One method of implementing value-based marketing is a component pricing system. This research develops and evaluates alternative component pricing systems for pork. Two electronic technologies for estimating carcass components (optical probe and electromagnetic scanner) were evaluated on two sets of data representing different populations. Model accuracy increased as additional components were added.

China's agricultural trade expanded rapidly following economic reforms and the open-door policy adopted in the late 1970s. The composition of agricultural trade with China follows its labor-abundant and land-scarce resource endowment with imports of bulk and processed intermediates and exports of consumer-ready and processed goods. Constraints on U.S.China agricultural trade include tariffs, state trading, food security policies, and other nontariff barriers. Growth potential is based on China's fundamental demand forces including the world's largest population, a high real-income growth rate, an emerging urban middle class, and further trade reforms to be implemented through accession to the World Trade Organization.

A vector autoregression (VAR) model of corn, farm egg, and retail egg prices is estimated and shocked with a corn price increase. Impulse responses in egg prices, t-statistics for the impulse responses, and decompositions of forecast error variance are presented. Analyses of results provide insights on the corn/egg price transmission mechanism and on how corn price shocks pulsate through the egg-related economy.

The Southeastern United States depends on coal to supply 60% of its electricity needs. The region leads in CO2 emissions and ranks second in emissions of SO2 and NO2. Compared with coal, biomass feedstocks have lower emission levels of sulfur or sulfur compounds and can potentially reduce nitrogen oxide emissions. This study examines the economic impacts of cofiring biomass feedstocks with coal in coal-fired plants under three emission credit and two cofiring level scenarios. Economic impacts are estimated for producing, collecting, and transporting feedstock; retrofitting coal-fired utilities for burning feedstock; operating cofired utilities; and coal displaced from burning the feedstock.

This study examines southeastern consumers’ willingness to pay for marginal changes in production practices that lessen the impact on the environment but that fall short of a complete conversion to organic production. We find that consumers are willing to pay more for tomatoes grown using less water, that contain less pesticide residue, that are not grown with petroleum-based fertilizers, and that travel shorter distances to the final point of sale. These estimates provide a starting point for producers who cannot convert to organic production but for whom it might be profitable to make (more feasible) marginal production changes.

This article systematically estimates the allocative efficiency losses in the U.S. food and tobacco manufacturing industries under alternative oligopoly pricing regimes using a formal model of oligopoly. Using 1987 data for 44 industries and an industry-wide oligopoly pricing scheme, these losses were estimated at approximately 3% of sales~2% in the food industries and 19% in the tobacco industries. Five additional oligopoly pricing regimes, four of which are price leaderships, are simulated and their results compared and tested relative to the industry-wide pricing regime. Findings underscore the importance of cost structure assumptions and that the impact of the type of oligopoly behavior assumed is not as dramatic when differences in demand and cost specifications are smoothed out.

We propose a regime-switching model that allows demand to respond asymmetrically to upward and downward advertising changes. With the introduction of a smooth transition function, the model features smooth rather than abrupt parameter changes between regimes. We apply the model to nonalcoholic beverage data in the United States for 1974 through 2005 to investigate asymmetric advertising response. Results indicate that a decrease in milk advertising had a more profound impact on milk demand than an increase did. An increase in milk advertising had no impact on milk demand, but a decrease could have an own-advertising elasticity up to 0.049.

This study evaluates the effectiveness of a point of purchase advertising program conducted for two local horticultural brands in Texas. The results based on surveys gathered before and after the program was launched suggest that the campaign size was not sufficient to significantly increase brand awareness and overall demand, yet it increased willingness to pay by 5.5% for those consumers aware of one of the brands. A major factor found to increase willingness to pay and likelihood of brand awareness was purchase frequency measured in transactions per month, which suggests that other advertising methods aimed to increase buying frequency might affect demand more effectively.

An econometric model of planted wheat acreage was estimated for five distinct production regions in the United States. This structural investigation represents an update of previous published work with specific attention given to policy program variables, weather, production cost, risk, market price influences, and program participation. Estimated results indicated regional divergence in responsiveness to government program variables. The most significant divergence occurred in the Cornbelt and Southeast—soft red winter wheat areas. Results indicate that management of the wheat program from the USDA level will contain countervailing production incentives unless these regional characteristics are taken into consideration in policy directives.

Quality factors affecting fed cattle prices were examined during a six-month period in southwestern Kansas. Transaction prices were significantly affected by the percentage of cattle expected to grade choice times the choice-to-select carcass price spread, finish uniformity, average weight, dressing percentage, breed, number of cattle purchased by a single packer on a given day, the packer, the feedyard, the day-of-the-week the cattle were sold, and the number of bids received. Asking prices were significantly affected by many of the same factors. Asking and transaction prices reflected approximately 25 percent of the packer value differentials for expected carcass quality grades.

