The attitude of grassland farmers towards nature conservation and agri-environment measures—A survey-based analysis

Grasslands have a multi-layer protection function for nature, biodiversity and climate. These functions can be fostered by an adapted management on grassland farms. Promoting nature protection alongside agricultural production is an aim of European agricultural policy. However, a number of studies indicate that existing Agri-environment measures (AEM) are not as effective as assumed, mainly because they are not sufficiently used by farmers. We investigated the view of grassland farmers on nature conservation and on existing AEM in four distinct regions on a west to east gradient in the North German Plain. We conducted a survey on 82 grassland farms inquiring basic farm data and asking questions on general agricultural issues and nature protection. The results indicate that the majority of all respondents is generally interested in nature conservation and believes it to be of concern for every farmer. In contrast, only a minority of grassland farmers is using the existing AEM to the full extend on their own farm. By applying the concept of farming styles, we classified farmers into four groups, namely Traditionalist, Idealist, Modernist, and Yield Optimizer. These farming styles groups differ in farm and management parameters, general attitudes towards agricultural issues, farming objectives and economic success. We found that in our survey the farming styles groups differ in their attitude towards nature conservation. However, they do not differ in the adoption of AEM and have different reasons for not taking part. We state that for a better implementation of AEM into agricultural practice a better communication, which is adapted to the different ways that farmers manage their farm and think and feel, is needed. Consequently, AEM need to be revised as well.     

Herd Growth,Farm Organisation and Subsidies in the Dairy Sector of Russia and Kazakhstan

Initially taken as a template for farm restructuring after the demise of collective agriculture, the ‘Western family farm model’ has taken root in the former Soviet countries only belatedly and incompletely. We examine dairy structures in Russia and Kazakhstan and analyse the drivers of recent herd growth. We are specifically interested in the role of farm management and organisation, vertical integration, and the role of policy. Regression analysis based on a sample of 180 randomly selected commercial dairy farms, using an innovative simultaneous equation framework, shows that better herd management and access to milk marketing contracts were more effective in stimulating herd growth than current subsidy payments. We do not find evidence that milking plants belonging to corporate entities or even supra‐regional agroholdings grow more substantially than medium‐sized individual farms. Twenty‐five years after the end of central planning, structural change among commercial dairy farms in Russia and Kazakhstan appears similar in many ways to the patterns observed in the West more recently: smaller farms catch up in terms of herd growth and classical family‐run operations coexist with or even emulate vertically integrated agribusinesses based on hired labour. In moving toward this ‘new normal’ of farming structures, commercial dairy farms in Russia may even be a few steps ahead of their Western counterparts. At the same time, the still sizeable but stagnating group of subsistence producers in rural households finds no equivalent in the West.     

Do farm operators benefit from direct to consumer marketing strategies?

Using farm‐level data this study investigates factors associated with the choice of three direct marketing strategies (DMSs). Particular attention is given to the role of management and marketing skills in selection of DMSs. Additionally, the study applies a selectivity‐based approach for the multinomial logit model to assess the relationship between DMSs and the financial performance of the business. Results suggest that both management and marketing skills significantly affect direct‐to‐consumer sales. Farmers choosing the strategy of sales only through direct‐to‐consumer outlets report earnings that are significantly lower than earnings from the other marketing strategies. Marketing skills prove to be beneficial to direct‐to‐consumer (DTC) earnings. Finally, the selectivity correction terms in the direct sales model are significantly negative in the choice of DTC, indicating the presence of sample selection effects. Accounting for selectivity is essential to ensure unbiased and consistent estimates.     

Seasonal Adjustment in a Market for Female Agricultural Workers

This article explores seasonal adjustment in the market for temporary agricultural labor. We estimate a model of participation allowing for unobserved heterogeneity and endogeneity/selection bias using daily observations from Chilean panel data, and a model of daily earnings. Results indicate that seasonal wage variation is an important aspect of labor-market adjustment, contributing to a large change in labor force participation. The labor force participation rate of women is significantly more elastic to changes in the expected wage than is that for men. Nonetheless, we find evidence of substantial open unemployment during the slack season, especially for females, probably due to frictional and efficiency wage effects.     

