Analysing Farm‐specific Payments for Norway using the Agrispace Model

Norway maintains a complex system of activity or type specific coupled payments which account for a large share of farm income. Most of the payment rates are negatively related to farm size and are higher in remote areas compared to central regions. We present and use a newly developed recursive‐dynamic multi‐commodity model (Agrispace) with CES production functions depicting regional farm clusters derived from the full farm population. Using this model, we simulate impacts of current and alternative subsidy policies on production, prices, input use, income and farm structural change. Mapping cluster results to each farm along with behavioural rules allows estimation of individual profits and farm exits. Our results indicate that, in the short run, the current policy regime seems to support the policy objective of maintaining a variety of farms in all parts of Norway. In the long run, farm structural change is less affected by a policy reform that leaves total support levels unchanged.     

Spatial Spillovers on Input‐specific Inefficiency of Dutch Arable Farms

Traditional benchmarking implicitly assumes that decision making units operate in isolation from their peers. For arable production systems in particular, this assumption is unlikely to hold in reality. This paper quantifies spatial spillovers on input‐specific inefficiency using data envelopment analysis and a second‐stage bootstrap truncated regression model. The bootstrap algorithm is extended to allow for the estimation of the parameter of the spatial weight matrix, which captures the proximity between producers. The empirical application concerns Dutch arable farms for which latitudes and longitudes are available. The average inefficiency across years was 3.87% for productive inputs and 2.98% for damage abatement inputs under variable returns to scale. For productive inputs technical inefficiency, statistically significant spillover effects from neighbours’ age and their degree of specialisation depended on the type of the spatial weight matrix used (inverse distance or k‐nearest neighbours). Statistically significant spillover effects of subsidy payments were adverse while statistically significant spillover effects from insurance payments were beneficial. For damage abatement inputs technical inefficiency, statistically significant adverse effects were found for neighbours’ age and subsidy payments and beneficial effects from neighbours’ insurance payments and their degree of specialisation.     

Input Disposability and Efficiency in Dutch Arable Farming

This paper develops a test for disposability of individual inputs based on non‐radial efficiency measures. Furthermore, the paper analyses the impact of congestion on overall technical efficiency for individual inputs. The application uses panel data from Dutch cash crop farms over the period 1989–1992. A significant difference between the efficiency measures under different assumptions on input disposability is detected by a t‐test, indicating that all inputs are weakly disposable. Analysis of the composition of overall technical efficiency reveals that weak disposability constitutes the largest component of inefficiency. Moreover, congested farms on average have a less effective management and operate on a larger, though less efficient, production scale.     

The Sustainability of the Farm‐level Impact of Bt Cotton in China

The short‐run impact of Bt cotton adoption has been well documented; however, the sustainability of the impact remains unclear. In particular, pest resistance build‐up and secondary pest outbreaks have caused concern regarding the sustainability of this benefit. This paper analyses the effects and impact dynamics of Bt cotton adoption in China. Using six unique waves of panel data collected between 1999 and 2007, we show that the benefits of Bt cotton continue 10 years after it has been commercialised, albeit with evidence of a decline in the benefit since the early adoption period. Importantly, we also show that the benefit has been shared by both Bt and non‐Bt cotton adopters.     

Dynamic Inefficiency and Spatial Spillovers in Dutch Dairy Farming

This article examines the presence of spatial spillovers in farms’ dynamic technical inefficiency scores using Data Envelopment Analysis and a second-stage spatial truncated bootstrap regression model. Dynamic inefficiency is measured in terms of variable input contraction and gross investment expansion, while the second-stage model allows an individual’s dynamic inefficiency to be influenced by both own and neighbours’ characteristics. The empirical application focuses on the panel data of specialised Dutch dairy farms observed over the period 2009–2016 and for which exact geographical coordinates of latitude and longitude are available. The results confirm the existence of spatial spillovers in farmers’ dynamic technical inefficiency levels. Although changes in neighbours’ subsidies do not significantly influence an individual’s inefficiency, an increase in neighbours’ age reduces an individual’s performance, while an increase in neighbours’ levels of intensification improves an individual’s dynamic efficiency.     

