Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-dlnhk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-27T21:56:03.085Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

The Welfare Impacts of Bird Damage and Its Control in California Wine Grape Production*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 June 2014

A. Anderson*
Affiliation:
USDA/APHIS/WS National Wildlife Research Center, 4101 LaPorte Avenue, Fort Collins, CO 80521; tel.: (970) 266-6264.
C. A. Lindell
Affiliation:
Michigan State University, 1405 S. Harrison Road, East Lansing, MI 48823; e-mail: [email protected].
W. F. Siemer
Affiliation:
Cornell University, 226 Mann Drive, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853; e-mail: [email protected].
S. A. Shwiff
Affiliation:
USDA/APHIS/WS National Wildlife Research Center, 4101 LaPorte Avenue, Fort Collins, CO 80521; e-mail: [email protected].
*
(corresponding author). e-mail: [email protected]

Abstract

We developed a partial equilibrium model to examine the welfare impacts of bird damage and its control in California wine grape production. The model incorporates the impacts of pest damage and its control and allows the impacts to vary regionally. Importantly, the model requires minimal information to apply; only elasticities, current market price and production data, and information on the cost and effectiveness of the pest control methods are needed. We rely on data from a recent survey of California growers and use the model to estimate changes in wine grape prices, production levels, and consumer and producer surplus that result from both bird damage and its control in three grape-growing regions of California. Results suggest that eliminating the threat of bird damage and control costs results in an increase in producer and consumer surplus of 1.3% and 3%, respectively. Furthermore, eliminating current bird control and allowing any resulting damage would decrease producer and consumer surplus by 6.6% and 11.5%, respectively. (JEL Classifications: Q11, Q18, Q57)

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © American Association of Wine Economists 2014 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

*

Funding was provided by the Specialty Crop Research Initiative of the National Institute of Food and Agriculture. We thank the Human Dimensions Research Unit at Cornell University, the California Cherry Advisory Board, and the California Association of Winegrape Growers for their assistance in survey implementation. We also thank an anonymous reviewer for many helpful comments and suggestions.

References

Anderson, A., Lindell, C., Moxcey, K.M., Siemer, B., Linz, G.M., Curtis, P., Carroll, J., Burrows, C., Boulanger, J., Steensma, K., and Shwiff, S.A. (2013). Bird damage to select fruit crops: The cost of damage and benefits of control in five states. Crop Protection, 52, 103109.Google Scholar
Boyce, L., Meister, A., and Lang, S. (1999). An economic analysis of bird damage in vineyards of the Marlborough Region. Discussion paper in Natural Resource and Environmental Economics, No. 20, Centre for Applied Economic and Policy Studies, Massey University, New Zealand.Google Scholar
CDFA (California Department of Food and Agriculture). (2012a). Agricultural Statistical Overview. Available at www.cdfa.ca.gov/statistics/pdfs/AgStatOverview2011_12.pdf, accessed November 2, 2012.Google Scholar
CDFA. (2013a). California grape acreage report, 2012 crop. Available at www.nass.usda.gov/Statistics_by_State/California/Publications/Grape_Acreage/, accessed July 26, 2013.Google Scholar
CDFA. (2013b). California grape crush report, final 2012. Available at www.nass.usda.gov/Statistics_by_State/California/Publications/Grape_Crush/Final/index.asp, accessed July 26, 2013.Google Scholar
Dillman, D.A. (2000). Mail and Internet surveys: The total design method (2nd ed.). New York: John Wiley & Sons.Google Scholar
Duffy, S., and Schaffner, D.W. (2002). Monte Carlo simulation of the risk of contamination of apples with Escherichia coli O157:H7. International Journal of Food Microbiology, 78(3), 245255.Google Scholar
Fuller, K.B., and Alston, J.M. (2012). The demand for California wine grapes. Journal of Wine Economics, 7(2), 192212.Google Scholar
Gebhardt, K., Anderson, A.M, Kirkpatrick, K.N., and Shwiff, S.A. (2011). A review and synthesis of bird and rodent damage estimates to select California crops. Crop Protection, 30, 11091116.Google Scholar
Holb, I.J., and Scherm, H. (2008). Quantitative relationships between different injury factors and development of brown rot caused by Monilinia fructigena in integrated and organic apple orchards. Phytopathology, 98(1), 7986.Google Scholar
Hueth, B.M., Cohen, D., Sangrujee, N., and Zilberman, D. (1997). Economic Impact of Non-predator Vertebrate Pest Damage in California Agriculture. Final Report Prepared for the California Department of Food and Agriculture, Vertebrate Pest Control Research Advisory Council, Sacramento, California.Google Scholar
Lichtenberg, E., Parker, D.D., and Zilberman, D. (1988). Marginal analysis of welfare costs of environmental policies: The case of pesticide regulation. American Journal of Agricultural Economics, 70(4), 867874.Google Scholar
Pritts, M.P. (2001). Bye bye birdie: Repelling birds from fruit plantings. New York Fruit Quarterly, 9(4), 57.Google Scholar
Somers, C.M., and Morris, R.D. (2002). Birds and wine grapes: foraging activity causes small-scale damage patterns in single vineyards. Journal of Applied Ecology, 39, 511523.Google Scholar
Sunding, D.L. (1996). Measuring the marginal cost of nonuniform environmental regulations. American Journal of Agricultural Economics, 78(4), 10981107.Google Scholar
Tzilkowski, W.M., Brittingham, M.C., and Lovallo, M.J. (2002). Wildlife damage to corn in Pennsylvania: Farmer and on-the-ground estimates. Journal of Wildlife Management, 66(3), 678682.Google Scholar
Volpe, R., Green, R., Heien, D., and Howitt, R. (2010). Estimating the supply elasticity of California wine grapes using regional systems of equations. Journal of Wine Economics, 5(2), 219235.Google Scholar
Wine Grape Growers of America. (n.d.). General information about the U.S. wine industry. Available at www.winegrapegrowersofamerica.org/files/documents/Wine_Industry_Fact_Sheet_final.pdf, accessed July 24, 2013.Google Scholar
Wine Institute. (2012). California Wine Industry Statistical Highlights. Available at www.wineinstitute.org/resources/statistics/article80/, accessed November 2, 2012.Google Scholar