European farms’ participation in agri-environmental measures

Due to their diversity and voluntariness, agri-environmental measures (AEMs) are among the Common Agricultural Policy instruments that are most difficult to assess. We provide an EU-wide analysis of AEM adoption and farm’s total AEM support over total Utilised Agricultural Area using a Heckman sample selection approach and single farm data. Our analysis covers 22 Member States over the 2000–2009 period, assesses the entire portfolio of AEMs and focuses on the relationship between AEM participation and farming system. Results show that participation in AEMs is more likely in less intensive production systems, where, however, per committed hectare AEM premiums tend to be lower. Member States group into three categories: high/low intensity farming systems with low/high AEM enrollment rates, respectively, and large high diversity countries with medium AEM enrollment rates.     

How cost-effective are result-oriented agri-environmental measures?—An empirical analysis in Germany

Agri-environmental measures (AEM) are the central area-based measures of the second pillar of the Common European Agricultural Policy. Cost-effectiveness of AEMs has to be improved. In this paper a newly designed AEM called result-oriented incentive is empirically analysed for the first time concerning its impacts on environmental effects and cost.     

The failure of agri-environment measures to promote and conserve grassland biodiversity in Slovenia

The effectiveness of four grassland-specific agri-environment measures (AEM), implemented in the frame of the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) in the period 2007–2013 in Slovenia was studied. We questioned whether the measures – “extensive grassland maintenance”; “preservation of special grassland habitats”; “preservation of grassland habitats for butterflies” and “bird conservation in humid extensive meadows in Natura 2000 sites” did genuinely support the conservation (maintenance or improvement) of high nature value (HNV) grasslands in Slovenia. The HNV grasslands were defined on the basis of national fine-resolution field mapping of habitat types. Two main outcomes emerged: AEM did not reach the vast majority of HNV grasslands in Slovenia (only 3%); the proportion of HNV grassland area included in AEM was negligibly low (1). Moreover, even this very limited interest in AEM did not target only grasslands of HNV, but any permanent grasslands regardless of their conservation value: forty-one percent (41%) of the grassland areas included in the AEM were actually non-HNV grasslands (2). The absence of pre-selection criteria for grasslands along with an absence of monitoring of the effectiveness and efficiency of the measures and low interest in the subsidies among farmers, led to almost complete failure of the AEM to promote and conserve species-rich extensive grasslands in Slovenia between 2007 and 2013. Even with some minor differences, the same concept was maintained for the currently running EAFRD 2014–2020, which raises serious concern.     

INTERPERSONAL VARIATION IN FARM WORKERS‘ EARNINGS: ANALYSIS OF WAGES AND EMPLOYMENT ENQUIRY DATA

Most econometric analyses of the agricultural labour market in Britain have been concerned with explaining the general level of agricultural earnings and changes over time. This study complements such analyses by attempting to explain the variation in earnings between workers at any one time. The study uses multiple-regression analysis of cross-sectional data taken from the Wages and Employment Enquiry. Significant explanatory variables are age, grade and occupation of the worker, farm size, overtime hours and region. There is evidence of (a) an age-earnings profile with peak earnings at 45–54 years, (b) grade differentials which do not follow those expected from the official Agricultural Wages Board wages structure, (c) occupational differentials, (d) earnings rising with farm size, (e) the importance of overtime hours. Unexpected results occur with some of the regional coefficients.     

Impact of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy on Agribusiness in the United Kingdom: Results of an Event Study of Equity Prices

This article assesses the impact on agribusinesses of the United Kingdom Government's announcement of a possible link between Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy and human health. Three approaches are employed to derive benchmark models against which abnormal returns are estimated, a simple market model, Scholes–Williams approach, and an autoregressive distributed lag model. Abnormal returns are estimated for single firms and for subsectors over an eight-day event window. The autoregressive distributed lag model performs best and indicates significant negative abnormal returns in the beef, pet food, animal feed, and dairy sectors and positive abnormal returns in the other meats sector.     

Nonlinear Dynamics and Structural Change in the U.S. Hog–Corn Cycle: A Time-Varying STAR Approach

The linearity of the U.S. hog–corn cycle has been questioned by Chavas and Holt (1991) . Even so, attempts have not been made to model the potential nonlinear dynamics in the hog–corn cycle by using regime-switching models. One popular alternative is Teräsvirta's smooth transition autoregressive (STAR) model, which assumes regime switching is endogenous and potentially smooth. In this article, we examine monthly data for the U.S. hog–corn cycle, 1910–2004. A member of the STAR family, the time-varying STAR, is fitted to the data and its properties examined. We find evidence of nonlinearity, regime-dependent behavior, and time-varying parameter change.     