This study seeks to identify interproduct relationships between domestic catfish and a representative selection of imported seafood. In doing so, this study uses multivariate cointegration and structural analyses. Multivariate cointegration analysis suggests that six imported seafood product groupings form a common market with domestic catfish. Structural analysis reveals that 1) domestic and imported catfish are net and gross quantity substitutes; 2) domestic catfish and imported seafood are normal goods; 3) six imported seafood products are identified as gross quantity substitutes for domestic catfish; and 4) according to the derived Allais coefficients, interaction intensities of imported seafood for domestic catfish (from greatest to least) are as follows: tuna, shrimp, salmon, tilapia, catfish, and trout.

Retirement/recreation communities (RRCs) have been promoted as a way for some rural regions to develop their economies. RRCs can have substantial economic impacts (changes in employment and income) and fiscal impacts (changes in local government revenues and costs) on rural communities. Because the magnitude and direction of these impacts are site-specific, assessments of RRCs as a rural development strategy should consider both the economic and fiscal impacts for a given region. This paper presents a case study of the economic and fiscal impacts of Tellico Village on Loudon County, Tennessee.

The paper examines U.S. citizens' attitudes toward the concept of multifunctional agriculture and their perceptions about its various attributes. While the concept has emerged as a major narrative shaping agricultural policies and WTO trade rules, there are considerable disagreements among researchers and policy-makers about what should be considered legitimate attributes of multifunctional agriculture, preventing WTO negotiations from moving forward. Results show that U.S. citizens rated national food security and environmental services as the most important multifunctional roles of U.S. agriculture, and national food security makes the largest contribution to explaining U.S. citizens' attitudes toward multifunctional agriculture.

Academics worry grade inflation lowers standards; whereas, employers are concerned grades may not distinguish students’ abilities. These concerns are dismissed if higher grades reflect improved academic achievement and not inflation. Potential grade inflation is examined using data from 17,696 classes between 1985 and 2019 in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Texas A&M University. Evidence of systemic grade increase is found after controlling for institution, instructor, and student characteristics. Grade increases are partially explained by recruiting better and more female students. Grade inflation, however, may be associated with increased hiring of graduate students and other instructors.

Producers often contemplate expanding or contracting production to take advantage of cyclical cattle price trends. This study quantifies profitability and risk implications of (1) constant herd size, (2) dollar cost averaging, and (3) price signal-based, anticipatory countercyclical expansion/contraction strategies. Weather simulation on forages with different calving season and land use intensity showed fall calving herds with added hay sales from greater fertilizer use and the countercyclical herd size management strategy to be most profitable regardless of weather or time period analyzed. Income risk was comparable to least fertilizer use. Overall, holding herd size constant led to little regret.

Domestic food programs in the United States originated in the 1930s, primarily in response to the needs of the agricultural sector. They served as a disposal mechanism for agricultural surpluses and were designed to stimulate demand. However, the nature of U.S. food programs has changed significantly during the last two decades. Out of a growing concern for the poor and the needy, their primary focus has become the improvement of the nutritional status of low-income families (Paarlberg, pp. 99-102.).

This study evaluates three agricultural nonpoint pollution abatement policies: regulating the spatial pattern of agricultural activities, ambient tax, and abatement tax/subsidy. All three policies incorporate spatial characteristics of agricultural emission loading and movement for an agricultural watershed in the Midwest. The effects of spatial variation in natural conditions and landscape features on agricultural emissions and crop yield are evaluated using a newly developed biophysical simulation model and experimental data. While the policies are equally cost effective in reducing agricultural nonpoint source pollution, their implementation feasibility is quite different.

Preferences for pomegranates, including some novel pomegranate varieties, were evaluated using an experimental auction and nonhypothetical preference ranking mechanism. Additional information on the taste and health benefits of the products was provided to mimic the information-gathering process on novel products. Product familiarity, product information, and reference prices were key factors in explaining willingness to pay for the included novel products. Results from the auction and nonhypothetical preference ranking procedures were divergent. Furthermore, interactions were detected between information treatments and product characteristics.

Agricultural exports are important to many regional economies, as is the case for agricultural exports either produced in or shipped through Louisiana. A hybrid (revised and verified) IMPLAN model of the Louisiana economy is used to estimate the direct and indirect impact of agricultural exports. Original model estimates of foreign exports lacked holistic (overall) accuracy. However, other, more general uses of the model were unaffected by this lack of accuracy. While the contributions of agricultural exports to the state economy were substantial, impacts were concentrated in unprocessed products. Increasing the export of processed agricultural products should enhance economic activity.