Farm Inputs and Agri-Environment Measures as Indicators of Agri-Environment Quality in Hungary

The paper deals with agri-environmental indicators, examines farm inputs, on the basis of statistical data of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) (Szabo, Pomazi 2002) and the Eurostat (2004). The examined indicators are placed in the agricultural DPSIR model. The paper presents how the use of farm inputs changed in Hungary from 1980-2000. Farm inputs are related to the inputs of the EU-15, the study demonstrates that today they are below the EU- 15 average. Area under agri-environmental measures in 2003 - which covered the 4% of agricultural area of Hungary - as a response indicator is also presented and based in the land-use zone system developed by Godollo Agricultural University (Angyan et al., 1998).agri-environmental measures, farm inputs, indicators, Environmental Economics and Policy, Q01,

Agricultural applications: energy uses and audits

On-farm energy efficiency is becoming increasingly important in the context of rising energy costs and concerns over greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Energy inputs represent a major and rapidly increasing cost to the growers around the world. This entry reviews the currently available tools and technologies for conducting on-farm energy audits/assessments. Opportunities to reduce operational energy inputs and impacts on GHG emissions are also discussed

Land redistribution, tenure insecurity, and intensity of production: a study of farm households in southern Ethiopia

"This study analyzes the determinants of land tenure insecurity and its impact on intensity of use of purchased farm inputs among households in Southern Ethiopia. Seventeen percent of the households stated that they were tenure insecure. The feeling of tenure insecurity could be caused by the land redistribution policy in Ethiopia where household size has been the main criterion used for land allocation after the land reform in 1975. This would imply that land rich households should be more tenure insecure. Alternatively, the local power structure may be strong enough to counter this and cause the land rich, who are also likely to be influential, to be able to protect their land rights. The analysis revealed that, in the overall sample, relative farm size was not significantly correlated with tenure insecurity. When testing for each site, however, we found that in four of the sites per capita farm size was positively associated with tenure insecurity, while in five other sites it had a significant negative association. This may be due to local historical, cultural, and demographic differences giving way to differences in the effects of the redistribution policy and the local power structure on tenure insecurity. We assessed the impact of tenure insecurity on the intensity of use of purchased farm inputs. The tenure insecurity variable was insignificant. Farmers in areas with a positive correlation between farm size and tenure insecurity were more likely to purchase farm inputs. Larger farms were more likely to use purchased inputs, but this effect was lower in areas with a positive correlation between farm size and tenure insecurity. Poverty and subsistence constraints may explain this absence of higher intensity of use of purchased inputs on small farms. By contrast, the land redistribution policy may have improved small farms' access to purchased farm inputs. (text of Abstract)Land tenure Ethiopia., Land use Ethiopia., Gender,

ARE LARGE FARMS MORE EFFICIENT?

Accurate estimates of returns to scale require that inputs and output are measured without error and that environmental and managerial differences among firms of varying sizes are taken into account. Measurement problems affecting estimates of returns to scale in agriculture include: (1) combining the farm dwelling with capital inputs, (2) correlation of environmental and management characteristics with size and (3) the effect of off-farm employment on small farm output and production costs. Estimates of long run average total cost curves for farms in the corn belt reveal that after the above factors are taken into account, estimated scale economies in agriculture disappear, while there is evidence of diseconomies as farm size increases.Farm Management, Productivity Analysis,

Variable Input Allocation: Why Heterogeneity Matters?

The allocation of variable inputs among crops is a common problem in applied studies that use farm accountancy data. Standard farm accounting information is typically restricted to aggregate or whole-farm input expenditures; there are usually no details on how these expenditures are split among crops. Most studies employing multi-crop econometric models with land as an allocable fixed input consider generally variable input uses at the farm level (Moore and Negri, 1992). However, the allocation of variable inputs among crops appears to be useful for several objectives, such as to analyze the evolution of gross margins at the crop level, to investigate the empirical validity of a multi-crop econometric model and to provide important information for extension agents or farmer advisors.Variable Input Allocation, heterogeneity, Agricultural and Food Policy, Agricultural Finance, Crop Production/Industries, Farm Management, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods,

Soil phosphorus status in organic and conventional vegetable farms in Southeast Queensland, Australia

