The objective of this research is to identify and quantify the motivations for organic grain farming in the United States. Survey data of US organic grain producers were used in regression models to find the statistical determinants of three motivations for organic grain production, including profit maximization, environmental stewardship, and an organic lifestyle. Results provide evidence that many organic grain producers had more than a single motivation and that younger farmers are more likely to be motivated by environmental and lifestyle goals than older farmers. Organic grain producers exhibited a diversity of motivations, including profit and stewardship.

We analyze the effects of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and United States farm subsidies on U.S.-Mexican illegal immigration and agricultural trade. The theoretical analysis develops an integrated trade-migration model and shows that NAFTA and U.S. subsidies exacerbate the illegal labor flow and increase U.S. exports. The theoretical analysis is empirically implemented by simultaneous estimation and simulation analysis. The analysis shows that NAFTA increased the number of undocumented workers to U.S. agriculture and U.S. farm exports to Mexico by an average of 1573 and $6.82 billion, respectively. U.S. farm subsidy reduction decreases unauthorized entry marginally and U.S. farm exports by an average of $3.2 billion.

A latent segmentation modeling is used in this study to identify theheterogeneity of willingness-to-pay estimates for quality attributes andcountry-of-origin in the Korean beef market. Three distinctive groups ofgrocery shoppers are identified based on their level of concern (very,moderately, and not too concerned) about the use of antibiotics andgenetically modified organism feed ingredients in beef production. Resultsindicate that the very concerned group values such attributes asantibiotics-free, genetically modified organism-free, and domesticproduction the most among the three groups. Results also suggest that themost important factor in determining grocery shoppers' willingness-to-pay iscountry-of-origin for all three groups.

Coffee consumption in China has seen a significant rise in recent years. This study seeks to explore the determinants of coffee consumption in China with a specific focus on fair trade coffee. In a survey of 564 respondents in Wuhan City, consumers' willingness to pay (WTP) for fair trade labeled coffee was measured. This study uses an interval regression to investigate individual demographic and consumption characteristic impacts on WTP. Results show that on average, consumers were willing to pay 22% more for a medium cup of fair trade coffee compared with traditional coffee. In addition, other variables that indicated a higher WTP included female consumers, consumers who made their own coffee, and consumers who planned to consume more coffee in the following year.

We investigate thinness of hog and pork markets in terms of quantity andrepresentativeness of negotiated transactions. Transactional volume impartsmarginally greater confidence in pricing precision for Iowa-SouthernMinnesota negotiated hogs than for the national carcass cut-out, suggestingthat contracts tying prices to the former rather than the latter may be morerepresentative of industry conditions. Extending mandatory price reportingto pork may remedy this discrepancy. Despite declining volume, terminal hogmarkets may price accurately off of Iowa-Southern Minnesota prices. Hogquality differentials across procurement methods are documented, and qualityof negotiated hogs is shown to decline with declining volume.

We study the demand by organic farmers for technical advice using a quantile regression for the demand of organic farmers for consultations with private information providers. There is substantial heterogeneity in the impact of critical explanatory variables on consultations of organic farmer. Larger farm size has a positive effect on contacts, but the effect is absent for the highest number of consultations. Internet use has a positive marginal effect on visits to private information providers across each quantile, suggesting that expanded efforts to deliver programs through web-based resources are a useful investment for information providers.

The exercise of market power by broiler processing firms (integrators) isplausible because local markets for growers are concentrated and becausegrowers face hold-up risks arising from substantial investments in specificassets set against limited integrator purchase commitments. This articleexplores the links between local integrator concentration and growercompensation under production contracts using data from the 2006 broilerversion of the USDA's Agricultural Resource Management Survey. Results ofthis study, which account for characteristics of the operation and specificfeatures of the production contract, suggest that greater integratorconcentration results in a small but economically meaningful reduction ingrower compensation.

Market channel alternatives that include garden centers, landscapers, mass merchandisers, and rewholesalers have contributed to the growth of ornamental crops sales in the United States. The impact of growers' business characteristics on shares of sales to these channels by firm size was estimated using the two-limit Tobit model. Important explanatory variables were regions of the United States, sales of plant groups, kinds of contract sales, and channel diversity. There were important differences in behavior by grower size. Overall, the results indicate a stronger than expected role for the rewholesaler channel as a preferred channel for ornamental plant sales.