THE EFFECT OF PRICE SUPPORT POLICIES ON AGRICULTURAL INVESTMENT,EMPLOYMENT, FARM INCOMES AND LAND VALUES IN THE U.K.

Agricultural price policy has a major impact on the input markets as well as the output markets and a model is developed to analyse the effects of changes in support levels on U.K. agricultural employment, earnings, investment and land prices. This paper describes the specification, estimation and evaluation of the model and simulates the effects of a one per cent increase in support prices. The main conclusions are that net investment would increase in the years following the rise by a maximum in the second year of £12m and by a cumulative total of £44m (representing an increase of about 0.4 per cent in the capital stock). Employment on the other hand, while rising at first, would subsequently fall to almost one per cent below its original level, and earnings of hired labour also fall slightly. Net farm income increases by around 10 per cent and this is capitalised into a similar increase in land values.     

MORE ON WELFARE GAINS TO DEVELOPING COUNTRIES FROM LIBERALIZING WORLD FOOD TRADE

The common presumption that food-importing developing countries would be harmed by a liberalization of world food trade is questioned in this paper. Both theory and new empirical modelling evidence suggest the possibility of the opposite conclusion. Even if just advanced industrial countries were to liberalize their food trade, the present empirical analysis (using a model of world food markets) suggests that economic welfare and net foreign exchange earnings from food trade could improve for the vast majority of developing countries. The extent to which that gain would be greater if developing countries also were to liberalize their policies affecting food markets is shown as well. The analysis helps to reconcile differences between previous results using partial-equilibrium models and those derived from computable general equilibrium models.     

“Keep a sinking boat afloat”: Class contradictions in a nascent shrimp farmers' cooperative in South China

Whether producer cooperatives could serve as a stepping stone leading to socialism is a much debated issue in Marxian scholarship. It has now been recognized that producer cooperatives might possess paradoxical potentials of promoting egalitarian economy and democratic management whilst at the same time constructing class hierarchies. So far, agrarian scholars have already identified how pre-existing social differentiation facilitated privileged members to exploit the marginal non-members. However, they have not explored how members exercise their agency in challenging the class division. In summer 2013, at the height of China's cooperatization movement, I embarked on a project of “engaged anthropology” to mobilize shrimp farmers in South China to establish a cooperative so as to challenge agribusinesses that squeeze farmers' returns, but members ended up hiring outside labour. However, members tried hard to bridge the hierarchy between investors and workers as well as between managers and labourers in order to expand its membership and build the village's reputation. This paper traces how cooperative members deal with the dilemmas between profit maximization and egalitarian distribution, highlighting the importance of class analysis for a pro-poor cooperative movement.     

Study of the Main Motivations and Discouraging Factors for the Implementation of ISO 9000 Standards in Spanish Agribusiness Sector

Abstract

The implementation and certification of ISO 9000 quality assurance systems in Spanish agribusiness companies is a recent although rapidly growing phenomenon. In spite of the extensive biography available on ISO standards few works have been published on the experience from the companies' point of view. This article carries out an empirical analysis of the main motivations that encourage companies to set up an ISO 9000 quality assurance system and also the reasons that discourage them from doing so. The analysis of this latter aspect, using multivariate methodology, allows an in-depth examination of the series of problems that agribusinesses face.     

Occupational sex segregation in agriculture: Evidence on gender norms and socio-emotional skills in Nigeria

Occupational sex segregation is a key driver of the gender gap in earnings. Using data from 11,691 aspiring agribusiness entrepreneurs in Nigeria, this article explores factors that drive sectoral choice, gender differences in the choice decision, and especially the role played by norms around gender roles. When given a choice of 11 agricultural value chains in a government program, we find the majority (54 percent) of the applicants chose to enter into the poultry value chain, and women were more likely to choose poultry than men. This article finds evidence of more restrictive gender norms in Northern Nigeria states, which lowers women's likelihood of entering into agricultural value chains where the potential for profit may be higher. The gender bias in sectoral choice is also attributed to differences in work experience especially in agricultural activities and in the chosen value chain, as well as in land ownership. Women with more experience in male-dominated agricultural value chains exhibit lower self-efficacy, which could reflect the challenges they face when deviating from social norms to operate within nontraditional value chains.     

