We calculate the welfare effects of the Washington State University (WSU) wheat breeding programs for producers and consumers in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and the United States, and for importers of U.S. wheat. We develop a partial equilibrium multiregion, multiproduct, multivariety trade model for wheat that provides consumer, producer, and total surplus for each wheat class and region. Our results provide evidence suggesting that WSU wheat breeding programs have increased welfare for the state of Washington, the United States, and importers of U.S. wheat.

This article develops a market timing decision rule for cattle feeders based on profit maximization. We then compare it with the “status quo” strategy of feeding cattle to a targeted carcass end point. We estimate individual nonlinear dynamic growth functions to derive each animal's value of the marginal product in relation to days on feed. Given individual marginal factor costs, our results indicate that the use of a profit maximization rule could have increased average profits by $16.56 to $21.09 per head for the cattle of known age, and $7.67 to $11.32 per head if age was unknown.

Substantial changes in the world wheat market have resulted in a shift in the market shares of the main wheat exporting countries. Since 2002, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Ukraine (KRU) have become important wheat exporters on the world market, and their pricing behavior has become a vital issue. By applying the pricing-to-market model to wheat exports, this study analyzes the price-discriminating behavior of KRU wheat exports from 1996 to 2012. The results demonstrate that KRU are able to exercise price discrimination in some importing countries, but in most they either face perfect competition or set common markups in imperfectly competitive markets.

We use the underlying data of the IMPLAN Pro 3.0 regional economic simulation model to estimate the current economic contribution of Michigan's local food system and explore the chain of transactions giving rise to consumption of locally sourced goods from producer to processor to consumption. The proposed methodology includes both unprocessed and processed foods in the estimation of the local food system's economic value. The model also provides a replicable and consistent approach to estimating the value of local food systems within regional and state economies.

This study evaluates attitudes toward production of three major types of biomass—corncobs, corn stover, and dedicated energy grass—using responses to a mail survey of 2,250 Iowa farmers. We examine how factors influencing willingness to supply biomass vary across biomass types and analyze the presence of potential correlations across interest in growing various types of biomass. We find that correlation in choices across biomass types is strong and statistically significant. Farmers consider corn stover and corncobs as complementary, but dedicated energy grasses and corncobs or stover as substitutes. Factors affecting farmer choices also vary significantly by type of biomass.

The growth in winter canola acreage in the southern Great Plains has led to questions about the best way to reduce price risk because there is no U.S. canola futures market. Cross-hedge ratios and hedging effectiveness are calculated, and encompassing tests are conducted for short-horizon hedging. Possible cross-hedge markets considered are U.S. soybeans, soybean oil, soybean meal, hard red winter wheat, and Canadian canola. The selected cross hedge is a combination of soybean oil and meal futures, but its hedging effectiveness is substantially less than what is typically provided by a direct hedge.

Because of high competition from Chinese apple juice processors, the United States imposed an antidumping duty on apple juice imports from China to protect the domestic processors. This trade policy benefited U.S. processors but negatively impacted Chinese processors as well as consumers in the United States. Because of the economic reforms, foreign direct investment, and technological spillover, Chinese apple processors have increased their productivity. Under oligopolistic competition with endogenous firm entry and exit, this article analyzes how the changes in U.S. tariff policy and Chinese productivity impact the market structure in the United States and China, as well as prices, quantities, and U.S. and Chinese welfare. Trade liberalization and an increase in Chinese productivity help U.S. consumers and Chinese processors. However, U.S. tariff removal adversely affects U.S. apple juice processors.

As a result of several judicial rulings, processing of horses for human consumption came to a halt in 2007. This article determines the change in horse prices resulting from elimination of horse-processing facilities. As expected, lower-valued horses were more affected by the ban than higher-valued horses. The analysis suggests the slaughter ban reduced horse prices, on average, by about 13% and resulted in a loss in producer surplus to sellers of approximately 14% at the sale we analyzed. We also show horse prices are affected by a myriad of factors including breed, gender, age, coat color, and sale catalog description.

This article utilizes the 2011 Nielsen scanner data for the Honolulu fresh tomato market to explore the existence of price premium for local food. Hedonic analysis is conducted to delineate the price impact of the local attribute. Contrary to the widely perceived local price premium in the consumer preference literature, mixed results of price premiums and discounts are discovered for local tomato products. Additional investigation suggests that the prices of local tomatoes are likely influenced by seasonal output fluctuation. The limited market distribution capacity facing local producers may have contributed further to the retail discounting.

An outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) in the United States would likely result in major costs to producers, consumers, and government. How animal health officials manage such an outbreak has substantial impact on probable losses. Without an emergency FMD vaccination strategy, producer and consumer losses of an FMD outbreak in the midwestern United States would likely approach $188 billion, and government costs would likely exceed $11 billion. In contrast, a high-capacity emergency vaccination program together with a large vaccination zone would reduce median consumer and producer losses to approximately $56 billion and government costs to a little more than $1 billion.