Hypothetical surveys are commonly used to elicit consumer behavior to guide product development, marketing, and labeling strategies. However, despite the prevalence of surveys in consumer food studies, previous work has not assessed the relationship between hypothetical responses and actual consumer behavior in real-world purchase situations. We explore whether attributes cited by consumers in surveys as being important to them when making decisions indeed factor into their product decision process in real-world markets. Evidence from a point of sale study of 702 pork purchasers indicates that there is a strong correspondence between hypothetical survey ratings and actual shopping behavior.

In this paper we compare results from an in-store field experiment and a mail survey choice experiment (CE) to investigate CE's capacity in predicting grocery store market share. For the comparison, we used three seafood products: freshwater prawns, marine shrimp, and lobster. CE estimates were obtained via four econometric models: the conditional logit, the random parameter logit, the heteroskedastic extreme value, and the multinomial probit. We found that the level of control in the grocery store experiment and the choice of econometric model influenced the capacity of CE to predict grocery store market shares.

One hundred and fifty years ago, the 1862 Morrill Land Grant Act was signedinto law. Wise people at that time recognized that the private market foreducation failed to produce an efficient level of education decades beforethe economic theory was developed to explain that market failures reduceefficiency. The purpose of this paper is to review the history of selectedevents that resulted in the development of publicly funded U.S. educationalinstitutions and to issue a challenge for our profession to do a better jobof educating about the theoretical justification for using tax dollars tosupport university education and agricultural research and the efficiencyenhancing consequences of that use.

Fruit and vegetable consumption is associated with improved health outcomes,yet there is limited understanding of the impact of cost and accessibilityon fruit and vegetable intake in rural settings. This study examines therelationship between the consumption of fruits and vegetables and their costand accessibility among blacks and non-Hispanic whites in a rural area.Individual characteristics from a 2006 mail survey (n = 1,510) were combinedwith store locations and price information from a 2006 ground-truthed censusof retail outlets. The mail survey covered seven counties in central Texaswith 38 supermarkets/grocery stores. Blacks tended to live closer to asupermarket or grocery store, but they were only slightly more likely thanwhites to consume two or more servings of fruit daily and much less likelyto consume three or more servings of vegetables. Multivariate probitregression analysis revealed that neither access nor cost was related tofruit or vegetable consumption among white respondents. Among blacks, costwas also not associated with consumption. In contrast to whites, however,each additional mile was associated with a three percentage point decline inthe probability of consuming two or more servings of fruit daily and a 1.8percentage point decline in the probability of consuming three or morevegetable servings.

Cattle feeders want feeder cattle that have been weaned and preconditioned with a certified health program. Preconditioned calves perform more efficiently in the feedlot with lower morbidity and mortality. Health program claims, however, range from no claim to being USDA-certified. The value of health protocol certification may vary with certifying entity. Results from a choice experiment and survey of cattle feeders indicate preconditioning programs that include weaning, vaccinating against respiratory and clostridial/blackleg, and treating for parasites are worth on average $7.28/cwt to feedlots. Furthermore, a health program certified by USDA carries an additional value of $2.37/cwt on average.

The economic impact of wildlife-associated recreation in the Southeast United States was evaluated using a general equilibrium model. Exogenous demand shocks to the regional economy were based on estimates of expenditures by wildlife recreationists on hunting, fishing, and wildlife watching activities. Counterfactual simulations were carried out, making alternative assumptions about labor and capital mobility and their supply. Without wildlife-associated recreation expenditures, regional employment would have been smaller by up to 783 thousand jobs, and value added would have been $22 to $48 billion less. These findings underscore the significance of regional factor market conditions in economic impact and general equilibrium analysis.

Elevated prices for major U.S. commodities have renewed interest in theprice sensitivity of foreign demand facing the United States. Although theelasticity of foreign demand plays an important role in discussions of U.S.farm policy, it is also a parameter that is much debated with the majorityof studies in this area published over 20 years ago. We provide newestimates of the elasticity of export demand for U.S. corn, soybeans, andwheat using updated data and empirical techniques. Our estimates are usefulfor practical policy analysis as well as for researchers seeking toparameterize large-scale simulation models.

Using USDA's Agricultural Resource Management Survey data, factors leading to the adoption of technology, management practices, and production systems by U.S. beef cow-calf producers are analyzed. Binary logit regression models are used to determine impacts of vertical integration; region of the U.S.; farm size, diversification, and tenure; and demographics on adoption decisions. Significant differences were found in adoption rates by region of the U.S., degree of vertical integration, and size of operation, suggesting the presence of economies of size and vertical economies of scope. Results also indicate high degrees of complementarity among technologies, management practices, and production systems.