Floods often displace people and exacerbate their access to finance, affecting the livelihood of daily wage workers in least-developed countries. In August 2017, Nepal experienced the heaviest rainfall in more than 60 years, severely flooding about 80 per cent of the land in the southern part of the country. Using the two-way fixed effects approach and an event study design, we evaluate the impact of severe flooding on the wages of agricultural workers. We show that the 2017 floods resulted in a 9–10 per cent decrease in cash wages among agricultural households while in-kind wages of agricultural laborers increased significantly after the floods, implying that in-kind wages helped mitigate the adverse effects of floods on cash wages. We also investigate changes in assistance, loan-seeking behavior, loan repayment, and collection behavior as mechanisms leading to the risk-mitigating behavior by farmers.

Iron toxicity is one of the constraints limiting rice production in Africa. This study used a randomized controlled trial to assess the impact of an iron toxicity-tolerant variety, named ARICA 6, on different outcomes and investment in modern inputs by smallholder farmers. Two rounds of data were collected from 520 rice-farming households in Guinea. Results showed that the use of ARICA 6 increased rice yield by 330 kg ha−1 and net income by US$ 120 ha−1. However, adoption of improved variety may not be enough to crowd in investment in modern inputs because farmers face other constraints.

In Africa, rangeland ecosystems have been exploited due to heavy and unsustainable grazing. Policy and institutional mechanisms such as integrating silvopastoral systems with sustainable grazing practices have been devised to mitigate the negative effects. In this study, we investigated whether the uptake of sustainable grazing management in the form of controlled grazing spurs investment in multipurpose trees (MPTs) and enhances income. Using instrumental variable regression, we find that controlled grazing increases not only the propensity to plant MPTs but also the number of tree species. More importantly, IV and treatment effect results indicate that controlled grazing enhances income from MPTs.

This study explores the economics of culling decisions in cow-calf operations in the Southern U.S. with a novel application of a dynamic mathematical programing model. The results provide an optimal culling strategy under the base model and a range of optimal strategies that vary with respect to different components such as fertility probabilities, prices, replacement costs, and pregnancy checking. The results suggest that producers should cull all cows that are older than age 10 and cows that fail to calve once they reach the age of 7. The sensitivity analysis underlines the impact of market conditions, replacement costs, and pregnancy check use on the optimal culling decisions.

Prevented planting payments reimburse crop producers for losses from not being able to plant. These payments provide critical protection to producers; however, these payments, which are determined using a nationwide, crop-specific coverage factor, have been questioned to induce moral hazard. Depending on the region and crop insurance coverage, payments from this provision exceed producers’ losses. This paper estimates the prevented planting coverage factor by coverage level and region that would equitably reimburse corn and soybean producers for their losses. We find the prevented planting coverage factor has significant variation across coverage levels and location within our study region. The prevented planting coverage factor was found to decline as the policy coverage level increases. The further north in the study region the higher the coverage factor, likely due to increased land rent expenses. The results provide a unique perspective of how these coverage factors would vary to equitably compensate producers for losses, which addresses the moral hazard concerns with prevented planting.

This study examines the grazing management plans (GMPs) adoption and prioritization of environmental and economic objectives among U.S. cow-calf and stocker operations, utilizing 2020–2021 survey data and logistic regression analysis. Findings reveal regional adoption differences, with higher rates in the Midwest. Operations with succession plans, larger grazing lands, and stocker activities are more likely to adopt GMPs. Operations with more privately owned land and smaller herd sizes prefer environmental goals, while those with less grazing land prioritize economic outcomes due to resource concerns. The study provides insights for policies promoting GMP adoption and sustainability in the U.S. beef sector.

The objective was to estimate the difference in cost, revenue, and profit between unassisted and assisted calvings on western Canadian cow-calf operations. Historical records of individual animal production measures from 2015 to 2020 and industry-described inputs were used in a modified decision tree model. The incidence of assisted calvings in heifers and cows was 4.6 and 2%, respectively. Assisted heifers and cows had an expected profit of −$227.43 and −$67.06 CAD per calving, respectively, while unassisted heifers and cows had an expected profit of −$76.11 and $120.12 CAD per calving, respectively. Calving assistance can impact the profitability of western Canadian cow-calf operations.

The adoption of fungus-resistant grapevines may be a key strategy for substantially reducing fungicide use in pesticide-intensive viticulture. In a representative survey conducted among 436 grapevine growers in Switzerland, we elicited growers’ expected share of land devoted to fungus-resistant varieties in ten years. More specifically, using regression analyses, we explore the main predictors behind the stated adoption intentions. We find that one-third of new plantings in the next decade will be fungus-resistant varieties. As a result, the expected share of land devoted to fungus-resistant varieties in ten years is 27.4% (compared to 10.2% in 2022), thus increasing by 169%. Farmer- and farm characteristics explain most of the adoption dynamics, especially growers’ beneficial health perceptions about fungus-resistant varieties, which correlate positively with their expected land share devoted to these varieties. Moreover, non-organic grapevine growers are particularly likely to increase their land devoted to these varieties. These findings have important implications for agricultural policy and industry in Europe and elsewhere, facilitating the expected plantation increase using a policy mix tailored to farmer- and farm-level characteristics.

This study examines the economic performance of rainfed cropping systems endemic to the Southern Great Plains under weed competition. Cropping systems include tilled and no-till wheat-fallow, wheat-soybean, and wheat-sorghum rotations. Net returns from systems are compared under different levels of weed pressure. Producers operating over longer planning horizons would choose to double-crop regardless of the tillage method used and weed pressure level. Producers operating under shorter planning horizons would implement wheat-fallow systems when weed pressure is high and double crop when weed pressure is low.

