The optimal size and location of an invasive species population depend upon spatially differentiated biological growth, economic costs, and damages. Although largely absent from most economic models, spatial considerations matter because the likelihood and magnitude of the invasion vary spatially and the threatened assets may be unevenly distributed across space. We map the current and future populations of an invasive species, Miconia calvescens, on Oahu, Hawaii, and the potential damages to water quantity, quality, and endangered-species habitat, and weigh these against treatment costs. We find that optimal densities vary from approximately 1% to 18% cover throughout the island.

Among Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) participants, there is a distinction between farm households using the program to ease out of farming and those using the program to augment production receipts. We find evidence that factors other than crop or livestock revenue and environmental factors are associated with program participation and acreage enrollment among farmers who continue agricultural production. Program payments and farm size are positively associated with the amount of land enrolled in the CRP, and characteristics of participants in land retirement and working-lands CRP components are similar.

Fruit is an important component of the food industry in the United States, and “fresh-cut” products are an increasing portion of that consumption. We found that packaging and juice content played a significant role in the choices Indiana consumers made when purchasing fresh-cut melon products. Brand was not as important as the other fresh-cut melon attributes. Indiana consumers had a clear dislike for cup-shaped transparent packages compared with tamper-proof, bowl, and squared packages. However, they were willing to pay a premium for packages that have no fruit juices on the bottom.

Undergraduate Food and Resource Economics majors and those with different majors were surveyed to determine the perceived advantages and disadvantages of distance and online education courses from a student perspective. Specific objectives included determining if students who have been exposed to more online courses are more likely to rate online education as positive or negative relative to the traditional classroom setting. In general, Food and Resource Economics majors tended to view distance and online education courses less favorably than did the others.

This paper investigates the relationships among land-use change, biological invasion, and interspecific competition in a tropical ecosystem by linking a behavioral model of land conversion by agriculture and an ecological model of interspecific competition between a native species and an exotic invader. The model is used to examine how relative farm prices and access to forest areas influence land clearing and thus the ability of the invasive species to eliminate the native species. Simulations show that only a 20% rise in relative prices and a 2.75% increase in forest access are necessary for this outcome to occur.

Exporting northwest Arkansas excess turkey and broiler litter to partially fertilize nutrient-deficient cropland in eastern Arkansas can be more cost effective than to supply all crop nutrients with chemical fertilizer only, given current high fertilizer prices. Cost savings are greater if litter is baled in ultraviolet resistant plastic and transported via truck, since backhaul opportunities reduce truck rates, or alternatively, if raw litter is shipped via a truck-barge combination. Rice is the crop that allows for greater savings according to a mathematical programming model implemented in General Algebraic Modeling System (GAMS).

There has been much hype around online education creating a revolution in education. Studies analyzing the use of distance education at the graduate level have been limited. This article uses Kansas State University's Master of Agribusiness program as a case study. Educational theory related to a distance environment is studied. Development and technology issues related to the Master of Agribusiness program are presented followed by survey information from students. Appropriate administrative and management practices that govern a program are essential to the success of the program.

We examine producer behavior, resistance evolution, and returns under alternative refuge requirements in an eastern North Carolina region with multiple corn, cotton, and soybean fields infested by a mobile pest. Returns are highest, pyrethroid sprays occur least frequently, and pyrethroid resistance evolution is delayed most effectively with no refuge requirement. Complying with the current 20% refuge requirement costs the producer $8.67 per cotton acre, or $34.21 per non-transgenic insecticidal (Bt) cotton acre. Returns are highest under each refuge requirement when one-toxin Bt cotton is not phased out; however, removal of the technology at the earliest phase-out date minimizes regional pyrethroid sprays.

Recent outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza in Asia, Europe, and Africa have caused severe impacts on the poultry sector through bird mortality and culling, as well as resulting trade restrictions and negative demand shocks. Although poultry producers play a major role in preventing and controlling avian influenza, little research has examined the influence of their farm-level decision making on the spread of the disease. In this study, we describe farm behavior under livestock disease risk and discuss data and analyses necessary to generate sound empirical evidence to inform public avian influenza prevention and control measures.

