Changes In Agricultural Policy Research Articles

Beef sector re-structuring after Agenda 2000: an Irish example

The reforms of the beef sector that resulted from Agenda 2000 are the most comprehensive for any commodity. Price support is reduced and the drop in revenue from the market is compensated by an increase in direct payments. In this paper, two integrated modelling approaches are used to produce projections for the sector that incorporate both agricultural policy changes and the evolving macroeconomic environment using the example of Ireland. It is projected that these changes will result in a restructuring of the beef sector in Ireland, which will have consequences for both farming, and related industries, and therefore for rural development as a whole.

Impacts of environmental regulations on the efficiency of arable farms in France and Germany

Summary This paper develops a methodology for asymmetric treatment of desirable and undesirable outputs. First, a hyperbolic output efficiency measurement is used to describe a middle term transformation of production processes where producers try to improve their competitiveness together with a reduction of the negative impact on the environment. Second, a radial efficiency measurement, called directional output distance function, is used to depict a long-term transformation of the production process. A non-parametric Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) and a Stochastic Frontier Analysis (SFA) are used to evaluate the impact of agricultural policy changes, both in France and Germany, on the technical and environmental efficiency of arable farms, taking into account participation or not in agri-environmental programs. The results from both methods indicate only limited possibilities for environmental improvements, mainly for farms participating in agri-environmental programs.

Policy Recommendations to Maintain and Enhance Agricultural Productivity in the Nile River Delta

Agricultural productivity has declined in some portions of the Nile River Delta, due to the sustained reuse of saline drainage water in some areas and the over-application of irrigation water in others. Recent changes in agricultural policies and the Government of Egypt's land reclamation plans have increased the demand for Nile River water in Egypt. Efforts to supply the land reclamation projects will reduce the volume of Nile River water available to farmers in the Delta, where soil and water quality may be degraded further unless current policies regarding irrigation and drainage are modified. This paper examines the economic dimensions of farm-level decisions in respect of cropping patterns and irrigation water volumes, to identify policies that will maintain and enhance productivity in the Nile Delta. Recommendations include volumetric water pricing, where feasible, and crop-specific land assessments elsewhere. Successful policy efforts would enable the Ministry of Public Works and Water Resources to achieve its water supply and drainage goals more effectively, and to improve the quality of irrigation water delivered in the Delta.

Evaluating the Impact of Policy-induced Land Use Management Practices on Non-point Source Pollution Using a Spatial Decision Support System

State and federal conservation compliance policies in the United States are aimed, in part, at reducing non-point pollution and maintaining long-term agricultural productivity. These policies affect land use and management practices on the nation's farms. Farms and farmers, however, are part of a larger agri-ecological system and changes in farming practices affect linked socio-economic, biologic, and hydrologic systems. It is difficult, therefore, to foresee the wide ranging and long-term consequences that are set into motion by changes in agricultural policy. Yet, these consequences must be understood if we are to avoid the deleterious side effects or capture the collateral benefits associated with specific policies. A Spatial Decision Support System (SDSS) has been developed here to help understand some of these consequences within the context of watershed management and the control of non-point source pollution. This SDSS consists of a Geographic Information System (GIS), two spatial models (GEOLP and AGNPS), and a graphical user interface. The purpose of this SDSS is to assist decision-makers as they investigate the impact of agricultural policy on non-point source pollution and the local economy. The SDSS is used to simulate the potential impacts of alternative policy scenarios in the Big Creek watershed. The models and methodologies described here, however, are general and can provide benefits to a variety of decision-makers engaged in watershed management and the reduction of non-point pollution.

CAP reform, the Berlin summit, and EU enlargement

The planned enlargement of the EU necesitates major changes in the EU's agricultural policy. The decisions of the Berlin summit in 1999 have been rated as a major breakthrough towards a liberalization of the CAP by the EU Commission and the ministers of agriculture, but are seen considerably more critically by others. The consequences of the compromises reached in Berlin will be distortions both in the allocation of land to agriculture, forestry and environmental purposes, and in the distribution of sectoral income, leading to excessive budget outlays and high economic rents for landowners who are increasingly themselves not active farmers. A fundamental reform of the CAP is still required. What elements should it contain? How could its chances of implementation be increased?

