THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS PROFESSION IN ENGLAND

An historical sketch of the professionalisation of agricultural economics since the mid-1920s placing special emphasis on the close links between government and universities, the pioneering role of the Ministry of Agriculture's economists during the inter-war years, and their changing post-war status and functions as compared with other economists in Whitehall. Other topics considered include the composition and functions of the Agricultural Economics Society, recent academic trends in agricultural economics, and the implications of the current crisis in economics for the future of the discipline.     

THE EVOLUTION OF INFORMATION SOURCES AND THE USE OF INFORMATION-TECHNOLOGY IN AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS

The paper reviews developments in bibliograhical, statistical and market information sources over the last 25 years, particularly since the application of the computer to information processing and dissemination. It concentrates on bibliographical sources: the evolution of WAERSA from a quarterly abstract journal to a monthly one, now also accessible on-line, as well as discussing some of the other major bibliographical sources, notably the AGECON file on USDA's AGRICOLA (formerly the Bibliography of Agricultural Economics), FAO's AGRINDEX, a title-only service available as a monthly journal and on-line, the Bibliography on Agricultural Marketing from FAO's marketing division, and the information service provided by ESCA. Different methods of ‘packaging’ information are also mentioned, including regular profiles on particular topics (SDI), ‘state-of-the-arts’ reviews, and ‘start’ reports. The paucity of adequate source guides specially tailored to the needs of agricultural economists is discussed. Finally, the availability of farming and market information through videotex is described. A plea is made for greater co-operation between providers and users of information, better knowledge of and guides to sources, and for user education.     

THE SCOTTISH AGRICULTURAL SECURITIES CORPORATION LTD.

The object of this article is to give a brief review of the operations of one company—The Scottish Agricultural Securities Corporation Ltd. (S.A.S.C.). This institution is the Scottish counterpart of the bigger and possibly better known Agricultural Mortgage Corporation Ltd. (A.M.C.) which was set up as a consequence of the Agricultural Credits Act 1928 for the main purpose of making long term mortgage loans to the purchasers of agricultural freeholds in England and Wales. A similar statute (the Agricultural Credits (Scotland) Act) was enacted in the following year to provide for the extension of the same credit facilities in the Scottish agricultural community, and as a consequence of it, S.A.S.C. came into existence. Some attention has already been devoted to the operations of the A.M.C.? It is hoped that this brief review of its smaller sister company will be of interest.     

河南省水稻生产成本收益分析

探讨河南省水稻节约成本途径和方法,增加水稻收益,对于调整河南省农业生产结构和稳定地区粮食安全具有重要意义。文章利用实地调研和成本分析相结合的方法,对河南省水稻生产中的收益指标,如物质与服务费、土地成本和人工成本进行了深入研究,明确了成本收益的变化规律。总生产成本结果分析表明,物质与服务费用占有比例最高,人工成本逐年增长,土地成本年波动较小,而在物质与服务费中,机械作业费和化肥费是最主要的影响因素,两者占物质与服务费的比例超过60%。而种子费、灌溉费、农药费占物质服务费的比例不高,均在12%左右。收益分析表明,近年来河南省水稻成本收益趋于稳定,但在2009年和2011年收益率出现下降现象,主要原因是单位面积产量降低和物质与服务费价格的增长。此外,该文从加强稻田水利等基础设施建设、加大种粮补贴力度、稳定农业生产资料价格等方面提出对策建议。     

Criteria for a system level evaluation of farm advisory services

Agricultural advisory services are meant to provide farmers with relevant knowledge and networks for innovation, as well as adjustments to policy and markets in agriculture. Despite substantial investment into these services, there has been little evaluation of their performance and impact, in particular at a system level. A system level analysis is especially challenging in countries with a diverse and fragmented advisory community such as the United Kingdom. This paper proposes criteria for assessing advisory services based on a conceptual framework for analysing characteristics of advisory services as a component of the wider Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation System (AKIS). Using the example of the UK, we investigated characteristics pertaining to governance structures, capacity, management and advisory methods. Data were collected in an online survey of 80 agricultural advisory organisations. Findings showed that most criteria for functional advisory services were met: agricultural advisory organisations utilised diverse knowledge sources and cooperated to fill knowledge gaps; there was a stable workforce of advisors who received regular training; advisory organisations were flexible and adaptive; and all relevant advisory topics were covered. However, a number of client groups were not targeted by advisory organisations and some organisations used only a narrow range of advisory methods. The proposed criteria reflect a balance between a thorough assessment of a country’s advisory services and the typically limited time and budget available for regular evaluations. The criteria and associated proxy indicators should be fine-tuned to reflect the individual country’s situation, and quantitative survey data complemented by qualitative data.     