After controlling a variety of feeder cattle characteristics and market and sale conditions in Iowa feeder auctions, the price premiums for preconditioning claims (vaccinations and minimum 30 days of weaning) with and without third-party certification (TPC) are estimated as $6.12/cwt and $3.35/cwt, respectively. These premiums differ statistically (p < 0.0001), and their difference exceeds the average participation cost of TPC ($l/cwt). This indicates that TPC is valued in the market to credibly signal preconditioning investment under asymmetric information.

Annual seasonal advertising expenditure allocations were estimated for the national generic advertising programs for fluid milk and cheese with the use of price and advertising elasticities of demand that varied over time. Significant variation in optimal allocations existed both across products and over time, emphasizing the importance of obtaining accurate seasonal forecasts that incorporate changes in market conditions to plan future spending allocations. In the absence of such information, allocating annual budgets equally across quarters still produced positive producer welfare gains on average relative to historical spending that were not statistically different from those realized under the optimal spending strategy.

Simulation results showed that simultaneous outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in Asia, the United States, Brazil, and selected European countries will have significant impacts on world poultry trade. Assuming demand for chicken meat is constant, the global export price is simulated to increase by 9.63%. HPAI outbreaks in the United States, Economic Union, and Brazil will have a greater impact on export price than in any other possible three-region case. Outbreaks in the United States and Brazil would still lead to major impacts on world poultry trade, confirming large country effects.

Farm supply cooperatives are an important component of the retail agribusiness industry in the United States. The objective of this research is to identify financial variables that are determinants of return on equity in these cooperatives. Firm effects are important and their effect is the result of managerial decision making and director policy. The estimated coefficient on asset size was not statistically significant, suggesting that return on equity is invariant to size over this time period.

Southeast drought conditions have accentuated the demand for irrigation in the face of restricted water supply. For allocating this supply, Georgia held an auction for withdrawing irrigated acreage. This auction withdrew 33,000 acres from irrigation, resulting in a physical estimate of a 399 acre-feet daily increase in water flow. The actual reduction is driven by crop distributional changes on the basis of economic substitution and expansion effects. In contrast to the physical estimates, an econometric model that considers these effects is developed. The differences between the physical and econometric models result in an increase in the estimate of water savings of around 19% to 24%.

Producers' preferences for cottonseed with respect to price, seed type, yield, and fiber quality are examined by a willingness-to-pay approach via mail surveys. Results indicate a positive willingness to pay (WTP) for technology relative to conventional cottonseed, and WTP increases with the level of technology. Yield and quality also show a positive WTP. Larger farms have a higher WTP for technology, and farms with more farm labor have a lower WTP for technology. These results suggest economies of size in technology adoption (biotechnology is not size-neutral) and that labor and biotechnology are direct substitutes.

This analysis examines the economic impact of an outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) and the consequences of regionalization. The results suggest that an outbreak would have serious economic effects. Depending on the regionalization scenario, returns to capital and management in the poultry meat and egg sectors would fall between $602 million and $853 million dollars over 16 quarters. Consumers of poultry meat lose $900 million in consumer surplus in the first four quarters, a decline of 10.7%. Egg consumer surplus falls 17.1%. Regionalization lowers the economic welfare losses for producers because it dampens the export loss.

This study jointly estimates the impact of school quality and school proximity on residential property values in Greenville, South Carolina. While quality is found to be capitalized into residential property values, the degree of capitalization depends on school level and proximity to each school for which the house is zoned for attendance. In general, there is positive value associated with closer proximity to schools of all levels, and negative value associated with a significantly longer than average distance to schools. In terms of quality rankings, excellence at the elementary and high school levels has the strongest impact on property values.

Hog producers in Indiana and Nebraska were surveyed about sources of risk, effectiveness of risk management strategies, and prior participation in and desire for additional risk management education. Ownership of hogs by the producer, size of the operation, and age did have significant effects on ratings of both sources of risk and effectiveness of risk management strategies. Probit analysis found age, prior attendance, knowledge and prior use of the tool, level of integration, and concern about price and performance risk have significant effects on interest in further education about production contracts, futures and options, packer marketing contracts, and financial management.