An Econometric Analysis of U.S. Crop Yield and Cropland Acreage: Implications for the Impact of Climate Change

We conduct an econometric analysis of the factors influencing U.S. crop yields and acres using U.S. county level data from 1977 to 2007 and evaluate the likely effects of future climate change on U.S. crop yields based on the projected climate changes by IPCC (2001) and our estimated parameters.Crop yield response, crop acreage response, climate change, econometric analysis, US county-level panel data, Agricultural and Food Policy, Crop Production/Industries, Demand and Price Analysis, Environmental Economics and Policy, Productivity Analysis, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Citizen Complaints, Regulatory Violations, and their Implications for Swine Operations in Illinois

In this paper, statistical and economic analyses are used in identifying, analyzing, and modeling the relationships among citizen complaints, swine production and community characteristics, EPA inspections, and regulatory violations. The primary results of this research include assessments of factors that affect citizen complaints and factors that affect the probability of regulatory violations. In addition, the analyses also provide statistical results of a comparison of the efficiencies of different types of site inspections in regulatory violation detection. Our results provide information valuable for understanding issues surrounding the development of the swine production industry and local communities.Institutional and Behavioral Economics,

Modeling trade and environmental interactions

Interactions between trade and the environment have been studied extensively as a reaction to the pressure that the accelerated pace of globalization is placing on environment and trade. Distinguishing itself from previous studies, this research addresses issues, methods and policy implications concerning the interrelationship between trade and environment first in a comprehensive literature survey, and then focuses on a modeling analysis on the interactions between trade and the environment in China.;The literature review provides a perspective on received and future research by employing a dual approach: not only are major issues concerning trade and environment analyzed, but also progress in the methods necessary to examine those issues is assessed. In both parts, the attempt has been to suggest new possibilities for research and policy goals.;To investigate the interactions between trade and the environment in the Chinese case, a nonlinear simultaneous equations trade and environment model (TEM) is developed. The theoretical framework of the TEM is an expansion of Dean\u27s (1999) four equation model by adding international trade and foreign direct investment relationships. This model can be used not only to analyze the trade impact of an environmental policy and the environmental impact of trade, but also to identify the sources of those influences. In addition, the nonlinear specification of the relationship between emissions and economic scales allows for an explicit test of the environmental Kuznets curve.;The TEM is estimated with a Chinese provincial panel data set. The empirical results suggest that there may indeed have existed a tradeoff between economic growth and environmental protection in China\u27s development. That is, increased trade and rapid economic growth may have led to more pollution emissions on the one hand, while environmental policies may have led to reduced economic growth and reduced trade on the other. Policy alternatives to mitigate these negative impacts are also explored here

VARIABILITY IN GROWTH, PIG WEIGHTS AND HOG MARKETING DECISIONS

Variability in pig growth is an intrinsic characteristic of swine production. The optimal marketing strategies are identified to minimize the negative economic impact of variability for a typical all-in-all-out swine finishing facility using a recent pricing matrix and data featuring swine production in the Midwestern region. Our results show that compared with marketing all pigs from a 1,020 head barn on the same day, marketing pigs in six truckloads on different dates as groups of pigs grow to more optimal size significantly improves the profitability of production as variability increases. This finding is in line with recent producer response to new pricing matrices that prove stronger price incentives for marketing more uniform pigs. We also find that studies on optimal marketing strategies without taking into account variability in pig weights can result in exaggerated optimal marketing weights and profits of production. Growth variability management and marketing strategies continue to be essential to the economic viability of the swine industry.Marketing,

EVALUATION OF SWINE ODOR MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES IN A FUZZY MULTI-CRITERIA DECISION ENVIRONMENT

The paper evaluates swine odor management strategies using the fuzzy extension of the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP), which is a multiple criteria decision making approach based on fuzzy scales. The evaluation is conducted using data from our cost effectiveness study of odor management strategies and our on farm studies relating odor to various management practices. These strategies include manual oil sprinkling, automatic oil sprinkling, wet scrubber, diffusion-coagulation-separation (DCS) deduster, pelleting feed, and draining shallow pit weekly. The criteria employed to evaluate the strategies are odor reduction efficiency, costs, nutrients in manure, and other benefits. Two producer profiles are considered: (a) producers who are pressured to achieve maximum reduction in odor emissions; and (b) producers who are constrained with limited financial resources. Both of these profiles are reflective of current situations for some producers. The results show that, as the scale fuzziness decreases, the preference of the first producer profile over the strategies from high to low is DCS deduster, pelleting feed, automatic oil sprinkling, manual oil sprinkling, draining pit weekly, and wet scrubber while the preference of the second producer profile is draining pit weekly, DCS dedusters, automatic oil sprinkling, wet scrubbers, pelleting feed, and manual oil sprinkling.Livestock Production/Industries,

MANURE VALUE, PRICING SYSTEMS, AND SWINE PRODUCTION DECISIONS

Based on a swine producer's profit maximization model in which manure value and packers' live market weight pricing systems are considered, the optimal farm inventory and optimal hog market weight are simultaneously solved for scenarios generated from the combination of two crop rotations, two forms of manure storage, two levels of manure incorporation, and two nutrient application standards. First, our results suggest that manure value has a significant impact on the optimal farm inventory as well as on the profitability of an operation. The optimal size of operation identified is quite large and varies considerably among the scenarios. Our results indicate that shallow pit buildings with lagoons can support a larger operation scale and require less acreage for manure dispersion than systems with slurry basins. For slurry basin systems, manure applications with immediate incorporation are more profitable than applications with no incorporation. Second, our results show that the optimal hog market weight is insensitive to benefits and costs of manure handling and application, reflecting a dominant influence of the pricing system on a producer's hog marketing decision. Finally, our results show that though more acres are needed for manure application when a P standard is applied in a corn-soybean rotation, still a P standard is economically advantageous to swine farmers and this standard also makes better use of manure nutrients.Livestock Production/Industries,

Cost of Maintaining CRP in Presence of Biofuels

We analyze the effect of an emergence of biofuel industry on the Conservation Reserve Program. The government expenditure on Conservation Reserve Program needs to increase dramatically to keep the current scale of CRP program when the biofuel industry is considered. We propose that the development of bioenergy crops on expiring CRP land is a potential way to reconcile the conflict between a sharp increase in government CRP budget and its environmental protection goal. CRP program can also be combined with the Biomass Crop Assistance Program (BCAP) to achieve the goal of environmental protection and low carbon society at the same time.Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), Soil Rental Rate, Bioenergy Crops, Environmental Economics and Policy,

Mathematical Programming Modeling of Agricultural Supply Response

Agricultural and Food Policy, Land Economics/Use,

Meeting the Mandate for Biofuels: Implications for Land Use and Food and Fuel Prices

Biofuels have been promoted to achieve energy security and as a solution to mitigating climate change. This research presents a framework to examine the extent to which biofuel mandates and subsidies reduce gasoline consumption and their implications for the food and fuel prices. A dynamic, multi-market equilibrium model, Biofuel and Environmental Policy Analysis Model (BEPAM), is used to estimate the effects of these policies on cropland usage between food crops and fuel crops and food and fuel prices, and to analyze the incentives provided by alternative policies for the mix of biofuels from corn and various cellulosic feedstocks that are economically viable over the 2007-2022 period. The provision of biofuel subsidies that accompany the mandate under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) is found to significantly change this mix in favor of cellulosic biofuels produced from high yielding grasses and reduce the adverse impact of the RFS alone on food prices.Land Economics/Use, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,