cash grain crops, but an increasing function of the size of the farm firm. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural Finance, Consumer/Household Economics, |
| Date: | 2012–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea12:124727&r=agr |