Stochastic Dominance in Wheat Variety Development and Release Strategies

Variety development and release decisions involve tradeoffs between yields and characteristics valued by end-users, as well as uncertainties about agronomic, quality, and economic variables. In this study, methods are developed to determine the value of varieties to growers and end-users including the effects of variability in economic, agronomic, and quality variables. The application is to hard red spring (HRS) wheat, a class of wheat for which these tradeoffs and risks are particularly apparent. Results indicate two experimental varieties provide improvements in grower and end-user value, relative to incumbents. Stochastic dominance techniques and statistical tests are applied to determine efficient sets and robustness of the results. A risk-adjusted portfolio model, which simultaneously incorporates correlations between grower and end-use characteristics, is also developed to compare the portfolio value of varieties.end-user value, grower value, portfolio value, stochastic dominance, tradeoffs, variety development, wheat, Crop Production/Industries,

CROP INSURANCE UNDER QUALITY UNCERTAINTY

Quality related yield and price losses have had significant impact on producer income and risks, and in some instances exceeded yield and price losses covered by conventional insurance instruments. However, there are no effective third party quality risk transfer mechanisms especially for barley growers. In this paper, we develop a framework to incorporate quality-related risk in crop insurance programs. Specifically, we derive the optimum equilibrium coverage levels and risk premium that suppliers of insurance and producers would be willing to provide when the yield and revenue insurance instruments explicitly incorporate quality losses. The results of our analysis provide several important contributions. First, the methodology illustrates how quality impacts could be incorporated into crop insurance types of contracts. Second, we explicitly incorporate the correlation effects of yield and price shortfalls due to quality. Though applied here in the case of malting barley and scab, this approach could be applied similarly in many regions, crops, and quality factors.Risk and Uncertainty,

ECONOMIC IMPACT OF SCAB WITH ALTERNATIVE RISK MANAGEMENT STRATEGY: THE CASE OF CROP QUALITY INSURANCE IN BARLEY

Managing quality risks, especially grain quality, has been a challenge facing farmers, grain merchandisers, and policymakers for many years. With the advent of genetically modified organisms (GMOs), food safety, and identity preservation, this is even more challenging today. In this paper, an equilibrium crop insurance model was developed and used to analyze the impact of quality risks on equilibrium coverage levels and risk premiums that suppliers of insurance and barley producers would be willing to provide when yield and revenue insurance instruments explicitly incorporate quality risks. The asking price concept and sensitivity analysis were used to evaluate farmers' behavior after they purchase crop quality insurance and to provide guidance and direction in the development of risk-efficient quality insurance instruments.crop insurance, equilibrium coverage levels, Fusarium Head Blight, premium rates, quality risks, risk aversion, Crop Production/Industries,

FUTURE TRANSPORTATION DEVELOPMENTS IN THE U.S./CANADA/MEXICO GRAINS-LIVESTOCK SUBSECTOR UNDER NAFTA AND WTO

International Relations/Trade,

Agro-terrorism and the Grain Handling Systems in Canada and the United States

The grain handling sector in Canada and the United States is vital to agriculture and trade. In a typical year on the Canadian prairies, about 140,000 producers deliver some 20 to 30 mmt of grain for export to primary elevators. In the United States, about 2.1 million producers deliver about 300 mmt of grain to primary elevators. Canadian grain is moved to export position using more than 400,000 hopper cars and marine containers, where about 1,200 ships per year are loaded. In the United States, about 1.08 million rail carloads of grain are originated per year, and about 23 mmt of grain are shipped on barges per year. These U.S. figures are in addition to trucks, which, more so than in Canada, are also used to deliver grain to primary processors and to terminal and export markets. The volume of grain trade gives rise to concern about risks of terrorism in the sector.(1) From a security perspective, the grain, pulse and oilseed supply chain is noteworthy because much of it is characterized by relatively long-term, insecure, bulky storage (particularly on farms) along with numerous modal and inter-modal product transfers. These factors suggest there are many places where chemical or biological contaminants could be introduced into this supply chain. From the perspective of the United States, security throughout the Canadian system as well as the U.S. system is a concern, since cross-border traffic in these products is significant, with an average of about six million tonnes of grain products alone imported into the U.S. each year (USDA-FAS, 2003). Numerous interventions to enhance food safety and mitigate the risk of terrorism have been adopted or are in the process of being developed. Some of these are private initiatives and voluntary, as a component of firm-level security processes. Others are being adopted in response to legislated initiatives. The stakes are large, and there are likely to be substantial differences in costs and effectiveness of different approaches.Agricultural and Food Policy, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety,

A history of Borden Institute

Not Available.William E. WilsonNot ListedNot ListedMaster of ArtsDepartment Not ListedCunningham Memorial library, Terre Haute, Indiana State University.isua-thesis-1930-wilsonMastersTitle from document title page. Document formatted into pages: contains 151p. : ill. Includes appendix and bibliography

Two Populations of Young Massive Star Clusters in Arp 220

We present new optical observations of young massive star clusters in Arp 220, the nearest ultraluminous infrared galaxy, taken in UBVI with the Hubble Space Telescope ACS/HRC camera. We find a total of 206 probable clusters whose spatial distribution is centrally concentrated toward the nucleus of Arp 220. We use model star cluster tracks to determine ages, luminosities, and masses for 14 clusters with complete UBVI indices or previously published near-infrared data. We estimate rough masses for 24 additional clusters with I < 24 mag from BVI indices alone. The clusters with useful ages fall into two distinct groups: a ``young'' population (< 10 Myr) and an intermediate-age population (~300 Myr). There are many clusters with masses clearly above 10^6 Msun and possibly even above 10^7 Msun in the most extreme instances. These masses are high enough that the clusters being formed in the Arp 220 starburst can be considered as genuine young globular clusters. In addition, this study allows us to extend the observed correlation between global star formation rate and maximum cluster luminosity by more than an order of magnitude in star formation rate.Comment: 30 pages, 8 figures; figs 1-3 in color; accepted to Ap

ECONOMIC IMPACTS OF FUSARIUM HEAD BLIGHT IN WHEAT AND BARLEY: 1993-2001

Fusarium Head Blight (FHB), commonly known as scab, has been a severe problem for wheat and barley producers since 1993. This study provides an update of economic losses suffered by wheat and barley producers in scab-affected regions in the United States. Emphasis is placed on estimating direct and secondary economic impacts of yield and price losses suffered by wheat and barley producers from 1993 to 2001. Nine states are included in the analysis for three wheat classes. Three of the nine states were also used for the analysis of malting and feed barley. The cumulative direct economic losses from FHB in hard red spring (HRS) wheat, soft red winter (SRW) wheat, durum wheat, and barley are estimated at $2.492 billion from 1993 through 2001. The combined direct and secondary economic losses for all the crops were estimated at$7.7 billion. Two states, North Dakota and Minnesota, account for about 68 percent of the total dollar losses.Fusarium Head Blight, scab, vomitoxin, crop losses, wheat, barley, Crop Production/Industries,

Short Subjects: The AMC Format: A Guide to the Implementation Process

Use of the USMARC Archives and Manuscripts Control (AMC) format and the automation process necessary for archival and manuscript repositories to utilize a computer information system designed to centralize the storage, manipulation, and retrieval of bibliographic and collection management data are new phenomena for many archivists. Information systems such as OCLC (Online Computer Library Center) and RLIN (Research Libraries Information System) provide an attractive opportunity for repositories which desire to participate in the use of AMC at the national level, while other systems are operational at the local, state, and regional levels. Great strides in archival awareness and automation expertise have been made in recent years, and. the archival profession now can better use the many benefits available in automated systems