PEANUT QUOTA MARKETS AND PEANUT PRODUCTION AFTER FAIR

The U.S. peanut program has limited peanut production since 1949. Unlike the programs for grains, cotton, and rice, the 1996 FAIR Act left the peanut program largely intact. As before FAIR (and since 1977) the right to grow peanuts for the domestic edible market is embodied in marketing quota, which can be leased and sold. The FAIR Act for the first time allowed quota movement across county lines. We now have four years of experience with peanut quota markets post-FAIR. In some parts of the country, quota has moved as much as the regulatory caps allow. But in most of the traditional peanut-growing areas of the Southeast there has been little cross-county movement. In this paper we analyze a large county-level panel of pre- and post-FAIR data to assess the effects of these changes in policy. We have compiled from USDA-FSA sources data on quota movements for virtually every peanut-producing county in the seven major peanut-producing states. We use these data to test microeconomic predictions of the effects of the loosening of transfer restrictions. Analysis of the data shows large quota movements in areas where observations on additionals production and lease rates would have predicted such. We find that movements in production, as distinct from movements in quota, cannot be explained entirely by FAIR, but can reasonably be attributed to changes in the profitability of growing competing crops such as cotton. The reduced profitability of the latter might itself be attributed in part to the elimination of cotton deficiency payments.Agricultural and Food Policy,

BLAME IT ON THE WEATHER: COST AND DESIGN OF MANURE MANAGEMENT UNDER EXTREME WEATHER CONDITIONS ON NORTH CAROLINA SWINE FARMS

The majority of pig farms in North Carolina use a lagoon-sprayfield system to manage manure. Although economical, the lagoon-sprayfield system is sensitive to weather conditions. This study examines the cost of manure management under extreme weather and scrutinizes National Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) design criteria and regulations.Farm Management,

THE END OF SUPPLY CONTROLS: THE ECONOMIC EFFECTS OF RECENT CHANGE IN FEDERAL PEANUT POLICY

The paper analyzes recent changes in U.S. peanut policy as enacted in the 2002 Farm Security Act. A model representing the impact of the 2002 farm bill on the domestic and foreign prices of edible peanuts is constructed and the gains and losses to peanut producing states are measured.Agricultural and Food Policy,

Phosphorus-Based Application of Livestock Manure and the Law of Unintended Consequences

The application of manure phosphorus at rates above crop uptake has resulted in water pollution for some regions. In response, new manure management standards will require some farms to match manure phosphorus applications rates with crop uptake. For some regions, this will lead to more crop acres and a shift toward crops with greater nutrient uptake, both of which will increase nitrogen runoff. The greater nitrogen runoff could offset the lower phosphorus runoff to result in greater water pollution. This demonstrates the law of unintended consequences, which results when policy does not consider how economic agents respond to incentives

PEANUT QUOTA MARKETS AND PEANUT PRODUCTION AFTER FAIR

The U.S. peanut program has limited peanut production since 1949. Unlike the programs for grains, cotton, and rice, the 1996 FAIR Act left the peanut program largely intact. As before FAIR (and since 1977) the right to grow peanuts for the domestic edible market is embodied in marketing quota, which can be leased and sold. The FAIR Act for the first time allowed quota movement across county lines. We now have four years of experience with peanut quota markets post-FAIR. In some parts of the country, quota has moved as much as the regulatory caps allow. But in most of the traditional peanut-growing areas of the Southeast there has been little cross-county movement. In this paper we analyze a large county-level panel of pre- and post-FAIR data to assess the effects of these changes in policy. We have compiled from USDA-FSA sources data on quota movements for virtually every peanut-producing county in the seven major peanut-producing states. We use these data to test microeconomic predictions of the effects of the loosening of transfer restrictions. Analysis of the data shows large quota movements in areas where observations on additionals production and lease rates would have predicted such. We find that movements in production, as distinct from movements in quota, cannot be explained entirely by FAIR, but can reasonably be attributed to changes in the profitability of growing competing crops such as cotton. The reduced profitability of the latter might itself be attributed in part to the elimination of cotton deficiency payments

BLAME IT ON THE WEATHER: COST AND DESIGN OF MANURE MANAGEMENT UNDER EXTREME WEATHER CONDITIONS ON NORTH CAROLINA SWINE FARMS

The majority of pig farms in North Carolina use a lagoon-sprayfield system to manage manure. Although economical, the lagoon-sprayfield system is sensitive to weather conditions. This study examines the cost of manure management under extreme weather and scrutinizes National Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) design criteria and regulations

Transaction Costs and Cattle Marketing: The Information Content of Seller-Provided Presale Data at Bull Auctions

At sales out breeding bulls, prospective buyers have strong incentives to undertake presale measurement activities. To reduce these transaction costs, sellers often provide information on sale bulls. We examine the information content of two measures of the expected performance of the bulls and find that within a given herd, older, simpler measures of performance contain more information about prices (from buyers' perspectives) than newer, more sophisticated measures known as expected progeny differences, or EPDs. We also find, however, that buyers appear to pay considerable attention to annual changes in herd-average EPD values when comparing animals from different sellers. Copyright 2001, Oxford University Press.