A quarter of a century of Australian agricultural economics — some personal reflections

The late Fred Gruen (1921–1997) was asked to write these previously unpublished reflections for the twenty-eighth Annual Conference of the Australian Agricultural Economics Society in 1984; they were circulated in working paper format as Gruen (1986). In this paper, Fred, who made the transition from agricultural to general economics later in his career, offers a modest perspective on his contributions to agricultural analysis and policy. The unifying theme in this outstandingly productive life was his focus on public policy issues whose resolution would impact importantly on the lives of many — that is, his intellectual curiosity was driven ultimately by his philanthropy.     

Who are Advisory Services Leaving Out? A Critical Reflection on ‘Hard to Reach’ Farmers

Although the Common Agricultural Policy of the European Union has broadened its objectives to integrate social issues, several hard-to-reach groups of farmers and workers continue to be ignored by advisory services and associated policies. Connecting with these groups has a strong potential to increase the economic and social cohesion of European agricultures. We interviewed over 1,000 farmers across Europe and identified features of these groups that are often overlooked by advisory services. We critically reflected on the social cohorts omitted from advisory services and how they could be better reached; they include farm labourers, new entrants or ‘career changers’, and later adopters. We clarify the different types of advisors in the advisory landscape, distinguishing between those who are linked to or independent from sales of inputs or technologies. We make concrete recommendations about how to engage advisors with hard-to-reach groups, with approaches suited to different national contexts of Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation Systems (AKIS); thus contributing to the ‘AKIS dimension of National Strategic Plans of the next Common Agricultural Policy, 2023–2027. We argue for the more effective use of advances in the social sciences through a better understanding of advice as social interaction which can bolster the inclusiveness of public policies.     

Tracking Agricultural Economics Professionals

In 1998, a survey of the American Agricultural Economics Association was conducted by the Committee on Women in Agricultural Economics. The survey was the first in an ongoing tracking system, funded by the American Agricultural Economics Association Foundation, designed to track the progress of agricultural economics professionals over time, examine factors that influence their professional development, and investigate changes over time in the composition of the profession and issues influencing change. This study provides the background and objectives of the tracking system, the survey procedure, and basic demographics of the American Agricultural Economics Association and survey respondents.     

An Organisational Discussion of Incomplete Contracting and Transaction Costs in Conservation Contracts

Conservation in the agricultural sector is difficult to achieve. A primary complicating factor in achieving conservation is the large number of public good environmental services provided by large numbers of individuals acting under diverse economic and ecological conditions. The complexity of the problem implies that additional consideration must be given to transaction cost economics and the theory of incomplete contracting. Drawing on insights from organisational economics, this paper argues that conservation policy and research could be improved with explicit consideration of the effects of ‘holdup problems’, transaction costs and trust on the provision of conservation services. ‘Bottom‐up’ approaches are promising as they directly incorporate these organisational issues, and the paper concludes with an example of a ‘bottom‐up’ conservation programme, the Ontario Environmental Farm Planning programme.     

ECONOMIC EVALUATION OF THE FARM WOODLAND SCHEME IN SCOTLAND

This paper describes an economic evaluation of planting under the Farm Woodland Scheme in Scotland based on the calculation of the Scheme's net UK Exchequer cost (NEC) and its relationship to the benefits observed through a survey of first-year Scheme entrants. It was found that the motivation in planting was primarily for ‘environmental’ benefits such as landscape, amenity, wildlife and sport. Income and timber production were much less important. On average, payments under the Scheme under-compensated farmers for their direct and opportunity costs associated with planting. When based on agricultural savings in the year of planting, the annual NEC was #58 per ha, but this cost increases substantially if the additionality principle is applied. Anticipated benefits in terms of farm output reduction, income diversification, employment and timber production are identified but the effects are not large. Environmental benefits were not included in the evaluation and these may provide greater justification for the expenditure.     

