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1 – 10 of 309The paper constructs an annual price series for English net agricultural output in the years 1209–1914 using 26 component series: wheat, barley, oats, rye, peas, beans, potatoes…
Abstract
The paper constructs an annual price series for English net agricultural output in the years 1209–1914 using 26 component series: wheat, barley, oats, rye, peas, beans, potatoes, hops, straw, mustard seed, saffron, hay, beef, mutton, pork, bacon, tallow, eggs, milk, cheese, butter, wool, firewood, timber, cider, and honey. I also construct sub-series for arable, pasture and wood products. The main innovation is in using a consistent method to form series from existing published sources. But fresh archival data is also incorporated. The implications of the movements of these series for agrarian history are explored.
Abby ShalekBriski, Wade Brorsen, James K. Rogers, Jon T. Biermacher, David Marburger and Jeff Edwards
The authors determine the effectiveness of the Rainfall Index Annual Forage Program (RIAFP) in offsetting yield risk of winter annual forage growers. The authors also evaluate the…
Abstract
Purpose
The authors determine the effectiveness of the Rainfall Index Annual Forage Program (RIAFP) in offsetting yield risk of winter annual forage growers. The authors also evaluate the effectiveness in reducing risk of potential alternative weather indices.
Design/methodology/approach
The RIAFP is designed to compensate forage producers when yield losses occur. Prior research found weak correlation between the rainfall index and actual winter annual forage yields. The authors use long-term small-plot variety trials of rye, ryegrass, wheat, triticale and oats with rainfall recorded on site and measure the correlation of the index with actual rainfall and actual yields. The alternative indices include frequency of precipitation events and of days with temperature below freezing.
Findings
The correlation between actual rainfall and the current RMA index was strongly positive as in previous research. Correlations between forage yields and monthly intervals of the current RMA index were mostly statistically insignificant, and many had an unexpected sign. All indices had some correlations that were inconsistent across time intervals and forage variety. The inconsistent signs suggest a nonlinear relationship with weather and forage yield, indicating that rainfall can be too much or too little. The number of days below freezing has the most potential of the three measures examined.
Practical implications
Producers should view the winter forage RIAFP as a risk-increasing income-transfer farm program. A product to reduce the risk for forage producers may need to use a crop growth simulation model or another approach that can capture the nonlinearity.
Originality/value
Considerably more data were considered than in past research. Past research did not consider alternative weather indices. The program should be continued if its goal is to serve as disguised income transfer, but it should be discontinued if its goal is to reduce risk.
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Lance Brennan, Les Heathcote and Anton Lucas
This paper attempts to understand how the interaction of natural disasters and human behaviour during wartime led to famines in three regions under imperial control around the…
Abstract
This paper attempts to understand how the interaction of natural disasters and human behaviour during wartime led to famines in three regions under imperial control around the Indian Ocean. The socio-economic structure of these regions had been increasingly differentiated over the period of imperial rule, with large proportions of their populations relying on agricultural labour for their subsistence.
Before the war, food crises in each of the regions had been met by the private importation of grain from national or overseas surplus regions: the grain had been made available through a range of systems, the most complex of which was the Bengal Famine Code in which the able-bodied had to work before receiving money to buy food in the market.
During the Second World War, the loss of control of normal sources of imported grain, the destruction of shipping in the Indian Ocean (by both sides) and the military demands on internal transport systems prevented the use of traditional famine responses when natural events affected grain supply in each of the regions. These circumstances drew the governments into attempts to control their own grain markets.
The food crises raised complex ethical and practical issues for the governments charged with their solution. The most significant of these was that the British Government could have attempted to ship wheat to Bengal but, having lost naval control of the Indian Ocean in 1942 and needing warships in the Atlantic and Mediterranean in 1943 chose to ignore the needs of the people of Bengal, focussing instead on winning the war.
In each of the regions governments allowed/encouraged the balkanisation of the grain supply – at times down to the sub-district level – which at times served to produce waste and corruption, and opened the way for black markets as various groups (inside and outside government ranks) manipulated the local supply.
People were affected in different ways by the changes brought about by the war: some benefitted if their role was important to the war-effort; others suffered. The effect of this was multiplied by the way each government ‘solved’ its financial problems by – in essence – printing money.