EU‐wide Economic and Environmental Impacts of CAP Greening with High Spatial and Farm‐type Detail

In this paper we analyse the economic and environmental impacts of CAP greening introduced by the 2013 CAP reform using the CAPRI model. CAPRI captures the farm heterogeneity across the EU and it allows to depict the implementation of the greening measures in high detail while integrating the environmental effects and the market feedback of the simulated policy changes. The simulated results reveal that the economic impacts (land use, production, price and income) of CAP greening are rather small, although some farm types, crops (fallow land and pulses) and Member States may be affected more significantly. The CAP greening will lead simultaneously to a small increase in prices and a small decrease in production. Farm income slightly increases because the price effects offset the production decline. Similarly to economic effects, the environmental impacts (GHG emissions, N surplus, ammonia emissions, soil erosion, and biodiversity‐friendly farming practices) of CAP greening are small, although some regions may see greater effects than others. In general, the environmental effects at EU level are positive on a per hectare basis, but the increase in UAA can reverse the sign for total impacts. Overall, simulated GHG and ammonia emissions decrease in the EU, while the total N surplus, soil erosion and biodiversity‐friendly farming practices indicator slightly increase due to the CAP greening.     

The Ties Made in the Harvest: Nicaraguan Farm‐worker Networks in Costa Rica's Agricultural Exports

Traditional and nontraditional export agriculture expansion dramatically changed the social and economic landscapes in the global south. An examination of one aspect of south–south international migration, Nicaraguan migrant economic integration into Costa Rica's export agriculture sector, reveals how production systems in the traditional and nontraditional agricultural sectors shape migrant social networks in distinct ways in the global south and its significance for both migrant workers and the agricultural sectors they work in. The rapid expansion of nontraditional export agriculture – the essence of agricultural development in Costa Rica – depends on the traditional crop production structure of coffee farms. The experiences of Nicaraguan migrant workers and their social ties to each other in nontraditional export agriculture and the coffee farms in Costa Rica demonstrate how different production structures call for distinct fragile and conflicted social networks ties between migrants. The economic integration of migrant workers relies on opportunistic and weak ties that are both gendered and contradictory.     

EU Food Safety Standards,Pesticide Use and Farm‐level Productivity: The Case of High‐value Crops in Kenya

This article provides an empirical analysis of the impact of European Union (EU) private food safety standards on pesticide use and farm‐level productivity among small‐scale vegetable producers in Kenya. We apply an extended three‐stage damage control production framework, accounting for multiple endogeneity problems, to farm‐level data collected from a random cross‐sectional sample of 539 small‐scale producers. Estimation results show that farmers producing vegetables for the domestic market use significantly lower quantities of pesticides than do export farmers. However, contrary to findings elsewhere, the econometric evidence here shows that both domestic and export‐oriented vegetable farmers in Kenya use pesticides at levels below the economic optimum. The results also show that the adoption of standards by export farmers does not have any significant impact on total pesticide use. However, adopter categories are distinguishable in terms of types of pesticide used, i.e. adopters use safer pesticides based on World Health Organization (WHO) classification. The third‐stage structural revenue model results demonstrate that adoption of standards has a positive and significant impact on revenue raised in vegetable production. Nevertheless, farmers producing for the export market are indistinguishable from those producing for the domestic farmers in terms of the total revenue earned from producing vegetables during the rainy season, on a ‘per acre’ basis. Although standards can potentially prevent resource‐poor smallholders from maintaining their position in the lucrative export markets, they can also result in positive changes in the production systems of those small‐scale farmers who adopt it, as shown by these results.     