The Role of Risk and Transaction Costs in Contract Design: Evidence from Farmland Lease Contracts in U.S. Agriculture

The objective of this article is to provide new empirical evidence on landlord-tenant choices of share versus cash-rent contracts in U.S. agriculture. The focus is on the contribution of explanatory variables that represent transaction costs, risk-sharing incentives, or both. An empirical model of contract choice is tested against the 1999 Agricultural Economics and Land Ownership Survey (AELOS) and finds mixed evidence for low transaction cost and risk-sharing-incentive motives for landlord-tenant choices of a share versus cash-rent contract. However, the behavior of landlords and tenants is consistent with them being risk averse. Although it is standard to control for the riskiness of the principal's task that is contracted, we find that other attributes of the landlord are an important part of a relatively complex story for U.S. land tenancy contacting. The latter results have generally been ignored in other published landlord-tenant contracting studies.     

基于排序Logit模型的土地流转供给、需求收益实证研究——来自2014年河北11个地级市的农户经验数据

土地流转问题既是经济性问题,又是社会性问题,土地流转的有序运转是中国经济改革的重中之重。根据土地流转市场状况,目前很多农户的土地流转是通过土地流转市场之外进行的,在这种脱离市场情况下的土地流转是否符合目前的土地流转趋势,是否可以给农户带来明显的效益,这些都是亟待考察的问题。不同地区土地流转不同,所以,河北省的土地流转与收入的关系不能严格按照其他省份的调查数据来推断,需要进一步进行实证研究。文章根据对河北省11个地级市所辖的农村进行土地流转调查,采用排序Logit模型研究了土地流转供给、需求收益状况。结果表明：土地流入降低了农户的收入。这说明目前的土地经营还没有形成集中连片的规模经营,局部、零星的土地流转对于农民收入并没有显著性的影响,只有大规模地进行土地流转与集中经营,才可以形成规模经营,从而产生土地流转的效益,明显使得这部分农民收入有所提高。土地的再转包对农户家庭受益影响是正向的、土地流出可以提高农户收入,农户收益的提高主要有两个方面原因：一是农业耕种的效率低下,外出打工的高收益,促进了农户们放弃自己的土地进程务工,在土地流出中获得较高的转包收益;二是农户在对外打工中获得较高的收益,且该收益要高于农地经营的收益。这两部分收益形成了将土地流出农户的家庭主要收入。     

Innovation and networks in New Zealand farming

The New Zealand government seeks to dramatically increase the value of agricultural exports while concurrently protecting the natural environment. Thus, farmers are expected to adopt pro‐environmental management practices and novel farm technologies. We show that farmers are more likely to adopt new practices and technologies after seeing them demonstrated, but earlier evidence indicates that demonstration is most effectively undertaken within farmer networks. We use multivariate regression to identify the traits of livestock farmers who are innovative by focusing on adoption of pro‐environmental management practices (managing nutrients, soils and pugging) and novel farm technologies (e.g., windmills, computer‐based management systems, automatic sensors and specialised grasses), considering both numbers adopted and timing. We find that dairy farmers are more innovative than other livestock farmers and that higher education levels and stronger environmental norms within the family are strongly associated with innovativeness. In addition, we find that innovators and early adopters have larger networks than other farmers. Moreover, the composition of these networks is much more varied than the networks of less innovative farmers. These findings imply that innovative farmers in New Zealand may also act as connectors for the diffusion of new ideas in farming.     

森林资源资产组合随机控制模型及决策

在界定了森林生态资产与森林资源资产组合概念的基础上,构建和模拟了基于随机控制理论的森林资源资产组合模型,为森林经营管理者提出了相应的结论和建议:森林经营管理者可以根据最优采伐量与木材价格、补偿价格、成本系数、税率、贴现率、生长率等参数之间的关系,获得在市场经济变动条件下的最优森林资产组合,以保证森林资产净收益的稳定增长。     

“黄箱”政策的农业增收效果:以粮食作物为例

为定量评价我国农业政策的农业增收效果,本文以粮食作物为例,借用世界银行TRI(贸易抑制指数)和NRA(名义支持率)数据库,分别在粮食作物亩均实际收益与农产品出口贸易抑制指数和农产品进口贸易抑制指数之间建立动态计量模型,采用协整分析、脉冲反应函数和方差分解分析等方法对我国"黄箱政策"的农业增收效果进行了实证分析。研究发现,我国农业自由化程度远高于高收入国家,且存有"重调产出、轻调投入"和"重经济效益、轻粮食安全"等政策倾向;生产者的"超调"行为使得粮食生产收益成倒"N"型变化;长期内"黄箱政策"并不是粮食作物增收的主要因素。