Information and Opportunistic Behavior in Federal Crop Insurance Programs

Opportunistic behavior in crop insurance can arise due to asymmetric information between producers and the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation. Producers who insure fields using transitional yields based on county average yields or who select options such as buy-up coverage or revenue insurance may increase their return from crop insurance. Using field-level crop insurance contract data for several crops in five growing regions, we find evidence that producers can profit from using buy-up coverage, revenue insurance, and transitional yields and that the level of producer opportunism is crop but not necessarily land-quality specific and is greater due to premium subsidization.opportunistic behavior, crop insurance, buy-up, revenue, transitional yields

Régie des populations de Cydia pomonella (Lepidoptera : Tortricidea) dans les vergers commerciaux du Québec avec des phéromones de synthèse

Des diffuseurs à phéromones sexuelles de synthèse ont été installés en 1992 et 1993 dans trois vergers de pommiers (Malus pumila) du Québec, à raison de 1000 diffuseurs ha lors d'un essai de régie des populations de carpocapse de la pomme, Cydia pomonella [Lepidoptera : Tortricidae]. De 1991 à 1992, soit après un an d'essai, les dégâts de carpocapse à la récolte sont passés de 54 % à 32 %, de 11 % à 2 %, et se sont maintenus à 0 % dans les vergers à forte, moyenne et faible pressions de carpocapse, respectivement. Après deux ans d'essai, les dégâts sont demeurés au même niveau ou ont été diminués davantage selon le type de programme de répression utilisé contre les autres ravageurs. En 1993, une baisse de 75-100 % des captures a aussi été observée dans les pièges à phéromones par rapport aux captures observées en 1991.Pheromone dispensers were installed in 1992 and 1993, at a rate of 1000 dispensers ha1, in three Quebec apple (Malus pumila) orchards, to reduce populations of the codling moth, Cydia pomonella [Lepidoptera : Tortricidae]. After one year, codling moth damage at harvest decreased from 54% to 32%, from 11% to 2% and remained at 0% in the high, medium and low codling moth pressure orchards, respectively. Damage remained at the same level after the second year, or further decreased, depending on the type of spray program used against other pests. Pheromone trap catches in 1993 also decreased from 75 to 100% when compared to 1991 catches

The Effects of Transitional Yields on Adverse Selection in Crop Insurance

Transitional yields based on county average can be used by producers as the basis to obtain crop insurance on fields that have not previously produced the crop. Using field-level crop insurance contract data for several crops in five different growing regions we examine the impact of this asymmetric information on adverse selection. Our results indicate that adverse selection does exist from the use of transitional yields and that it is crop specific but not land-quality specific.adverse selection, crop insurance, transitional yields, Risk and Uncertainty, Q18,

Managing apple maggot, Rhagoletis pomonella [Diptera : Tephritidae], by perimeter trapping

Le piégeage des adultes de la mouche de la pomme (Rhagoletis pomonella) en périphérie des vergers de pommiers (Malus pumila) est une méthode de lutte physique efficace. En vergers commerciaux, il a permis d'obtenir de 99,5 à 100 % de fruits sains à la récolte. Les pièges consistaient en des sphères rouges (9 cm diam.) ou des panneaux jaunes (28 cm x 21,5 cm) insérés entre deux demi-sphères rouges. Ils étaient enduits de colle et appâtés d'hexanoate de butyle. Le nombre de pièges installés a été déterminé en fonction de la longueur de la façade directement exposée à un site d'infestation potentielle par le R. pomonella. Dans les parcelles, sur les côtés adjacents à un boisé, les pièges étaient placés à environ 10 m de distance sur le rang, ou sur les pommiers à l'extréminté de chacun des rangs. Sur les côtés adjacents à des prairies de graminées ou à des vergers traités chimiquement, on a placé les pièges à environ 20 m d'intervalle. Afin d’obtenir un niveau de contrôle acceptable par les pomiculteurs, les populations de la mouche de la pomme doivent être de faibles à modérées. La sensibilité aux attaques de la mouche de la pomme a varié d'un cultivar à l'autre. Ce facteur doit être considéré si Ton veut appliquer cette méthode en conditions commerciales.Perimeter trapping is an effective physical method to control apple maggot (Rhagoletis pomonella) in apple (Malus pumila) orchards. It provided 99.5 to 100 % clean fruit at harvest in commercial orchards. The traps were red spheres (9 cm diam) or yellow boards (28 cm x 21.5 cm) sandwiched between the two halves of red spheres. They were coated with a sticky material and baited with butyl hexanoate. The number of traps per plot was a function of the length of the plot facing a possible entry site of R. pomonella. In plots adjacent to forest, traps were placed at ca. 10 m intervals on the row, or on the outer most tree of every row. Sides of plots adjacent to prairie grass or a chemically-treated plot had traps at approximately 20-m intervals. To achieve commercially acceptable apple maggot control, the activity of the pest should be low to moderate. Susceptiblity to apple maggot attack varied from one apple cultivar to another. Therefore, this criterion should be considered when perimeter trapping of apple maggot is envisaged

Ecology and management of plum curculio, Conotrachelus nenuphar [Coleoptera :Curculionidae], in apple orchards

