The Farmers' Plea to Environmentalists
Abstract: This paper critically examines linkages between alternative farming practices and environmental quality. Environmental impacts of high-yield farming are contrasted to those of low-yield farming. Traditional low-yield farming sy stems, while being promoted by environmental groups, have resulted in massive famine, higher cancer rates, soil erosion, and losses in wildlife habitat. Organic farming and other low-yield systems are land intensive and invade marginal farmland, thereby destroying wildlife habitat and biodiversity. Low-yield farming has not and cannot produce enough food to meet the food needs of the world's population. By contrast, high-yield farming minimizes land use for food production and increases the availabilit y of land for wildlife habitat and biodiversity. High-yield farming has contributed to economic development and lower birth rates, thereby reducing population growth. The environmental risks from high-yield farming are considered low and have been decl ining. The benefits of high-yield farming can be maximized with agricultural research and free trade in farm products.
Key Words and Phrases: High-yield farming, Environmental quality, Wildlife habitat, Biodiversity, Population growth, Hunger, Free trade
Abstract: Auction market users and operators were surveyed regarding their source and use of livestock auction price information. Although important for marketing and to a lesser extent production decisions, only 30 percent preferred publicly reported prices over reports from market operators or other sources. The small share of market users willing to pay for public price reports suggests acceptable substitutes are available. Based on these results it is unlikely that use r fees will be able to replace the current level of public support for auction market price reporting.
Key Words and Phrases: Price reporting, Willingness to pay
Abstract: The dissolution of the Soviet Union severed the state-directed linkages between state-owned farms and agribusiness enterprises ordered by the command economic system. Likewise, the dissolution disrupted marketing channels connecti ng the agricultural sector of Kazakhstan with those of other former republics. The transition to a market economy requires a transformation in the political and economic structures of state-owned farms and state-owned agribusiness enterprises. Directors of state-owned farms in Kazakhstan face major challenges. The primary consideration is how the farm should be organized after privatization, that is, whether the farm should be transformed into a cooperative, a joint stockholding company, or divided into several private, individual farm operations or partnerships.
Key Words and Phrases: Kazakhstan; Former Soviet Union, Agricultural sector; Privatization; Market economy
Abstract: A national pesticide-use survey from sorghum producers and a survey of entomologists and weed scientists were used to determine the impacts of pesticide use on sorghum. A market framework was employed to derive the short-run welfa re impacts to consumers and producers (users and non-users) of the removal of pesticides currently registered for use on sorghum. It was projected that the loss of atrazine, the most widely used pesticide in sorghum production, would have the largest ove rall impact, with an estimated total welfare loss between $58 and $65 million.
Key words and Phrases: Sorghum, Pesticide regulation, Consumer impacts, Producer (user and non-user) impacts, NAPIAP
Abstract: This study examines the factors that influence the adoption intensity of a soil conservation technology in a developing country. Factors that influence adoption intensity may not be the same as those that influence the incidence of adoption. In this study, adoption intensity is defined as the percentage of total upland acreage planted with Sloping Agricultural Land Technology by farmers in the Philippines. Because of the dependent variable's truncated nature, a Tobit model is used in the analysis. Economic theory and previous research provide the basis for the soil conservation decision variables included in the study. Results suggest that age of the head of household, tenure status, availability of family labor, and government programs have significant influence on adoption intensity. Contrary to exp ectations, income and education of farmers do not have significant impacts on adoption intensity. These results are discussed in terms of their implications for conservation programs in developing countries.
Key Words and Phrases: Soil conservation decisions, Intensity of adoption, Tobit models, Developing countries, Upland farmers
Abstract: Excessive government losses and pressure from end users of peanuts have increased the likelihood of a peanut support price and quota reduction in the 1995 farm bill. This study analyzes the economic impacts of reducing the natio nal quota to the estimated level of domestic demand and of reducing the quota support price on North Carolina farm income and rural communities. Effects of policies that reduce quota support price for Virginia-type peanuts from $675 per ton to levels of $600 and $500 per ton are estimated. Reductions in the quota support price have significant impacts on quota owners and peanut producing regions. A 10 percent reduction in quota and a $500 support price would result in a $43 million income reduction to North Carolina.
Key Words and Phrases: Peanut production, Peanut policy, Farm income
Abstract: Individuals exposed to odors from livestock facilities do not report annoyance uniformly. The reaction to a detectable odor depends on perceptions of the odor and its source which are mediated by odor attributes and personal factors. Correlations among these factors were tested in a rural context using data from a pilot study of seventeen households neighboring two swine operations in Michigan. Annoyance was measured as the impact of the neighboring facility on enj oyment of property. Characterization of odor as a problem was positively correlated with offensiveness, frequency and duration of exposure. Annoyance was negatively correlated with term of residence, current employment on a farm, and acquaintance with the facility owner. Annoyance was positively correlated with suburban characterizatio n of the residence, unacceptability of the facility's appearance and perception of odor as a problem. Strategies to minimize exposure augmented by increasing familiarity with the operation and owner can reduce annoyance.
Key Words and Phrases: Correlation analysis, Environmental annoyance, Manure management, Odor nuisance