Import Demand for Shelled Peanuts in the European Union: Impacts of the U.S. Export Promotion Program

The objective of this study is to propose a system of input demand functions consistent with the theory of the firm where promotion is treated as an information input in the production function. The empirical model is applied to the European Union (EU) input demand for shelled peanuts. The information input is measured as Euros spent on the U.S. Foreign Market Development program (FMD) on peanuts by the U.S. in the EU market. We find that the FMD program had a positive effect on the EU demand for U.S. shelled peanuts. This result suggests that the information provided to manufactures through the FMD has helped to increase the demand for shelled U.S. peanuts in the EU markets. The estimated marginal return of U.S. export promotion expenditures on the FMD program is 240 Euros.Input demand, Shelled peanuts, U.S. Foreign Market Development Program, International Relations/Trade,

SNACK PEANUTS PURCHASE PATTERN: EFFECTS OF NUTRITIONAL CONSIDERATIONS AND HOUSEHOLD CHARACTERISTICS

This study examines the effect of a meal planner's nutritional awareness, exercise habits, and household socioeconomic characteristics on market participation and frequency of purchase of snack peanuts. Data are from a household survey of 2880 U.S. households collected by Gallup in 1997. Statistical tests showed that a double-hurdle or Cragg model best represented consumers' participation and purchase level decisions in the snack peanut market. The results indicated that meal planner's nutritional considerations while making food purchase decisions had little effect on the participation level decisions, but did affect purchase frequency of snack peanuts. Those household meal planners who were overly concerned about undesirable nutritional factors tended to decrease their purchase of snack peanuts. Promotion of snack peanuts on the basis of nutritional benefits through health professional and media is a useful tool to increase purchase frequency.Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety,

Storage stability of whole and nibbed, conventional and high oleic peanuts (<i>Arachis hypogeae </i>L.)

Peanuts are increasingly being used as nibbed ingredients in cereal bars, confectionery and breakfast cereals. However, studies on their oxidative stability in this format are limited. Storage trials to determine the stability to oxidation were carried out on whole and nibbed kernels of conventional (CP) and high oleic (HOP) peanuts, with respect to temperature and modified atmosphere packaging. HOP exhibited the highest oxidative stability, with a lag phase in whole kernels of 12–15 weeks before significant oxidation occurred. HOP also showed higher levels of intrinsic antioxidants, a trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity (TEAC) of 70 mMol equivalence and radical scavenging percentage (RSP) of 99.8 % at the beginning of storage trials, whereas CP showed values of 40 mMol and 81.2 %, respectively. The intrinsic antioxidants at the beginning of these storage trials were shown to affect the peroxide value (PV), where RSP and TEAC decreased, and PV increased. Therefore, in peanuts the processing format (nibbed or whole) had the highest influence on susceptibility of lipid oxidation, highest to lowest importance: processing format &gt; temperature &gt; atmospheric conditions

Economically Feasible Crop Production Alternatives to Peanuts in Southwestern Oklahoma

Changes in the U.S. peanut program have resulted in drastically decreased planted acres and forced many peanut producers in the Southwest to consider alternative crops. This study examined the economic risk associated with producing peanuts and common alternatives to peanuts. Seedless watermelon is an alternative for risk preferring farmers whereas, irrigated peanut is the best choice for risk averse farmers.Crop Production/Industries,

The Effect of the U.S. Foreign Market Development Program on Import Demand for Shelled Peanuts in the European Union

The main objective of this research is to evaluate the effectiveness of the U.S. Foreign Market Development (FMD) program on the European Union imported demand for shelled peanuts. We find that the FMD program had a positive effect on the EU demand for U.S. shelled peanuts. This result suggests that the information provided to manufactures through the FMD has helped to maintain U.S. peanuts in the EU markets. The marginal return per EURO dollars of U.S. export promotion expenditures on the FMD program is 277 EURO dollars for U.S. shelled peanuts.Factor demand, Shelled peanuts, U.S. Foreign Market Development Program, Demand and Price Analysis, International Relations/Trade,

European Union Import Demand for In-Shell Peanuts: The Source Differentiated AIDS Model

This research estimates import demand elasticities for in-shell peanuts in the European Union from four different sources: China, the United States, South America, and Africa. The null hypothesis of aggregation over product sources is rejected at conventional levels of significance suggesting that peanuts from different sources are differentiated by EU consumers which might attributed to their different quality characteristics. Conditional expenditure elasticities for U.S. in-shell peanuts are larger than expenditure elasticities for Latin American, Chinese and African peanuts.In-Shell Peanuts, Nonlinear SAIDS, the European Union, Demand and Price Analysis,

PRODUCER ACCEPTANCE OF A NEW PEANUT MARKETING COOPERATIVE: A SURVEY OF GEORGIA PEANUT PRODUCERS

Market conduct has become an important issue for peanut farmers. Consolidation in the first buyer market, increased imports, and political uncertainty have increased peanut producers' marketing risks. The purpose of this paper was to examine demographic differences in peanut producers' perceptions of the current marketing environment as well as their attitudes towards new marketing institutions. A standard t-test revealed that producers growing more than 250 acres of peanuts, irrigating at least 50 percent of their peanuts, and producers located in Southwest Georgia were statistically more dissatisfied with the current marketing environment and significantly more receptive to forming a new generation peanut cooperative.Agribusiness, Crop Production/Industries,

Can Rank-Order Tournaments Improve Efficiency of Quality Differentiated Crop Markets Under Marketing Loan Program Operation? The Case of U.S. Peanuts.

In the paper, alternative contractual arrangements between crop producers and processors are evaluated with a view of addressing the major issues present in peanut markets in the U.S., the major EU supplier of high quality peanuts. The issues are the thinness of the spot markets and the absence of quality premiums, both of which impair market efficiency. Results indicate that introducing contracts with a system of quality differentials creates incentives for producer self-selection to participate in the post harvest cash market. Moreover, in the presence of sufficiently high common production risk, tournament contracts are more efficient and preferred by the producers than the standard fixed premium schedules.contracts, tournaments, efficiency, spot markets, peanuts, Marketing,

The Post-Buyout Experience: Peanut and Tobacco Sectors Adapt to Policy Reform

Marketing quota and price support programs for peanuts and tobacco were a longstanding feature of U.S. farm policy, from the 1930s until the Government enacted quota buyouts, in 2002 for peanuts and 2004 for tobacco. Quota owners were compensated with temporary payments, but elimination of the quota programs exposed producers more to market risks and brought about structural changes at farm, regional, and marketwide levels. Since the buyouts, many peanut and tobacco farms have exited production. The farms that remain are mostly larger and have adopted new risk management strategies, such as contracting. Freed of the planting restrictions in the quota programs, production of peanuts, and to a lesser extent of tobacco, has been relocated to regions better suited to their growth. While total acreage and prices for peanuts and tobacco have remained below pre-buyout levels, the lower prices—along with increased production efficiency— have supported renewed growth in demand, particularly in export markets.Policy reform, farm policy, buyouts, marketing quotas, peanuts, tobacco, adjustment, structural change, Agricultural and Food Policy, Industrial Organization, Institutional and Behavioral Economics, Marketing,