Stacked crop rotations and cultural practices for canola and flax yield and quality

Canola (Brassica napus L.) and flax (Linum usitatissimum L.) are important oilseed crops, but improved management practices to enhance their yields and quality are needed. We studied the effect of stacked versus alternate‐year crop rotations and traditional versus improved cultural practices on canola and flax growth, seed yield, oil concentration, and N‐use efficiency from 2006 to 2011 in the northern Great Plains, USA. Stacked rotations were durum (Triticum turgidum L.)‐durum‐canola‐pea (Pisum sativum L.) (DDCP) and durum‐durum‐flax‐pea (DDFP). Alternate‐year rotations were durum‐canola‐durum‐pea (DCDP) and durum‐flax‐durum‐pea (DFDP). The traditional cultural practice included a combination of conventional tillage, recommended seed rate, broadcast N fertilization, and reduced stubble height. The improved cultural practice included a combination of no‐tillage, increased seed rate, banded N fertilization, and increased stubble height. Canola stand count was 36–123% greater with the improved than the traditional cultural practice in 2006, 2009, 2010, and 2011. Canola pod number and oil concentration were 3–36% greater in the improved than the traditional practice in 2007 and 2010, but trends reversed by 5–19% in 2008. Flax stand count was 28% greater with DFDP than DDFP in 2007 and 56% greater in the improved than the traditional practice in 2010. Flax pod number, seed weight, seed yield, N content, N‐use efficiency, and N‐removal index varied with crop rotations, cultural practices, and years. Canola growth and oil concentration increased with the improved cultural practice as well as flax growth, yield, and quality enhanced with alternate‐year crop rotation and the improved cultural practice in wet years

Primed acclimation of cultivated peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) through the use of deficit irrigation timed to crop developmental periods

Water-deficits and high temperatures are the predominant factors limiting peanut production across the U.S., either because of regional aridity or untimely rainfall events during crucial crop developmental periods. In the southern High Plains of west Texas and eastern New Mexico, low average annual rainfall (450. mm) and high evaporative demand necessitates the use of significant irrigation in production systems. In this west Texas study, the primary objective was to develop irrigation schemes that maximized peanut yield and grade while reducing overall water consumption. Therefore, a large-scale field experiment was established in 2005 and 2006 that utilized 15 treatment combinations of differing rates of irrigation (50, 75, and 100% of grower applied irrigation) applied at different periods of peanut development (early, middle, and late season). Precipitation patterns and ambient temperatures showed greater stress levels in 2006 which likely reduced yields across all treatments in comparison to 2005. Yields were reduced 26 (2005) and 10% (2006) in the lowest irrigation treatment (50% full season) compared with full irrigation (100% full season); but early-season water deficit (50 and 75% in the first 45. days after planting) followed by 100% irrigation in the mid- and late-seasons were successful at sustaining yield and/or crop value. Root growth was significantly enhanced at 50% irrigation compared with 100% irrigation, through greater root length, diameter, surface area, and depth, suggesting greater access to water during mid- and late-season periods. These results suggest that early to mid-season deficit irrigation has the potential to maintain peanut yield without altering quality, and to substantially reduce water use in this semi-arid environment

A farm-to-fork stochastic simulation model of pork-borne salmonellosis in humans: Lessons for risk ranking

A food systems perspective offers many appealing analytic features to food safety researchers with an interest in the design and targeting of effective and efficient policy responses to the risks posed by foodborne pathogens. These features include the ability to examine comparative questions such as whether it is more efficient to target food safety interventions on-farm or in the food processing plant. Using the example of a farm-to-fork stochastic simulation model of Salmonella in the pork production and consumption system, the authors argue the feasibility of such a food systems approach for food-safety risk assessment and policy analysis. They present an overview of the farm-to-fork model and highlight key assumptions and methods employed. Lessons from their experience in constructing a farm-to-fork stochastic simulation model are derived for consideration in other food safety risk assessment efforts and for researchers interested in developing “best practice” benchmarks in the area of food safety risk assessments. [EconLit Citations: Q18, I18, I12]. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Agribusiness 23: 157-172, 2007.

Sugarcane yields and production: Florida and Louisiana

Copyright © 2017 by Emerald Publishing Limited All rights reserved. In this chapter the development of new sugarcane varieties in Florida and Louisiana is examined, along with the accompanying advancement in mechanization technology through the widespread adoption of sugarcane harvesters. An econometric analysis is carried out to determine the impact of the price of raw sugar on raw-sugar yields in Louisiana and Florida. This study found that in the case of Louisiana, the 3-year lagged US rawsugar price had a positive and significant impact on sugar yields. The change in raw-sugar prices did not have a significant impact on sugar yields for the Florida industry. Sugar production has increased over time, in part, due to the development of new sugarcane varieties accompanied by modern sugarcane harvesters. Given the relationship between price and yield, particularly in Louisiana, policy makers and producers must be mindful of the potential impact of policy-induced research and development (R&D) on the competitiveness of their industry

Potato demand in an increasingly organic marketplace

The authors investigate pricing and demand issues for four fresh potato categories (russet, red, white, and minor colored), organic fresh potatoes, and two processed potato categories (frozen|refrigerated and dehydrated) using a nonlinear generalized almost ideal demand system (GAIDS) that is closed under unit scaling (CUUS). The model used regionally aggregated at-home consumption data from 2000 to 2005. Estimated uncompensated own price elasticities for fresh potatoes were highly significant and ranged between −0.5 and −1.6. The study was designed to capture the effects of the aggregate organic market on the prices, expenditures, and demand for each potato category. Organic food market penetration elasticities suggest that specialty potatoes (organic and minor-colored) are particularly well positioned if demands for organic products continue to rise, red potatoes are not well positioned and evidence of the early warning signs of slippage in market share for white and russet potatoes may exist. Producers and promoters of conventional potato products should account for the increasingly important role of organic products in making decisions. As an auxiliary exercise, we also statistically sourced the variance of the organic potato price premium relative to the other four fresh potato prices. At the present time, the variability of the organic potato premium is not much affected by production costs or other supply-related factors: the premium variability was driven largely by demand, and demographic|seasonal factors. Producers should be cautious about shifting to organic potato production until lower cost practices emerge. [JEL Codes: D120, Q130, Q180]. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.