山西省财政支农支出与农业 GDP增长关系的实证分析

农业是国民经济的基础,农业的发展需要财政的支持。该文根据柯布—道格拉斯生产函数模型,选取山西省1980～2010年农业经济和财政数据,对财政支农支出与农业GDP增长之间的关联性进行了实证研究。结果显示,财政支农支出对农业经济发展具有显著的推动作用,财政支农支出对山西农业GDP增长的弹性系数为0.635,从财政支农支出的结构看,各项支出对农业GDP的作用差异显著,说明财政支农支出构成有待进一步优化;基于实证分析结论提出了促进山西农业经济增长的财政支农政策建议。     

New knowledge networks of small-scale farmers in Europe’s periphery

In this paper we assess the types of knowledge networks utilised by small-scale farmers in four case studies (located in Bulgaria, Poland, Portugal, and the United Kingdom). We focus on knowledge acquired to inform three new activities being undertaken by study participants: agricultural production, subsidy access and regulatory compliance, and farm diversification (specifically agritourism). Findings demonstrate that the new knowledge networks are dominated by different forms of expertise: formal ‘agricultural advisors’ identified in the case studies primarily offer codified managerial knowledge through centralised networks, suggesting that state-funded services for small-scale farmers are largely embedded in traditional, linear models of knowledge transfer. Production and diversification knowledge is exchanged through ‘distributed’ and ‘decentralised’ networks, where a range of actors are involved across varying geographical distances. Findings highlight issues associated with the quality and independence of both ‘free’ and paid advice, as well as the importance of combining tacit and codified knowledge for credibility. In all four cases, we found that small-scale farmers utilise formal advisory services primarily for accessing subsidies (e.g. completing application forms), rather than acquiring production knowledge. The authors argue that by utilising the state funding allocated to advisory services for small-scale farmers primarily to enable these farmers to access subsidies, important opportunities for innovation by both advisors or farmers can be lost.     

Career Choices and Challenges Among Agricultural Economists

A number of trends regarding specific factors that influence employment decisions and challenges affecting careers for men, women, and minorities in the agricultural economics profession are both ongoing and emerging. In 1998, the Committee on Women in Agricultural Economics (CWAE) began a tracking system to more closely examine and report on these issues. The study shows that although individual job preferences and career challenges vary among the respondents, those encountered by women and minorities seem to differ from their white male counterparts.     

A PROPOSED SIMULATION METHOD FOR MEASURING STRUCTURAL CHANGE AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM IMPACTS*

A number of agricultural development programs have been designed in Canada to increase agricultural productivity and improve incomes of low income farms in marginal agricultural areas. These programs include the Agricultural and Rural Development Act, 1967 (ARDA), the Fund for Rural Economic Development, 1966 (FRED), and the Canada Department of Agriculture, Small Farm Development Program (SFDP). The various programs have unique elements and represent alternative approaches to resolving the Rural Development Problem. However, models of the agricultural development process which permit an analysis of the potential impacts of such programs on the changing structure of agriculture and the relationship between agricultural and non-agricultural sectors are not available. In this paper a dynamic regional model of agriculture with an explicit linkage between the development programs and the regional economy (including rural and urban dimensions) is proposed. Plusieurs programmes du développement d'agriculture ont étéétablis au Canada pour augmenter la production d'agriculture et améliorer les revenus des fermes de rendements économiquement faibles dans les régions marginales d'agriculture comprenant I‘“Acte du Développement Agricole et Rural” [Agricultural and Rural Development Act, 1967 (ARDA)], les “Fonds pour le Développement Economique Rural” [Fund for Rural Economic Development, 1966 (FRED)], et le “Programme de Développement des Petites Fermes” [Small Farm Development Program (SFDP)] du départment d'agriculture du Canada. Ces divers programmes ont des éléments uniques et représentent des manières alternatives d'aborder la question pour résourdre le Probleme du Développement Rural. Cependant, les modèles du processers du développement agricole qui permettent une analyse du choc potentiel de tels programmes sur la structure mobile de I'agriculture et les relations entre les secteurs agricoles et nonagricoles ne sont pas disponibles. Nous proposons, dans cette étude, un modèle dynamique et régional de I'agri-culture avec une liaison explicite entre les programmes de développement et I'economie regionale (comprenant les dimensions rurales et urbaines).     

Agricultural policy reform in the United States: an unfinished agenda

The 1996 Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act (FAIR) contained important breaks with a tradition of crop–by–crop subsidies dating back to the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1933. Farmers with recorded base acres were given the opportunity (which nearly all accepted) to sign a seven–year 'contract' with the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), under which payments will be continued on the merged base acres on a declining schedule until the year 2002. FAIR is an unfinished agenda. First, the coverage of 'freedom to farm' is only partial, with numerous commodities left out of the decoupling programme. Second, the largest producers will augment their already significant receipts with generous lump sum transfers from USDA. This will further reinforce the concentration of roughly 90 per cent of receipts and payments in the hands of the 100 000 to 200 000 largest producers of field crops. An alternative would be to make payments in times of low marketing receipts which recede when prices are high.     