Economic and Environmental Policy Analysis of the Flumen‐Monegros Irrigation System in Huesca, Spain

This article describes a behavioral model of the Flumen‐Monegros irrigation area (Spain) and presents the results from the model simulation under various policy scenarios. The model combines agronomic, economic and policy information in a framework built using linear programming and crop growth simulation techniques. An important feature of the model is the classification of crop acreage in various types of soils which have different productive potential. The objective function maximizes net margins of crops and includes direct payments of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). The crop activities covered in the model are the main crops cultivated in the area (fallow, wheat, barley, corn, sunflower, alfalfa, rice, other crops, and CAP set‐aside). To validate the model, the results on cropland utilization obtained from the model have been compared with actual cropland utilization, concluding that the model closely approximates the actual data. The model is used to characterize the behavior of the irrigation area under three scenarios which reflect likely changes in agricultural and environmental policies: removal of direct payments, increase in water prices, and reduction of fertilizer use. The results show the large impact of these three scenarios on farmers' production decisions: the elimination of direct payment reduces net margin almost by half; prices corresponding to full recovery of water costs reduce significantly the cultivated acreage; and the reduction in fertilizer use causes a fall of 23 percent in net margins.

Understanding Policy Networks: Towards a Dialectical Approach

This article has two aims. First, we develop a dialectical model of the role that policy networks play in any explanation of policy outcomes. Our model is based upon a critique of existing approaches and emphasizes that the relationship between networks and outcomes is not a simple, unidimensional one. Rather, we argue that there are three interactive or dialectical relationships involved between: the structure of the network and the agents operating within them; the network and the context within which it operates; and the network and the policy outcome. Second, we use this model to help analyse and understand continuity and change in British agricultural policy since the 1930s. Obviously, one case is not sufficient to establish the utility of the model, but the case does illustrate both that policy networks can, and do, affect policy outcomes and that, in order to understand how that happens, we need to appreciate the role played by the three dialectical relationships highlighted in our model.

Predicting and mapping the future demand for irrigation water in England and Wales

A methodology has been developed for predicting the future growth in demand for irrigation in countries with supplemental irrigation such as England and Wales. This takes into account expected changes in agricultural policy, technical, market and other factors. The methodology has also been applied within a geographical information system (GIS) to map the growth. The GIS approach represents an extension of a procedure developed by Knox et al. (1997) (Knox, J.W., Weatherhead, E.K., Bradley, R.I., 1997. Agricultural Water Management 33, 1–18). The total net volumetric actual irrigation water requirements for a `design' dry year (20% exceedance), are predicted to rise from 168×10 6 m 3 in 1996 to 244×10 6 m 3 in 2021. Meanwhile, the total net volumetric theoretical irrigation water requirements for a `design' dry year, are predicted to rise from 204×10 6 m 3 in 1996 to 247×10 6 m 3 in 2021. Maps are presented showing the predicted change in the spatial distribution of irrigation demand between 1996 and 2021, and the theoretical dry year irrigation demand for all irrigated crops in 2021. The application and limitations of the methodology are discussed.

Harvest contract price volatility for cotton

Changes in agricultural and international trade policy have increased attention to issues of price volatility and risk management. Previous work in the area of price volatility has typically focused on grains, with little work dealing with cotton. The objective of this analysis was to examine the determinants of price volatility for cotton, focusing on the growing season volatility of the harvest contract. Different econometric techniques, including ARCH/GARCH, were employed to estimate the effects of a set of variables on price volatility. The potential for a nonlinear relationship between price and volatility was examined. Findings suggest a significant seasonal pattern to volatility as well as a nonlinear relationship between price and volatility. The results also suggest that cotton price volatility has not significantly changed with respect to changes in agricultural policy. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Jrl Fut Mark 19: 717–733, 1999

Harvest contract price volatility for cotton

Changes in agricultural and international trade policy have increased attention to issues of price volatility and risk management. Previous work in the area of price volatility has typically focused on grains, with little work dealing with cotton. The objective of this analysis was to examine the determinants of price volatility for cotton, focusing on the growing season volatility of the harvest contract. Different econometric techniques, including ARCH/GARCH, were employed to estimate the effects of a set of variables on price volatility. The potential for a nonlinear relationship between price and volatility was examined. Findings suggest a significant seasonal pattern to volatility as well as a nonlinear relationship between price and volatility. The results also suggest that cotton price volatility has not significantly changed with respect to changes in agricultural policy. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Jrl Fut Mark 19: 717–733, 1999

Site Selection and Nest Success of Ring-Necked Pheasants as a Function of Location in Iowa Landscapes