Pasture systems for grass-fed beef production in the Gulf Coast region were evaluated for profitability and sustainability over the period 2009/2010 to 2011/2012. May-weaned steers were divided into groups and randomly placed into different pasture systems. Data on input usage, output quantities, and carbon emissions were recorded and analyzed. The least complex grazing system yielded higher profit than the most complex, but the most complex produced the lowest greenhouse gas impact. A trade-off was found between profitability and greenhouse gas impact among the systems.

This article proposes the parsimonious Stone-Geary utility function from consumer choice theory as a production function model. The viability of the threshold input idea is empirically demonstrated for irrigation water (and in the case of nitrogen, a “gratis” threshold) using two field trials from the famous Hexem-Heady data sets. The implications of the Stone-Geary model for tractable U-shaped average variable cost and for factor demand and product supply are explored.

Pesticide applications are essential for peanut production to control insects, weeds, and other plant pathogens and for a profitable operation. We use a stochastic frontier analysis/primal system approach to test the hypothesis of the overuse of fungicides among peanut farmers. With nationally representative data available from the Agricultural and Resource Management Survey, we find evidence that U.S. peanut growers used excessive amounts of fungicides to prevent fungal infections. If those farmers adopt a new cultivar resistant to fungal pathogens, they could reduce the total cost of chemicals up to 36.2%. The reduction in fungicide use would have spillover environmental benefits.

The biofuels era brought about changes to the energy and agricultural sectors. For example, the decrease in natural gas prices has led to a weakening of the relationship between fertilizer and gas prices. The other change has been an increase in the demand for fertilizers, which has strengthened the price relationship between these two products. Econometric evidence from this work indicates that after 2008 the relationship between fertilizers and corn prices increased. In addition, results from our work indicate the presence of market power in the ammonia fertilizer sector.

A triple hurdle model estimates cattle farmer willingness to adopt or expand prescribed grazing on pasture in the United States in response to a hypothetical incentive program. Interest in adoption/expansion is estimated first, then willingness to participate in the program, followed by intensity of participation measured as additional acres enrolled. The supply elasticity of enrolled acres with respect to the incentive is 0.13. Nonpecuniary factors inter alia farmer sentiment about stewardship, current farm management practices, farm location, and education are associated with farmer willingness to participate and with participation intensity.

This article examines the impact of the 2012 drought and the biofuels mandate on the U.S. grain and livestock markets and estimates the mandate waiver required to offset the impact on the corn price. The framework used is a stochastic equilibrium displacement model that integrates the beef, pork, and poultry markets with the corn, distillers’ grain, soybean, soymeal, and ethanol markets. The corn and beef markets are found to be the most vulnerable. A mandate waiver of approximately 23% is required to fully negate the impact of the drought on corn prices. The waiver is equivalent to a 13.7% reduction in ethanol consumption.

Despite high employment rates and starting salaries for qualified graduates of agribusiness, agricultural, and applied economics (AAAE) programs, several AAAE departments have experienced years of low enrollment. This study offers insight into how AAAE programs can more effectively market themselves and recruit undergraduate students through analysis of a nationwide survey of college and department personnel and a statewide survey of high school students. Findings reveal important differences between students’ preferred information and message sources and those currently used. Gaps in understanding of AAAE across administrative units are also identified. Specific program awareness, marketing, and student recruitment recommendations are offered.

Landowners rarely insure standing timber, suggesting the limited products available do not appeal to potential clientele. We estimated landowner willingness to pay (WTP) for standing timber insurance. Data were generated through a contingent valuation survey. Questionnaires were mailed to a random sample of Mississippi private forest landowners with 100+ acres of forestland. WTP for standing timber insurance was derived using an interval-censored survival model and a Kaplan-Meier Turnbull nonparametric model. The estimated WTP premium rate was approximately $3.20 per $1,000 of standing timber value, well below existing premium rates. This partially explains the underinsurance of standing timber among landowners.

Little is known about the impact of corn and energy prices on the profitability of irrigating corn in Tennessee. We evaluated the probability of a positive net present value (NPV) for center-pivot irrigation in Tennessee corn production. Three corn price series were employed to evaluate the effects of the shift in corn prices on the feasibility of irrigation. The recent rise in corn prices increased the probability of NPV being positive for irrigation investment. Future corn prices will need to remain high for investment in center-pivot irrigation to remain profitable under Tennessee growing conditions.

United States consumer confidence in food safety is an increasingly more prominent issue in food production and marketing. Estimating the welfare effects of a breakdown in the supply chain can provide a benchmark for the cost of potential future events. In 2006, United States long grain rice stocks were contaminated with an unapproved genetically modified rice variety causing trade disruptions predominantly between the United States and the European Union. Using a spatial partial equilibrium model the economic effects of European policy on bilateral trade flows and prices during this event was an estimated loss of $421.3 million US dollars.