Because of the natural events of the period, there would have been food crises in these regions without World War II, but decisions made in the light of wartime exigencies and opportunities turned crises into famines, causing the loss of millions of lives.
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This study analyzes the factors which affect the alfalfa cultivation acreage in China and estimates the development of alfalfa planting by the supply model.
Abstract
Purpose
This study analyzes the factors which affect the alfalfa cultivation acreage in China and estimates the development of alfalfa planting by the supply model.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on the characteristics and actual conditions of alfalfa cultivation in China, a naïve empirical model was created to analyze the impact of various influencing factors on the cultivation acreage of alfalfa.
Findings
The analysis of influential factors shows that China's alfalfa planting conforms to naïve price behavior. The prices of alfalfa and per capita arable land occupancy have a positive effect on the cultivation acreage, while the price of competitive crops and transportation costs have a negative effect on the production of alfalfa. Lastly, the 2012 alfalfa subsidy policy has a significant negative impact on alfalfa cultivation acreage.
Research limitations/implications
Due to the limited research on alfalfa supply in China, there is a lack of available research data and statistical data. A large number of data in this study are mainly indirect data derived and calculated from other industrial data. The measurement results may not be fully accurate.
Originality/value
This study represents the first empirical analysis of the characteristics of the factors influencing alfalfa cultivation acreage in China. The secondary data were used to analyze the influence of various control variables on the cultivation acreage of alfalfa, which is different from existing research.
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Anika Totojani and Veland Ramadani
This study aims to explore the grain chain in Kosovo. This study also aims to analyse the role of actors involved in the supply, production, processing, marketing and distribution…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to explore the grain chain in Kosovo. This study also aims to analyse the role of actors involved in the supply, production, processing, marketing and distribution of the grain value chain.
Design/methodology/approach
The study uses qualitative methods. A total of 60 semi-structured interviews are conducted with actors involved in the entire grain value chain.
Findings
Findings reveal that the country depends on grain imports and lacks an organised grain market, which is often distorted by the present political situation. Stakeholders are partly integrated in the grain value chain, and they are not very efficient in production. The existence of an informal market influences the decision-making of actors involved in the grain chain. The grain value chain displays mixed governance types, and the relationships among actors are based on the trust mechanism.
Originality/value
The research draws the importance of agriculture’s public policies to sustain domestic grain production. Public–private partnerships should be created to restore the grain market. Trading policies should be revised because they play a crucial role in enhancing fair competition between domestic and foreign traders.
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Pamela Guiling, Damona Doye and B. Wade Brorsen
This paper aims to determine the effects of agricultural, recreational and urban variables on Oklahoma land prices.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to determine the effects of agricultural, recreational and urban variables on Oklahoma land prices.
Design/methodology/approach
An econometric model is estimated using price of agricultural land parcels as the dependent variable and independent variables representing agricultural, recreational and urban uses. Recreational variables include county‐level recreational income from Agricultural Census data as well as deer harvest for each county. Urban variables are functions of population and income for each county. The agricultural variables include rainfall as well as crop returns for cropland and cattle prices for pasture.
Findings
Agricultural variables are the most important, followed by urban and then recreational variables. Transaction prices are higher than commonly used land‐value survey data. The major recreational variable is deer harvest, which is more important in small tracts. The value of pasture is now greater than cropland. Small tract sizes receive substantial premiums.
Research limitations/implications
Agriculture is still an important part of the Oklahoma economy, so the findings might differ in more densely populated states. As with most econometric models, there are possible biases due to errors in measurement or missing explanatory variables.
Practical implications
The paper provides information that could be used by those wanting to estimate land value or wanting to manage land to increase its value.
Originality/value
The paper differs from previous work in both variables considered and the data used. Also, most previous work has not as directly addressed the issue of the relative importance of agricultural, recreational and urban variables.
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Many market research methods normally used in the West encounter a variety of problems if relocated to environments that are culturally very different. This article is about the…
Abstract
Many market research methods normally used in the West encounter a variety of problems if relocated to environments that are culturally very different. This article is about the Kyrgyz Republic, where assumptions of mainstream marketing simply do not apply. In order to engage in successful marketing in the Kyrgyz Republic, one must distinguish between three sectors of the economy: the formal firm‐type sector; the state‐controlled planned sector; and the bazaar, where the traditional focus is not on the transaction but on personal relationships. The author defines and describes each of these, and reports on ethnographic research conducted in the Kyrgyz Republic. The article concludes with a discussion of qualitative methodology and its relevance.