Wildlife managers in the midwestern United States implicitly recognize that large-scale changes in land use have been a major factor in the nesting ecology of the ring-necked pheasant (Phasianus colchicus), but they have lacked models that quantify the relation between nest success and landscape variables at multiple scales. We used data from 288 nests of radiomarked female pheasants during the 1990-94 breeding seasons in Iowa to study nest-site selection and nest success. We quantified habitat and landscape metrics within the 485-m radius of a home range around nests by using aerial imagery and FRAGSTATS. We screened potential landscape variables by using principal component and classification and regression tree (CART) analyses before developing logistic regression models to predict nest-site selection and success as a function of landscape conditions. A 5-variable logistic regression model incorporating nesting patch size, mean grassland patch size, landscape core area, landscape shape index, and distance to edge predicted nest-site locations at a 77% posterior concordant rate. The CART analyses suggested nest success was best modeled by splitting nest observations into nests in patches ≤15.6 ha and >15.6 ha. For nests in patches ≤15.6 ha, a logistic regression model with site cover type and mean core area index predicted nest success with a 73% posterior concordant rate (P 15.6 ha, a model with site cover type, core area standard deviation, and distance from the nest to the edge predicted nest success best (concordant rate = 64%, P = 0.069), although the effect of distance to edge was very slight (conditional odds ratio = 1.003, 95% CI = 0.997-1.009). Our models suggest managers should strive to provide undisturbed grassland blocks ≥15 ha for nesting pheasants, but our observation was that success was highest in fields 4 times that size. Furthermore, cover in several large grassland blocks within the nesting home range is preferable to concentrating cover in 1 large block. Landscape models like ours could be used to project the consequences of changes in agricultural policy on ring-necked pheasant populations.

The Defining Moment: A Review Essay

This article reviews The Defining Moment, edited by Michael D. Bordo, Claudia Goldin, and Eugene N. White. The volume studies how the Great Depression changed government policies, including changes in monetary policy, fiscal policy, banking policy, agricultural policy, social insurance, and international economic policy. I argue that a theory of policy evolution is required to answer how the Great Depression affected these policies. In the absence of this theory, the contributors provide insight into the question by showing how policies changed sharply in the 1930s with little or no historical precedent or by showing how policies were tied to political or other considerations unique to the period. While this volume does not always provide answers to the questions posed, it does raise a fundamental issue in the analysis of government policy: Why during some crisis periods are bad policies adopted, whereas during other periods they are not ?

Food Security and World Trade Prospects

Food security depends on available world supplies of food, the income of the designated population, and the population's access to the available supplies. Consequently, though seldom recognized in national food security policies, there is a direct relationship between food security, world trade in food, and the domestic policies that govern access to international markets for food. On all three scores, I believe we can be optimistic about improvements in world food security over the next quarter century. Over the next quarter century, the world's supply of food will grow somewhat more rapidly than will the demand for it, leading to lower real prices of food. Thus, the trend of food prices, as measured by grain prices, is likely to continue the trend of the current century, though at a slower rate of decline.' The remarkable reduction in the international price of grain that has occurred in this century is given all too little emphasis in discussions of the world food situation, certainly so in the discussions of the food pessimists. I am confident that the real per capita incomes of the majority of the population in the developing countries will continue to increase, contributing to an improvement in food security. Finally, I believe that, with the changes in agricultural policies in the major industrial countries, world trade in farm products, especially grains, will be further liberalized in the future. In addition, more and more developing countries are reducing barriers to trade, thus increasing access to world food supplies. Thus, all the broad trends point o an improvement in world food security and a reduction in the number of persons adversely affected by both long-term or short-term inadequate access to food. This does not mean that in every country food security will improve. Some governments may continue to follow national and trade policies related to food that restrict domestic food production, limit the growth of per capita incomes, and restrict access to the available world food supplies. When this happens, food security and adequacy will not be im roved or not improved as much as they po entially could be. At this time, there can be little doubt that the poor performance of agriculture and the insecurity of food supplies in sub-Saharan Africa over the past quarter century have been due primarily to inappropriate policies-to policies that discriminated against agriculture and resulted in large-scale governmental interventions in international trade. Misgovernment plus civil and ethnic wars have exacted and continue to exact a

Subsidy Removal and Farm‐Level Stewardship in Northland

ABSTRACTIllustrating one facet of farm‐level environmental management in post‐1984 New Zealand, this paper assesses changes in stewardship among Northland pastoralists. On‐farm activities which protect or enhance the environment continue to be undertaken without state support.However, the withdrawal of environmental grants, in tandem with the wider agricultural policy changes, has reduced the propensity and ability of farmers to undertake stewardship, especially during cyclical downturns.

