Crop Substitution on UK Sugar Beet Farms and its Effects on the Environment: A Multi-Product Cost Function Approach

This paper analyzes the effect that the imminent reform of the EU sugar beet regime will have on United Kingdom (UK) sugar beet farms. Specifically, we estimate a multi-product cost function to analyze the effect the changes on the sugar beet price support and quota will have on the crop allocation of sugar beet farms and their aggregate use of inputs. Based on these estimates we discuss the implications that changes in the crop patterns may have on farm environmental variables such as soil loss and groundwater pollution.Agricultural and Food Policy,

RETAILERS PRICE BEHAVIOUR IN THE UK FRESH FRUIT AND VEGETABLE MARKET

The purpose of this paper is to study the price behaviour of fresh produce at the retail level of two leading supermarkets, Tesco and Sainsbury, with the purpose of gaining knowledge about their interaction. We focus the study on six products from the fresh fruits and vegetable group (i.e., tomatoes, Bramley’s apples, white cabbage, cucumbers, Iceberg lettuce and Round lettuce) due to the fact on the one hand it is a less complex supply chain (e.g., perishable product, less number of intermediaries) and on the other hand, because during the last 20 years the group has significantly evolved with supermarkets becoming the major players in the chain. The empirical methodology consisted of using Granger causality tests to establish the relationship between the series (e.g., leader-follower) and then vector autoregressive (VAR) models and variance decomposition procedures to capture the interaction of supermarket prices by product. Overall results indicate that the competition behaviour amongst the two retailers changes by product and evolve over timeUK retail prices, supermarket competition, UK fresh produce market, Demand and Price Analysis,

MEASURING CROSS-SUBSIDISATION OF THE SINGLE PAYMENT SCHEME IN ENGLAND

The specific purpose of this paper is to estimate the extent to which decoupled payments under the Single Payments Scheme (SPS) are being used (either explicitly or implicitly) in England to support the continuation of activities that were previously supported by area and headage payments. In the absence of a farm survey, the methodology consists of using information on farm accounts collected through England’s Farm Business Survey (FBS), to estimate a multi-output cost function differentiated by farm size and farm type. This cost function, calibrated to match regional prices in England, is used to estimate the level of cross-subsidisation in the first full year after implementation of the SPS (2005/06). Results indicate that cross-subsidisation was occurring, which might infer that many farmers across England are coupling their payments. Whilst, these results are for the first year, and in that sense may reflect a transitional situation, they are nevertheless important because they provide empirical evidence to inform the discussion concerning the impact and future development of the SPS.English agriculture, single farm payment, micro-econometric models., Agricultural and Food Policy, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, Q12, Q18,

Modelling the Adoption of Crop Rotation Practices in Organic Mixed Farms

Taylor et al. (2001) noted that well designed rotations are fundamental to organic farming systems. Rotations help organic systems achieve a balance between crops which deplete fertility, in particular nitrogen, and soil organic matter, and crops which restore fertility. The paper discusses the choice of crop rotation in the context of organic mixed farm systems that include cereals and livestock. The analysis is performed by combining economics and biology with the intention of capturing a broader approach to measuring the resilience of farming systems. Thus, it considers that the farmer’s choice of a specific rotation is based on the expected economic return derived from the rotation, and also the biological benefits provided by the selected rotation. The analysis is based on organic crop rotation trials ran from 1991 to 2006 at a site in the north-east of Scotland (Tulloch, Aberdeen) (Taylor et al., 2006).Crop Production/Industries, Farm Management,

PRICE ASYMMETRY IN THE UNITED STATES FRESH TOMATO MARKET

This paper analyzes pricing relationships between the producer, wholesale and retail levels of the U.S. fresh tomato industry. The results indicate that price transmission is unidirectional from producer to retail. There was no asymmetric response for the producer-retail price relationship. Asymmetric price response was exhibited between wholesalers and both producers and retailers. Retail prices respond more to rising wholesale prices than to falling prices. Wholesales prices, however, respond more to declining producer price than to rising producer price.Demand and Price Analysis,