A Real Options Approach for the Investment Decisions of a Farm‐Based Anaerobic Digester

The profitability of anaerobic digesters (ADs) for Ontario dairy farmers are examined using real options under current and proposed government pricing policies and investment uncertainty. In the case of a renewable energy initiative such as an AD with large sunk costs and volatile returns, the value of deferring investment may be significant enough to offset the returns suggested by the net present value (NPV) approach. For a 150 cow herd, net revenues should be approximately $1.1 million before the AD is installed using the real options approach as compared to $0.5 million with the NPV approach. An AD is close to generating a positive NPV for a 600 cow herd if for either a 1% increase in the electrical price or decrease in the cost. However, farmers need not invest today and there is a value to delaying this decision from potential improvements in the technology that increase the efficiency and/or decrease operating costs of the AD. The real options analysis indicates that this option to delay investment has a value of approximately $300,000 for a typical Ontario dairy farm. Thus, either significant grant funding or higher feed‐in‐tariff rates are required to induce the increased adoption of AD technology in Ontario today even for the largest of dairy farms. Considering the probability of government support potentially ending, increases the value of investing today but a significant option value to defer still exists.     

Patterns in Technical Efficiency and Technical Change at the Farm‐level in England and Wales, 1982–2002

English and Welsh farm‐level survey data are employed to estimate stochastic frontier production functions for eight different farm types (cereal, dairy, sheep, beef, poultry, pigs, general cropping and mixed) for the period 1982 to 2002. Differences in the relative efficiency of farms are explored by the simultaneous estimation of a model of technical inefficiency effects. The analysis shows that, generally, farms of all types are relatively efficient with a large proportion of farms operating close to the production frontier. However, whilst the frontier farms of all types are becoming more efficient through time because of technical change, it is also the case that the efficiency of the average farm for most farm types is increasing at a slower rate. In addition, annual mean levels of efficiency for most farm types have declined between 1982 and 2002. The factors that consistently appear to have a statistically significant effect on differences in efficiency between farms are: farm or herd size, farm debt ratios, farmer age, levels of specialisation and ownership status.     

The Incidence of EU Per‐Hectare Payments on Farmland Rental Rates: A Spatial Econometric Analysis of German Farm‐Level Data

This article analyses determinants for 2001 farmland rental prices from 3,819 farms in Germany. Based on specification tests we estimate a general spatial model to account for both spatial relationships among rental prices of neighbouring farmers and spatially autocorrelated error terms. A €1 per hectare higher rental price in a farmer’s neighbourhood coincides with a €0.72 higher rental price paid by the farmer. The marginal incidence of EU per‐hectare payments paid for eligible arable crop land on rental rates amounts to €0.38 for each additional €1 of premium payments. Regional livestock density, which is indirectly influenced by different policies, is also a major determinant of rental prices. Results are confirmed by sensitivity analyses. Consequently, German farmland rental rates are heavily influenced by agricultural policy instruments and therefore, these policies exhibit substantial distributional effects.     

Energy‐saving Technology Choices by Dutch Glasshouse Firms

This paper estimates a sequence of energy‐saving technology choices by Dutch glasshouse firms. The model allows for time‐constant, firm‐specific effects and serial correlation of errors and it is estimated on panel data over the period 1991–1995. The unobserved error sequences are simulated in the model in such a way that they are consistent with the observed choices. The results suggest that positive revenue shocks encourage adoption of new technologies. The choices also exhibit firm‐specific persistency over time. An increase of the price of energy encourages the adoption of a highly efficient energy‐saving technology. The probability of investing in energy‐saving technologies also decreases with capital invested in structures (e.g. double glazing of glasshouses) and increases with capital in energy installations.     

