Winter and Spring Cereal Production in the Maritimes

Organic producers have expressed an interest in diversifying their crop rotations through the inclusion of winter cereals. Winter cereals have many potential benefits, as they provide soil cover over the winter months, can often out-compete weeds in the spring and can be harvested earlier than other cereal crops. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of management history on the performance of winter cereals versus spring cereals

Winter Cereals as a Multipurpose Crop

In 2010, the University of Vermont Extension continued their research evaluating winter cereals as a multipurpose crop. Winter cereal grains including barley, wheat, and triticale are planted mid to late September in the Northeast. The crops can be harvested as pasture, stored feed, or grain and straw. This study was to evaluate if the winter cereals could be grazed and then harvested for forage or grain/straw. This would allow a farmer to harvest more than one type of feed from only one planting of cereals. Overall the goal of this project is to help organic dairy producers reduce their reliance on expensive concentrates through the production of a variety of high quality annual forages. Winter cereals begin to grow early in the spring when air temperatures are in the low 40s. The growth of cereal grains begins before cool season pasture. Hence these cereals may provide early season grazing opportunities and then still be able to provide later harvested stored feed or even grain/straw

ARE LOWER-INCOME SHOPPERS AS PRICE SENSITIVE AS HIGHER-INCOME ONES?: A LOOK AT BREAKFAST CEREALS

Scanner data for breakfast cereals are used to estimate demand elasticities for six supermarket stores in two distinct socio-economic areas. Three stores are in low-income locations and three are in high-income locations. A time series cross-section model is estimated for five product categories across six cross sections over forty-two weeks. Results show lower-income shoppers to have more elastic demands for four of the five product categories: private label cold cereals, the top ten brands of cold cereals, all other brands of cold cereals, and hot cereals. Price is not statistically significant for a fifth product category, snack cereals.Consumer/Household Economics,

A rapid magnetic solid phase extraction method followed by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry analysis for the determination of mycotoxins in cereals

Mycotoxins can contaminate various food commodities, including cereals. Moreover, mycotoxins of different classes can co-contaminate food, increasing human health risk. Several analytical methods have been published in the literature dealing with mycotoxins determination in cereals. Nevertheless, in the present work, the aim was to propose an easy and effective system for the extraction of six of the main mycotoxins from corn meal and durum wheat flour, i.e., the main four aflatoxins, ochratoxin A, and the mycoestrogen zearalenone. The developed method exploited magnetic solid phase extraction (SPE), a technique that is attracting an increasing interest as an alternative to classical SPE. Therefore, the use of magnetic graphitized carbon black as a suitable extracting material was tested. The same magnetic material proved to be effective in the extraction of mycoestrogens from milk, but has never been applied to complex matrices as cereals. Ultra high-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry was used for detection. Recoveries were > 60% in both cereals, even if the matrix effects were not negligible. The limits of quantification of the method results were comparable to those obtained by other two magnetic SPE-based methods applied to cereals, which were limited to one or two mycotoxins, whereas in this work the investigated mycotoxins belonged to three different chemical classes

Determinants of household choice of breakfast cereals: healthy or unhealthy?

We studied consumer demand for more and less healthy breakfast cereals. Using ACNielsen Homescan database and USDA food nutrition data, we developed three cereal nutrition indexes for each household in the data. In addition to the standard demographic characteristics of households and prices, we included variables representing differences between private labels and national brands. We found that the structure of the industry, through its effect on the product mix produced, affects consumer choice of nutritious foods. Some households buy fewer healthy cereals simply through reluctance to trust private labels. Among all factors expected to influence consumer purchases, the prices appear to have the strongest effect on the healthiness of the choice of breakfast cereals, which is a relatively inexpensive product. Households with children and teens buy less healthy cereals, while older and more educated households make healthier choices.consumer demand, healthy and unhealthy food, breakfast cereals, Consumer/Household Economics,

Effects of Economic Policies Aimed at Encouraging a Healthier Grain Consumption

In this paper, we evaluate the effects of policy reforms aimed at achieving two policy objectives for grain consumption; (a) to double the intake of bread and breakfast cereals and (b) to ensure that half of the bread and breakfast cereals consumed are whole grain products. The overall aim of these policy objectives are to increase the dietary fibre intake from grain consumption so as to significantly contribute to the general recommended (minimum) increase of the fibre intake. Based on parameter estimates from a demand system we simulate the resulting changes in volumes purchased and fibre intake from two policy reforms entailing differentiated VAT on grain products. In the first reform we remove the VAT on "keyhole labelled" bread and breakfast cereals, in the second reform we consider a more extensive policy package of subsidizing the keyhole labelled bread and breakfast cereals by 20 percent while removing the VAT on all other grain products. Our results indicate that both reforms are likely to be successful in ensuring that the consumers attain the nutrition recommendations that half of the bread and breakfast cereals consumed are whole grain products, but that additional policy instruments are needed to reach the recommendation that the intake of bread and breakfast cereals should be doubled.Agricultural and Food Policy, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety,

Variation in the abundance of Rhopalosiphum padi in Finland

The bird cherry-oat aphid, Rhopalosiphum padi (L.), is the major aphid pest in spring cereals in Finland. It is also the vector of Barley yellow dwarf virus (BYDV) which is the most serious virus disease of cereals. The Finnish forecast of R. padi is based on egg counts on the winter host. The effects of no-tillage on aphid abundance have been variable

Meta-Analysis on grain yield effects of cereals-legume intercropping

Meta-Analysis on grain yield effects of cereals-legume intercroppin

Bio Suisse Bans Hybrid Cereals

On April 19th, 2006, the 100 delegates of Bio Suisse, the Swiss organic umbrella organization, voted to ban Hybrid varieties in organic cereals (except maize). This decision primarily concerns rye. Organic rye is grown on only 250 ha, about 20% of which is sown to hybrid varieties at present. About 60% of total organic demand is imported. Hybrid varieties of the other cereals are not yet being grown. The delegates decided that it is time to act now to send a signal to breeders and to the international organic community before the alternatives to hybrids vanish

THE ADOPTION OF HIGH YIELDING WHEATS IN TUNISIA

Since 1966 strenuous efforts have been made to introduce into Tunisia some of the new high yielding wheat varieties in order to accelerate cereals production. This paper seeks to analyze some of the data now available on the new wheats in Tunisia and to explore some of the economic problems of increased cereals production with these varieties.Crop Production/Industries,