GRID PRICING VERSUS AVERAGE PRICING FOR SLAUGHTER CATTLE: AN EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS

The paper compares weekly producer revenue under grid pricing and average dressed weight pricing methods for 2560 cattle over a period of 102 weeks. Regression analysis is applied to identify factors affecting the revenue differential.Livestock Production/Industries,

DID THE VOLUNTARY PRICE REPORTING SYSTEM FAIL TO PROVIDE PRICE TRANSPARENCY IN THE CASH MARKET FOR DRESSED STEERS: EVIDENCE FROM SOUTH DAKOTA

The information value of the former USDA voluntary price reporting system is investigated for dressed weight slaughter steers. The ability of the former system to promote market transparency and price discovery in the cash market is evaluated with state level mandatory price reporting data collected from September 1999 to April 2001. The empirical framework evaluates the informational value of public price reports according to the criteria established in the market integration literature. The empirical results indicate that in the cash market for dressed weight steers, in South Dakota and Nebraska the former voluntary price reporting system did foster market transparency and aided in the price discovery process.Livestock Production/Industries, Marketing,

NAFTA INTRA INDUSTRY TRADE IN AGRICULTURAL FOOD PRODUCTS

The paper focuses on NAFTA's impact on intra-industry and inter-industry trade in agricultural food products. Bilateral trade among U.S., Canada, and Mexico, as well as their trade with the rest of the world during 1990 and 1995 are investigated. U.S. trade patterns for agricultural food products are slowly changing.International Relations/Trade,

The Voluntary Reporting System's Ability to Provide Price Transparency in the Cash Market for Dressed Steers: Evidence from South Dakota

The informational value of USDA's former voluntary price reporting system is investigated for dressed-weight slaughter steers sold by South Dakota producers. The ability of the former system to promote price transparency in the cash market is evaluated using state-level mandatory price reporting data collected from September 1999 to April 2001. The empirical framework examines the informational value of public price reports according to the criteria established in the market integration literature. The empirical results indicate that in the South Dakota cash market for dressed weight steers, the voluntary price reporting system fostered price transparency, and thus contributed to the price discovery process. Empirical evidence is also presented suggesting that strategic price reporting by market participants to influence the voluntary price reporting system was not detected during the period covered in this study.cointegration, competitive spatial equilibrium, error correction model, mandatory price reporting, marketing integration, price transparency, slaughter cattle spot market, voluntary price reporting, Demand and Price Analysis,

Incoherence of Bose-Einstein condensates at supersonic speeds due to quantum noise

We calculate the effect of quantum noise in supersonic transport of Bose-Einstein condensates. When an obstacle obstructs the flow of atoms, quantum fluctuations cause atoms to be scattered incoherently into random directions. This suppresses the propagation of Cherenkov radiation, creating quantum turbulence and a crescent of incoherent atoms around the obstacle. We observe similar dynamics if the BEC is stirred by a laser beam: crescents of incoherent atoms are emitted from the laser's turning-points. Finally, we investigate supersonic flow through a disordered potential, and find that the quantum fluctuations generate an accumulation of incoherent atoms as the condensate enters the disorder.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figure

Short and long distance translocations: Movement and survival in eastern box turtles (_Terrapene carolina carolina_)

*Background/Question/Methods*

Human development represents a serious threat to wildlife populations through continued habitat loss and incidental mortality from construction activities. Resource managers responsible for protecting species with legal status or high public profile are faced with difficult decisions on how to best manage populations located in construction zones. One approach to mitigate mortalities is to relocate individuals. The effectiveness of translocation for reptiles and amphibians has been questioned, with studies often reporting higher mortality and increased movements of translocated individuals. Translocations of reptiles and amphibians have primarily involved moving animals long distances, well beyond an individual’s home range. For reptiles this means finding new nesting, foraging, and overwintering sites, which may be problematic. Moving individuals only short distances, within their home range, may reduce those problems. As part of the mitigation plan for a highway construction project in central Maryland, groups of eastern box turtles (Terrapene carolina carolina) were translocated both short distances (<0.5km), and long distances (~5km). To investigate differences in survival and movement patterns among long distance translocation, short distance translocation, and non-translocation groups, I tracked 94 turtles (31 long distance translocation, 29 short distance translocation, and 34 non-translocation) using radio telemetry. 

*Results/Conclusions*

Eleven animals died during the first activity season after translocation (April through November 2008). The mortalities included two long distance translocation, six short distance translocation, and three non-translocation animals. The causes of mortality included road kill, construction activity, and unknown (1, 4, and 6 mortalities respectively). All construction related mortalities were a result inadequate exclusion fencing to keep turtles from trespassing back onto the construction site. All mortalities due to construction were either non-translocation or short distance translocation animals. Eleven other individuals were located at least once within the construction zone, suggesting that without our intervention mortality rates would have been much higher. Preliminary results for movement show that turtles in the non-translocation group had the lowest average movements while long distance translocation animals had the greatest average movements. Long distance translocation turtles also chose overwintering sites farther away from their initial overwintering sites than either short distance translocation or non-translocation turtles (average distance from original site of 261.8m, 155.6m, and 124.3m respectively). This suggests that movement patterns of short distance translocation turtles are more like native turtles.
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Public Price Reporting in the Cash Market for Live Cattle: A Spatial Market Approach

Legislative authorization for the Livestock Mandatory Reporting Act of 1999 was renewed in October of 2006. One of the cited justifications for implementing mandatory reporting was that the voluntary reporting system for the slaughter cattle cash market was unable to provide accurate and timely market information. We extend the spatial market analysis literature by developing a methodology for detecting distortions in spatial relationships across related price series. Using spatially linked regional markets, we compare state-level mandatory price-reporting data to the U.S. Department of Agriculture voluntarily reported state data to determine if the spatial relationship between price-reporting mechanisms was disrupted by market distortions prior to implementation of federal mandatory price reporting. We found no empirical evidence of system failure; therefore, we conclude that market thinning or noncompetitive behavior had not reached the level necessary to disrupt the ability of the voluntary price-reporting system to provide timely and accurate price information.public price reporting, spatial markets, market integration, price transparency, price discovery, livestock markets, Livestock Production/Industries, Marketing,

Price Transparency in the Voluntary Price Reporting System for Live Cattle: Theory and Empirical Evidence

Interregional spatial linkages between South Dakota and Nebraska cash markets for slaughter cattle are investigated. Econometric procedures are used to test whether a thinning market effect or strategic price reporting behavior by packers has degraded market transparency under the voluntary price reporting system. Empirical evidence suggests transparency was not degraded.Demand and Price Analysis,