Le charançon de la prune (Conotrachelus nénuphar) est un insecte originaire de l'Amérique du Nord. Il s'attaque aux fruits à pépins et à noyaux de l'est des États-Unis et du Canada. Il est un ravageur prépondérant en vergers de pommiers (Maluspumila) au Québec. Au printemps, les adultes se déplacent de leurs sites d'hibernation, localisés principalement dans les boisés, vers les vergers. Avant la nouaison, l'activité de ces insectes est surtout nocturne, mais elle s'étend à toute la journée dès l'apparition des fruits. Les larves quittent le fruit au moment de la chute physiologique, et la pupaison s'effectue dans le sol. La nouvelle génération d'adultes apparaît en août, et se nourrit de fruits jusqu'à l'automne, puis retourne vers les sites d’hibernation. Plusieurs éléments de la bio-écologie du charançon sont méconnus, notamment les relations entre l’insecte et l’hôte, le comportement, la dispersion, le mode de déplacement, la reconnaissance des plantes hôtes et des sites d’hibernation, l’orientation, et les seuils économiques. Il n’existe actuellement aucune méthode fiable pour dépister ce charançon, et aucun moyen biologique de lutte contre ce ravageur. Cependant, des études récentes sur le comportement et l’activité du charançon de la prune en conditions semi-naturelles et naturelles pourraient permettre le développement de stratégies de lutte plus efficaces. Ces travaux sont présentés ici de même qu’une revue des méthodes de lutte (chimique, biologique, génétique, mécanique et culturale) envisageables contre le charançon de la prune.Plum curculio (Conotrachelus nenuphar) is a native pest of pome and stone fruit in eastern North America. It is a key pest of apple (Malus pumila) orchards in Quebec. In spring, adults disperse primarily from woodland overwintering sites to apple orchards. Before fruit set, the beetles are mainly nocturnal. As fruits become available for oviposition, adults extend their activity to the daytime. Full grown larvae found in dropped apples in June (June drop) enter the soil to pupate. The summer brood emerges in August, feeds on the remaining fruit throughout the fall and then disperses to suitable overwintering sites. Little is known of its community and host plant relationships, dispersal behavior, factors influencing its mode of locomotion, choice of food sources, overwintering sites, micro-habitat selection, orientation, and action threshold. Commercially available biocontrol agents are not effective, and convenient and reliable monitoring techniques for the timing of sprays have not been developed. However, recent field and insectary studies on the behavior and activity of plum curculio adults may allow us to improve the efficiency of control strategies. These findings are presented here, together with their implications for control of the plum curculio by modifying its habitat, and by better timing and location of sprays and other interventions. This paper also includes brief reviews of biological controls, insect growth regulators, and genetic controls for plum curculio

Container size exerts a stronger influence than liquid volume on the perceived weight of objects

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Elsevier via the DOI in this recordMany features of an object can influence how we predict and perceive its weight. The current study evaluated the relative contributions of sensory and conceptual processing of object features on weight perception. We employed a novel paradigm to investigate how container size and the amount of liquid inside can influence the perceived weight of bottles and the forces deployed when lifting them. Stimulus pairs always had the same mass but could vary in liquid volume (full vs half-full bottle) or size (large vs small bottle; size-weight illusion (SWI)). In Experiment 1, participants lifted the stimuli via strings, which served to isolate the influence of visual from kinaesthetic information about the size of stimuli on perception and lifting behaviour. In Experiment 2, participants lifted the stimuli via handles that were attached directly to the objects. This lifting style is more likely to include deviations from true vertical lifting, which should theoretically provide more kinaesthetic information about the size of the stimuli. Experiment 1 did not produce any weight illusion. Experiment 2 produced a weight illusion but only when container size differed. Thus, liquid volume did not influence perceived weight when container size was held constant in either experiment. Curiously, additional control experiments revealed that participants could not discriminate between the different sized bottles solely from the kinaesthetic information received from a handle-based lift, suggesting that size might be processed differently when making explicit perceptual judgements about it than when influencing weight perception. Together, these findings suggest that weight illusions are driven more strongly by the kinaesthetic processing of stimulus features than predictions arising from conceptual weight cues.Australian Research Council (ARC

The development of the size–weight illusion in children coincides with the development of nonverbal cognition rather than motor skills

This is the final version. Available on open access from Elsevier via the DOI in this recordWe examined how the strength of the size–weight illusion develops with age in typically developing children. To this end, we recruited children aged 5–12 years and quantified the degree to which they experienced the illusion. We hypothesized that the strength of the illusion would increase with age. The results supported this hypothesis. We also measured abilities in manual dexterity, receptive language, and abstract reasoning to determine whether changes in illusion strength were associated with these factors. Manual dexterity and receptive language did not correlate with illusion strength. Conversely, illusion strength and abstract reasoning were tightly coupled with each other. Multiple regression further revealed that age, manual dexterity, and receptive language did not contribute more to the variance in illusion strength beyond children's abilities in abstract reasoning. Taken together, the effects of age on the size–weight illusion appear to be explained by the development of nonverbal cognition. These findings not only inform the literature on child development but also have implications for theoretical explanations on the size–weight illusion. We suggest that the illusion has a strong acquired component to it and that it is strengthened by children's reasoning skills and perhaps an understanding of the world that develops with age.Australian Research Counci