Agrarian Change and Ethnic Politics: Restructuring of Hmong and Shan Labour and Agricultural Production in Northern Thailand

Ethnic politics are an important, but under‐examined, dynamic in the restructuring of agrarian labour. This paper examines how the discursive construction of ethnic identity has facilitated the particular form of agrarian intensification and labour restructuring under way in the uplands of Thailand. Agricultural intensification, followed by the promotion of ‘safe’ and then ‘organic’ production, has relied upon the construction of Hmong farmers as environmentally destructive and in need of development, while Shan labour arriving from Burma are simultaneously constructed as ‘illegal migrants’ (as opposed to refugees), a social nuisance and hard workers, helping to make them into an available, willing and preferred labour force. We argue that the construction of ethnic identity in these instances enables the agricultural changes under way and, thus, the particularities of agricultural change cannot be understood without careful attention to ethnic politics.     

Assessing the Impact of the ‘Decoupling’ Reform of the Common Agricultural Policy on Irish Farmers’ Off‐farm Labour Market Participation Decisions

This paper assesses the impact of the ‘decoupling’ reform of the Common Agricultural Policy on the labour allocation decisions of Irish farmers. The agricultural household decision‐making model provides the conceptual and theoretical framework to examine the interaction between government subsidies and farmers’ time allocation decisions. The relationship postulated is that ‘decoupling’ of agricultural support from production would probably result in a decline in the return to farm labour but it would also lead to an increase in household wealth. The effect of these factors on how farmers allocate their time is tested empirically using labour participation and labour supply models. The models developed are sufficiently general for application elsewhere. The main findings for the Irish situation are that the decoupling of direct payments is likely to increase the probability of farmers participating in the off‐farm employment market and that the amount of time allocated to off‐farm work will increase.     

Relative assistance to Australian agriculture and manufacturing since Federation

This paper quantifies the levels of assistance received by producers of the major agricultural crops and animal products in Australia since Federation and compares this with the level of assistance provided to manufacturing producers. First, we construct a series of the production‐weighted average nominal rate of assistance for the whole sector. Then, we compute a measure of the level of assistance received by the Agriculture sector relative to that received by the Manufacturing sector, the Relative Rate of Assistance. Our results show that, from the time of Federation until the 1990s, the economy‐wide pattern of industry assistance discriminated persistently and heavily against the Agriculture sector. The policy of ‘protection all round’ pursued by the Country/National Party did not prevent this discrimination. In particular, producers of exportables, such as wool and wheat, were heavily discriminated against. Both the intersectoral bias and the differences in assistance among agricultural producers lowered the incomes of the Agriculture sector and the national income.     

基层农技服务供给模式的变迁与小农的技术获取困境

在农业转型的背景下,小农户存在修正既有生产方式和获取日常性生产指导的技术刚需.但基层农技服务供给却呈现了“行政上移与市场主导”的双重特征.农业部门不再建设基层服务力量,县级提供的公益性技术服务以回应国家农业政策导向为核心,而彻底偏离了农民的生产技术需求.以技术为辅助性销售手段的农资经销体系成为了乡村社会的技术主导.这种...     

The EU’s ecological focus areas – How experts explain farmers’ choices in Germany

Ecological Focus Areas (EFAs) have recently been introduced as key element in the greening of the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy. In 2015, farmers across the EU have implemented EFAs for the first time. Data for German federal states indicate a strong variance in EFA decisions with an overall dominance of catch crops, nitrogen fixing crops and fallow land – two of which bear limited benefits for biodiversity conservation. This article explores how experts explain EFA choices. We conducted 35 qualitative, semi-structured interviews with representatives from the Ministry for Agriculture, farm advisory services, and farmers’ associations in each federal state. Applying content analysis we clustered the factors mentioned as determinants for farmers’ EFA choices into the categories administrative considerations, economic considerations, local factors, ecosystem considerations and policy incentives. According to the interviewed experts, farmers have primarily registered measures that already existed on their farms. Administrative considerations dominate the identified determinants for farmers’ EFA decisions, and together with economic considerations appear to function as a negative incentive for EFA options that are beneficial for biodiversity, such as landscape elements and buffer strips. We conclude that conditions for EFA implementation were found to not effectively incentivise a higher share of biodiversity supporting characteristics in German agricultural landscapes. Based on a detailed discussion we extract recommendations on how to improve EFA implementation.