A CGE Analysis of the Harbinson Proposal: Outcomes for the EU25

In this study, we employ the Harbinson proposal and July Framework to compare a ‘likely’ Doha scenario with an ‘inclusive’ baseline. The key aim is to assess the impacts across EU member states. More specifically, we (i) employ the latest version 6 of the GTAP database, (ii) explicitly model CAP mechanisms (e.g., quotas, decoupled payments, set-aside, CAP budget etc.) to more accurately assess the asymmetric trade led welfare effects on selected EU member states, and (iii) introduce binding overhangs into domestic support, export subsidies and more importantly market access commitments. Whilst the EU regions benefit from the multilateral reform proposals, the gains are weakened considerably by the tariff binding overhangs, where the EU25 only gain ten per cent of their potential trade led welfare gain from the proposals. On this basis, a more positive stance must be applied if the Doha Reforms are to yield a meaningful outcome for all.Research Methods/ Statistical Methods,

UK Sugar Beet Farm Productivity Under Different Reform Scenarios: A Farm Level Analysis

The purpose of this paper is to study the effect that the imminent reform in the European Union (EU) sugar regime may have on farm productivity in the United Kingdom (UK). We perform the analysis on a sample of sugar beet farms representative of all the UK sugar beet regions. To estimate the changes in productivity, we estimate a multi-output cost function representing the cropping part of the farm, which is the component that would be mostly affected by the sugar beet reform. We use this cost function to compute the new allocation of outputs and inputs after the changes in the sugar beet quota and price support. This are subsequently used to compute measures of total factor productivity. Our results show slight decreases in the productivity at the individual farm level under both quota and price support reduction. However, when considering the aggregate level, the reduction in the price support shows significant increases in productivity, in contrast to the results obtained from a reduction in quota.EU sugar reform, UK agriculture, UK sugar beet production, multi-output cost function, total factor productivity, Agricultural and Food Policy, Productivity Analysis, Q00, D24,

An Analysis of the Potential Impact of the Elimination of EU Export Refunds for Developing Countries

International Development,

Distribution of beef cattle in Scotland: How important is agricultural policy?

If one observe aggregated cattle figures for Scotland for more than a century it is possible to perceive that that cattle numbers seem to react strongly to agricultural policy (e.g., livestock subsidies before 1973, UK becoming part to the European Community). The purpose the paper is to provide a regional view of this result, namely whether the same trend can be observed if the analysis is done by Scottish regions. For this purpose, we assembled a panel dataset for 11 Scottish regions for the period 1959 until 2008. We specialised the analysis on beef cattle. We use simple regression techniques to verify whether there have been changes in the regional shares of beef cattle and whether beef cattle numbers in the different regions tend to converge to a steady state value. The results indicate that the data can be broken down into two major periods: before and after the accession to the European Community (EC). Furthermore, in most of the regions, accession implied changes in the regional shares (although shares are very stable over time). In terms of the convergence analysis, it is clear that accession to the EC affected the regional beef cattle steady state values.Agricultural policy, beef cattle economics, Scottish agriculture, Agricultural and Food Policy, Farm Management, Land Economics/Use,

Policy Implications of a Behavioural Economics Analysis of Land Use Determinants in Rural Scotland

The paper analyses the land use behaviour of Scottish land managers and the factors influencing it in the current context of the EU rural land use policies. The analysis employs a frequently used behavioural economics method, namely structural equation modelling (SEM). Central to the empirical analysis in this paper is a cross-section database containing data collected in May to June 2009 through telephone interviews of 600 land managers in Scotland. The model tests and estimates the relationships between land use behaviour, i.e., behavioural intentions to change the size of business/holding, and several of its a priori determinants found significant in the scientific literature. The results indicate that a stronger propensity to change size of their businesses is exhibited by younger land managers who intend to pass their land on to family, with larger land size and stronger attitudes towards increasing it, with lower percentage of their income made up from Government support, who are less likely to have perceived changes in regulation and input/output prices as having an impact on their business, who discuss and plan changes in size of business with their banks/building societies, and frequently access sources of information to help with their strategic decisions.Land use, rural policies, Scotland, structural equation modelling, Land Economics/Use,