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– The purpose of this paper is to determine the sources and factors affecting farm revenue variation on crop and livestock farms in the Northern Great Plains.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to determine the sources and factors affecting farm revenue variation on crop and livestock farms in the Northern Great Plains.
Design/methodology/approach
A two method approach is used. Variance decomposition analysis is completed on an 18-year balanced panel data set of North Dakota producers to determine the sources of farm revenue variation. The second component of this research uses a random effects estimator to determine the effect of farm characteristics on farm revenue variation measured by coefficient of variation.
Findings
Crop revenue is the largest source of farm revenue variation, with crop insurance being the largest source of revenue variation diversification. Small market crops and corn were found to increase revenue variation compared to those operations that received the largest sum of their revenue from wheat. Government payments and insurance payments were also found to increase farm revenue variation indicating they may provide an incentive to plant more risky crops.
Originality/value
This analysis examined specific enterprises that affect farm revenue variation, which has not been examined in earlier work. This distinction allows for focus on potential policy implications of small market crops and new crops in “transitional planting zones”.
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Farzad Taheripour and Wallace E. Tyner
The purpose of this chapter is to ask and answer the question of what would happen if Genetically Modified Organism (GMO) plant materials were banned. We report on two studies …
Abstract
The purpose of this chapter is to ask and answer the question of what would happen if Genetically Modified Organism (GMO) plant materials were banned. We report on two studies – one with United States only ban and one with a global ban. We used a global computable general equilibrium (CGE) model, Global Trade Analysis Project (GTAP), for the analysis. This model has been used in hundreds of published papers on trade, energy, land use, and environmental issues. Our use of the model was to estimate the crop yield benefits for the major GMO crops, and then to convert this to a loss if the GMO traits were banned. We then shocked the GTAP model with the yield losses and estimate economic, land use, and greenhouse gas (GHG) emission impacts. We found that losing the GM technology would cause commodity and food prices to increase and also bring about a significant increase in GHG emissions. The increase in emissions is caused by the need to convert forest and pasture to compensate for the lost production. Another interesting conclusion of the global ban study is that economic well-being for the United States, the world’s largest GMO user, actually increases with a ban. Many regions that ban or use little GMO varieties like the European Union, India, China, and Japan all see economic well-being decrease. These counterintuitive results are driven mainly by trade patterns. Therefore GMO technology helps agriculture reduce its carbon footprint. Without this technology, agricultural land-use GHG emissions increase as do food prices. Some groups would like to see GMOs banned and also see GHG emissions fall. You cannot have it both ways.
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Vincent H. Smith and Joseph W. Glauber
In the United States, successive farm bills and the 2007 Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) have largely defined domestic subsidy and conservation programs and U.S. food-aid…
Abstract
In the United States, successive farm bills and the 2007 Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) have largely defined domestic subsidy and conservation programs and U.S. food-aid initiatives over the past decade. This chapter examines the effects of the current mixture of U.S. agricultural policies and international food-aid programs on domestic and global food-insecure populations. A detailed research-based examination is carried out with respect to the impacts of U.S. subsidy programs on agricultural production, domestic and global agricultural commodity prices, and their implications for food-insecure populations. The impacts of the RFS are assessed along with the effects of current and potentially reformed U.S. international food-aid programs.
This study concludes that current U.S. agricultural subsidy programs have small or negligible impacts on the aggregate level and mixture of U.S. agricultural output, U.S. domestic prices and global prices, and domestic and global food insecurity among poor households. The RFS has increased prices for food and feed grain and oilseeds with adverse implications for the urban poor in developing countries and some poor U.S. households. The portfolios of U.S. food-aid programs are managed inefficiently because of congressional mandates designed to aid special interest groups that waste 30% of the current budget. While U.S. subsidy programs likely should be moderated for other reasons, they have few impacts on domestic and globally food-insecure households. However, in relation to global and domestic food insecurity, the RFS should be discontinued and major reforms to U.S. international food aid implemented.
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