Analysing Production Technology and Risk in Organic and Conventional Dutch Arable Farming using Panel Data

This paper compares the production technology and production risk of organic and conventional arable farms in the Netherlands. Just–Pope production functions that explicitly account for output variability are estimated using panel data of Dutch organic and conventional farms. Prior investigation of the data indicates that within variation of output is significantly higher for organic farms, indicating that organic farms face more output variation than conventional farms. The estimation results indicate that in both types of farms, unobserved farm‐specific factors like management skills and soil quality are important in explaining output variability and production risk. The results further indicate that land has the highest elasticity of production for both farm types. Labour and other variable inputs have significant production elasticities in the case of conventional farms and other variable inputs in the case of organic farms. Manure and fertilisers are risk‐increasing inputs on organic farms and risk‐reducing inputs on conventional farms. Other variable inputs and labour are risk increasing on both farm types; capital and land are risk‐reducing inputs.     

Rethinking Organic Farming in the Post‐Socialist Context: Lessons from Bulgaria

On the basis of an in‐depth qualitative study, this article discusses the case of Bulgaria as an example of a new EU Member State that implemented EU organic farming policies in a top‐down process during EU accession. We explore the difficulties in transposing a concept originating in Western Europe to post‐Socialist countries, and particularly ask what this transposing of an alien concept means for long‐term development of the organic sector. We found that the top‐down agenda‐setting for organic farming in Bulgaria resulted in inefficient policies that inhibited an orientation of producers towards the market's needs. Tacit assumptions underlying the concept of organic farming in Western Europe, such as the relevance of social capital could not be sustained in Bulgaria, which added to the challenges of policy implementation. To increase policy efficiency, we recommend a policy process that involves the expertise of all organic sector actors, including organic operators, but also policymakers, organic organisations, consumers and academic experts. Expertise and knowledge requirements are diverse, touching policy, market, collective action and practice‐oriented skills. Integrating these skills could maximise success in finding the best solution for implementing – and adjusting – a foreign concept meaningfully in a particular local context.     

Semi‐Subsistence Farming: An Elusive Concept Posing Thorny Policy Questions

The massive expansion of semi‐subsistence farming in the European Union after the Eastern enlargements poses a real challenge to rural development. The problems of semi‐subsistence farms are low cash incomes and incidence of poverty, sub‐optimal use of land and labour, a lack of capital and poor contribution to rural growth. However, they play an important welfare function in some rural areas in Europe; they manage more than 11 million ha of agricultural land and deliver ecosystem services. The Common Agricultural Policy will have to accommodate this now widespread production system, through existing or new policy packages. Particularly important is support for commercialisation to incentivise and smooth the transition to commercial agriculture, and agri‐environmental payments to compensate the semi‐subsistence farmers for the provision of ecosystem services.     

我国生猪规模养殖生产成本变动因素分析

我国生猪饲养业在我国畜牧业中占有重要的地位,对世界猪肉市场有着重要影响。本文利用统计指数因素分析法从生猪饲养成本构成角度对中国生猪规模养殖进行了实证研究,对小规模养殖、中等规模养殖和大规模养殖3种规模养殖方式下生猪的规模养殖比较优势的差异进行了对比分析。     

Contract Farming in Sub‐Saharan Africa: A Survey of Approaches,Debates and Issues

The paper provides a selective survey of the most significant literature on the rise of contract farming in developing countries, with a focus on sub‐Saharan Africa. The review of the literature illustrates ideological debates around the meaning and significance of contract farming and whether it is good or bad for small‐scale farmers. The paper then divides the review of the literature into three key themes. First, it addresses the quantitative significance of contract farming in Africa, which may not be as important as it is often portrayed. Second, the paper highlights the substantial diversity of contract farming in Africa and problems with excessive generalizations. Third, it discusses the various drivers fuelling the spread of contract farming, which reflect new production conditions and existing constraints, tendencies and counter‐tendencies, and both economic and political responses to changes in production and market conditions in the era of liberalization and globalization. The variety of drivers is substantial and defies generalizations about the emergence of contract farming. Finally, it briefly suggests research questions that tend to be absent in most of the literature on contract farming, and which are important in order to understand the current dynamics of agrarian change and transitions to capitalism in African countries.