The WTO and U.S. Domestic Support in the Food Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008

Agricultural and Food Policy, International Relations/Trade, F13, Q18,

Food Chain Disruptions and Trade: The Importance of North American Market Integration

Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, International Relations/Trade,

Market Integration in the North American Onion Markets: An Empirical Analysis Using Panel Data

This study investigates the level of market integration in the North American Onion Markets. A two-sample period analysis shows an increase in the speed of price convergence overtime, suggesting deeper market integration as NAFTA was fully implemented. Further analysis showed that U.S.-Canadian markets have experienced deeper market integration compared with U.S.-Mexican markets as well as Canadian-Mexican markets.market integration, onion markets, panel data, price convergence, Marketing,

Trade Creation and Trade Diversion in the North American Free Trade Agreement: The Case of Agricultural Sector

This paper examines the impact of the U.S.-Mexico trade agreement under NAFTA. The results suggest that U.S. agricultural imports from Mexico have been responsive to tariff rate reductions applied to Mexican products. A 1 percent decrease in tariff rates is associated with an increase in U.S. agricultural imports from Mexico by 3.96 percent in the first six years of NAFTA and by 1.07 percent in the last six years of NAFTA. US imports from Mexico have also been attributable to the pre-NAFTA tariff rates. Overall, the results indicate that the U.S.-Mexico trade agreement under NAFTA has been trade creating rather than trade diverting.International Relations/Trade,

Impact of Hired Foreign Labor on Milk Production and Herd Size in the United States

Foreign labor has become increasingly important component of U.S. agriculture. Disruption in the supply of agricultural labor has been argued to significantly affect agricultural production. This study analyzes the impacts of foreign labor shortages on the dairy industry using national survey data. The results suggest that a 30 percent hired foreign labor shortage will result in 10.1 billion pound decline in total U.S. milk production. This is equivalent to a loss of 458.9 thousand dairy cows. One of the key implications of this study is the need for immigration or labor policies that help maintain consistent labor availability and stability of the dairy farm workforce.Agricultural and Food Policy, Financial Economics, Productivity Analysis,

National and Regional Impacts of U.S. Agricultural Exports

International Trade, Output, Employment, Exports, International Relations/Trade, Q10, Q11, Q13, Q17,

Analyzing the Impact of Changes in Trade and Domestic Policies: The Case of the Soybean Complex

This study analyzes the impacts of domestic and trade policy changes on the soybean complex using a Stochastic Equilibrium Displacement Model (SEDM). Three different policies, Loan Deficiency Payments (LDP), transportation costs and export taxes are considered in the analysis. The results indicate that Brazil benefits from a reduction in transportation costs and becomes more competitive in the global soybean market. Brazilian exports of soybeans increase due to relatively lower export prices. However, Brazil gains little improvement in the export competitiveness of the soybean joint products, soybean meal and oil. A lower U.S. LDP rate results in the loss of competitiveness for the United States in the world soybean market. Furthermore, the results show that an Argentine export tax reduction increases soybean exports from Argentina, but it reduces the global supply of soybean meal and soybean oil.International Trade, Loan Deficiency Payment, Soybean, Soybean Joint Products, Stochastic Equilibrium Displacement Model, Transportation Costs, Agricultural and Food Policy, International Relations/Trade,

The Global Competitiveness of the North American Livestock Industry

Livestock Production/Industries, F14, Q17,

The detection of ultra-relativistic electrons in low Earth orbit

Aims. To better understand the radiation environment in low Earth orbit (LEO), the analysis of in-situ observations of a variety of particles, at different atmospheric heights, and in a wide range of energies, is needed. Methods. We present an analysis of energetic particles, indirectly detected by the Large Yield RAdiometer (LYRA) instrument on board ESA's Project for On-board Autonomy 2 (PROBA2) satellite as background signal. Combining Energetic Particle Telescope (EPT) observations with LYRA data for an overlapping period of time, we identified these particles as electrons with an energy range of 2 to 8 MeV. Results. The observed events are strongly correlated to geo-magnetic activity and appear even during modest disturbances. They are also well confined geographically within the L=4-6 McIlwain zone, which makes it possible to identify their source. Conclusions. Although highly energetic particles are commonly perturbing data acquisition of space instruments, we show in this work that ultra-relativistic electrons with energies in the range of 2-8 MeV are detected only at high latitudes, while not present in the South Atlantic Anomaly region.Comment: Topical Issue: Flares, CMEs and SEPs and their space weather impacts; 20 pages; 7 figures; Presented during 13th European Space Weather Week, 201