Calving date affects feed costs, calf weaning weights, marketing dates, labor availability, and, potentially, calf health. Employing recent estimates of calf weaning weights and surveys of producers, feedlot operators, and veterinarians, we model expected profits as a function of calving date. January-calving herds had the highest annualized net returns, a result driven by older weaning dates and heavier weaning weights. However, survey results show March and April were the most common calving months. This may be due to both weather and labor demand concerns. If weaning ages are restricted to 205 days, January calving was the least profitable because of higher feed costs.

We estimate the impact of subsequent droughts on the revenues of farmers in Ethiopia factoring in their adaptive capacity. We find that after the first drought, there is no significant difference in the revenue of the farmers who experienced a drought, as compared to those who did not. However, there is a loss in revenue after the second drought, specifically for those farmers that are endowed with less assets. This finding underscores that a rise in the frequency of extreme events and shocks can potentially have significant local distributional implications, with wealth as a major distinguishing factor.

We examined the effect of using input and output quantities as compared with costs and revenues when estimating farm-level efficiency scores and ranking. We used farm-level data from the 2015 Ethiopia Rural Socioeconomic Survey (ERSS) where production inputs and outputs in quantities as well as monetary units could be distinguished. Average technical efficiency scores of 72.2% and 68.6%, respectively, were found for analysis based on quantities and on costs and revenues. Efficiency ranking differed significantly. Results suggest that type of data compilation introduces bias to the efficiency assessment and that conclusions may be unclear, which complicates policy advice.

Using a double-hurdle approach, we assess factors associated with the extent of participation in the rice market with data for small-scale farmers drawn from a nationally representative dataset. The results suggest that larger endowments and assets, animal farming and commercialization, and alternative off-farm income make farmers less likely to participate. Conversely, having access to credit, larger farm sizes, and being part of a farmers’ association all increase the likelihood of participation. Farms with better technological resources are also those with higher sales volumes. Further understanding market participation dynamics should prove useful for deriving evidence-based policy recommendations to strengthen this Bolivian sector.

Faced with risky yields and returns, risk-averse farmers require a premium to take risks. In this paper, we estimate individual farmers’ degrees of risk aversion to adjust for the risk premium in returns and to replace the farmers’ realized returns with their certainty equivalent returns in the production function. In that way, the effect of the inputs on returns will automatically be risk-adjusted, i.e., we obtain risk-adjusted marginal effects of inputs, which can be used in decision-making support of farmers’ input choices in production. Using farm-level data from organic basmati rice smallholders in India, we illustrate this method using nonparametric production functions. The results show that the input elasticities and returns-to-scale estimates change when the farmers’ degree of risk aversion is taken into consideration.

This study develops and uses a survey to gather information on demographics, production and management practices, and perceptions on using cover crops as a conservation practice from citrus growers and utilizes the double-bounded dichotomous choice contingent valuation method to measure their willingness to pay (WTP) for adopting cover crops in citrus production. The survey is conducted for citrus producers in Florida and Texas. The study finds that, on average, growers from Florida are willing to pay $509.48/acre per year for adopting cover crops. This is substantially less than the WTP for growers in Texas, who are willing to pay more than $1,000/acre per year for cover crops. The study analyzes the factors that have significant impacts on growers’ WTP for cover crops and discusses the heterogeneity in the grower perceptions on the benefits and drawbacks of using this conservation practice by state. Although using cover crops has not been a popular conservation practice in perennial fruit production systems, its potential to improve soil quality is particularly important for citrus production in Florida where soils are sandy and have low organic matter.

The H-2A temporary agricultural workers visa program is a federal program allowing agricultural employers to bring in foreign workers on a seasonal basis. The extent to which H-2A workers earn more compared to their domestic unauthorized counterparts is of interest for both producers and workers. Using novel data on citrus harvest workers in the state of Florida, we estimate hourly earnings differentials by legal status using Classical and Bayesian inference. Findings suggest that participation in the H-2A program is associated with 18–23% higher hourly earnings for migrant harvesters in Florida after controlling for observable demographic and work-related variables.

The United States has a long history of providing ad hoc disaster assistance to agricultural producers. The latest version – the Emergency Relief Program (ERP) – follows five consecutive years of appropriations for disaster assistance. In response to ongoing appropriations, there is growing interest in establishing a permanent disaster program. However, with that comes concerns over the impact it could have on the existing farm safety net, particularly crop insurance. In this paper, we characterize the likely effects on crop insurance coverage levels of a permanent authorization of ERP. We assume that corn and soybean producers choose a coverage level based on the effects of that choice on the distribution of future ending wealth reflecting crop revenue, insurance indemnities, and ERP payments. We find very modest effects on crop insurance coverage level choices and crop insurance premiums collected.

This study examines the impact of the row planting method on maize productivity and risk exposure using panel datasets from Ethiopia. A flexible moment-based production function is fitted to capture the expected yield, yield variance, and exposure to downside risk. A Mundlak–Chamberlain approach is combined with a switching regression treatment effects model to account for unobserved heterogeneity and endogeneity. The study shows that adopters of the row planting method significantly reduced exposure to downside risk while increasing expected yield. The analysis also identified some household and environmental conditions that affect the gain from the row planting method.

We determine optimal stocker strategies based on calving season, herd size, and the number of days of retention before marketing weaned calves. We estimate a hedonic pricing model for feeder cattle and incorporate this into a simulation model that considers the variability of cattle prices and feed costs. The profit and utility-maximizing decision for fall calving herd would be to retain weaned calves for 150-day postweaning. The producer marketing spring-born calves would prefer to sell these calves at weaning. The results are being utilized by extension to aid cattle producers in reducing their feed costs and increasing their profits.