The soil phosphorus (P) status (0-10 cm) of two farming systems (organic (OF) and conventional (CF) vegetable farms) at two locations (Gatton and Stanthorpe) was examined amongst a suite of soil fertility indicators. The P status was similar between farming systems, in contrast to some broad-acre organic systems. Examination of farm management records revealed substantial overlap between P inputs at both localities with CF systems also receiving organic inputs, e.g. green manure and composts. A statistical analysis of the effects of different inputs also indicated that P fertility did not vary significantly between farms. Soil P levels were medium to high across farm types indicating a potential environmental risk for vegetable producers particularly in sandy well drained soils. The three methods of extraction Colwell, Olsen and Resin were well correlated with each other and produced similar results indicating the similar nutrient pools exist between farming system

Middlemen behaviour and generic advertising rents in competitive interrelated industries

This article focuses on the role of middlemen in determining the returns to generic advertising in a competitive industry where supply is uncontrolled, the price of marketing inputs is endogenous, and retail markets are interrelated through consumer preferences. Theoretical analysis suggests farm-gate returns (quasi-rents) are overstated when input substitution at middlemen level is ignored, a result confrmed in the empirical application. As for mark-up behaviour, represented by the farm-retail price transmission elasticity, a general result is that farm-gate returns to generic advertising always increase as the transmission elasticity decreases, provided retail demand is more elastic than input substitution. Endogenising the price of marketing inputs has little effect on advertising rents.Agribusiness, Marketing,

WHAT'S SPACE GOT TO DO WITH IT? DISTANCE AND AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIVITY BEFORE THE RAILWAY AGE

Owing to the high cost of transporting farm produce before the railway age, the land-intensiveness of European mixed farming caused both production and consumption of foodstuffs and intermediate farm inputs in the steady state to be highly dispersed, a spatial configuration offering weak inducement to reorganize farm structure or to invest available labour and capital with a view to increasing output. In such conditions the most common cause of rising agricultural productivity was spatial concentration of demand, which raised the demand price of farm produce and farm inputs within the privileged space bounded by discontinuities in the cost of land transport. The ultimate cause of observed changes in agricultural productivity before the nineteenth century must therefore be sought outside the farming sector in the development of markets for tradable manufactures, tradable services, and the economies of scale in their provision that supported spatial concentration of population.

THE ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE OF CROP ROTATION SYSTEMS: EVIDENCE FROM THE LITERATURE

Agricultural sustainability requires that the individual farm firm be competitive and profitable while simultaneously enhancing environmental quality and the natural resource base upon which the farm firm and agricultural economy depends. The reliance of conventional agriculture systems on purchased inputs external to the firm presents possible challenges to the long-term sustainability of the system. Crop rotation systems are one cropping system alternative that can reduce agriculture's dependence on external inputs through internal nutrient recycling, maintenance of the long-term productivity of the land, and breaking weed and disease cycles. Decision criteria to choose among competing crop rotation systems can include impact on soil quality and fertility, environmental quality, and farm profitability. However, most of the comparative economic analysis work reviewed for this paper considered only farm profitability as a criterion to rank alternative crop rotation systems. Most rotation research is focused around a target crop that is the foundation for the crop rotation system. When corn is the target crop, comparative profitability performance of continuous corn vs. corn grown in rotation showed that neither system is consistently more profitable than another. Corn yield in Michigan does respond favorably to crop diversity. Wheat as the target crop in rotation tends to outperform continuous wheat both in terms of profitability and income risk. Sugar beet prices hold the key in determining the profitability ranking of alternative sugar beet-based crop rotations. Potato in rotations tends to outperform continuous potato both in terms of yield and profitability. Future studies addressing the economic performance of crop rotations need to consider the environmental benefits/costs both on and off the farm site that accrue to society. Keywords: Agricultural sustainability, external inputs, soil quality and fertility, environmental quality, crop rotations, comparative economic analysis, farm profitability.Agricultural sustainability, external inputs, soil quality and fertility, environmental quality, crop rotations, comparative economic analysis, farm profitability., Crop Production/Industries,

Farms' technical inefficiencies in the presence of government programs

We focus on determining the impacts of government programs on farms’ technical inefficiency levels. We use Kumbhakar’s stochastic frontier model that accounts for both production risks and risk preferences. Our theoretical framework shows that decoupled government transfers are likely to increase (decrease) DARA (IARA) farmers’ production inefficiencies if variable inputs are risk decreasing. However, the impacts of decoupled payments cannot be anticipated if variable inputs are risk increasing. We use farm-level data collected in Kansas to illustrate the model.Just and Pope production function, Agricultural and Food Policy, Farm Management,