Review of the effect of nitrogen fertilization on the chemical composition, intake, digestion and nutritive value of fresh herbage: consequences on animal nutrition and N balance

The changes in agricultural policy and the increased concern about the effects of intensive production systems on the natural environment may lead to a reduction in the levels of nitrogen (N) fertilization on grassland. The aim of this review is to quantify the consequences of lowering N fertilization on dairy cow nutrition. For grass species harvested at the same age of regrowth, a reduction in N fertilization leads to a decrease in organic matter (OM) digestibility by 0.02 units, but the site of OM digestion is unaffected. Despite a much lower crude protein (CP) content in poorly fertilized grass, the amount of non-ammonia nitrogen entering the intestine is decreased by only about 5% since the efficiency of microbial protein synthesis is unaffected, while the rumen degradability of CP is slightly decreased. Reducing N fertilization could reduce NE L by 0.3 MJ kg −1 DM and Metabolizable Protein (MP) by 5 to 12 g kg −1 DM. These moderate effects can be attributed to the fact that any decrease in CP content is compensated for by an increase in water-soluble carbohydrates, which are completely digestible and provide a readily available source of energy for ruminal proteosynthesis. Conversely, cell wall content remains unchanged. On average, N fertilization has no effect on the quantity of dry matter voluntarily ingested by stall-feeding animals, but herbage intake at grazing may be reduced since low amounts of N fertilization might reduce the ease of prehension of herbage by reducing the green leaf mass per unit area. Lowering the levels of N fertilization would appear to be an efficient means of reducing N losses in ruminants. The possible consequences on dairy cow nutrition are discussed.

Biased Policies, Agriculture and Income Distribution in South Africa: A Social Accounting Matrix Approach

In this study a Social Accounting Matrix approach is used to analyse the effects of changes in agricultural policies on income distribution. Increasing final demand for agricultural products, and a reduction in agricultural price support, will produce greater proportional benefits for poorer households, although these benefits are small. A 6% reduction in agricultural price supports results in a 7% decline in agricultural prices, but the intersectoral effects are concentrated; hence the decline in price supports has a relatively limited impact on the structure of relative commodity prices beyond the food System. The benefits of an increase in agricultural wages decline with household incomes, with the higher wages having a minimal effect on paces. Policy simulations indicate the extent to which agricultural policy reforms can have a positive effect on income distribution in South Africa.

Interactions between plant and insect diversity in the restoration of lowland calcareous grasslands in southern Britain

Abstract. The lowland calcareous grasslands of northwestern Europe are highly prized by ecologists and conservationists as a result of the diversity of their plant and invertebrate communities. Large areas of such grasslands have been lost this century as a result of changes in agricultural land use. Recent changes in agricultural policies, in particular the introduction of agri‐environmental incentive schemes, have resulted in an increasing area being managed for the restoration of these communities.This paper reviews the management techniques employed in the restoration of lowland calcareous grasslands and the factors that govern their success. Constraints on the enhancement of the plant diversity of restoration sites include high soil fertility and the presence of undesirable species in the soil seed bank. However, it is thought that the primary constraint is the availability of propagules from which new populations can be established. Similarly, the dispersal mode and ability of insect species is likely to be the major factor limiting the enhancement of insect diversity.Evaluation of the success of restoration management usually involves monitoring changes in the plant community. However, as a result of their short life‐cycles and sensitivity to small‐scale environmental conditions, insects may respond more rapidly to changes resulting from restoration management and therefore provide better indicators of success. With the exception of a few high‐profile butterfly species, the use of insects as indicator taxa has largely been neglected in terrestrial systems. This paper illustrates their potential use with reference to lowland calcareous grasslands in southern Britain.

Power Generation Potential of Biomass Gasification Systems

Biomass has the potential to contribute a significant portion of the electricity consumed in industrialized nations and a major share of the power mix in developing countries. In addition to providing an alternative to fossil-fuel-based energy and creating new markets for agriculture, a renewable resource like biomass used in a sustainable fashion facilitates closure of the carbon cycle. To realize these benefits, particularly in the shadow of uncertainties cast by deregulation and recent changes in federal energy and agricultural policies, biomass power systems must be competitive with incumbent power-generation technologies in terms of generation efficiency and overall cost. Anticipated performance and cost of biomass-based integrated gasification, combined-cycle power systems are discussed. The electric power that can be generated worldwide using existing biomass resources (primarily crop residues and wastes) and the potential amount that could be generated from crops grown specifically for electricity generation are projected. Technical and economic obstacles that must be overcome before advanced biomass-power systems based on aeroderivative turbines or fuel cells can become fully commercial are identified. Research, development, and demonstration efforts under way or being planned to overcome those obstacles are described; developments in a major biomass gasification demonstration project taking place in Hawaii under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Energy and the State of Hawaii are detailed.

Technical efficiency measures for olive-growing farms in Crete, Greece

This study attempts to contribute to the productivity literature of the agriculture of developing countries by exploring the distribution of technical efficiency over time among olive-growing farms operating in the southern part of Greece—specifically, the island of Crete. A balanced panel data set during the period 1987–93 is utilized for the estimation of the stochastic production frontier. The results show decreasing efficiency for farms since 1987 and suggest the need for a development strategy to improve their economic performance in the context of expected major changes in the Common Agricultural Policy. A further result is that farm size, the farmer's education, the existence of an improvement plan, and land fragmentation are the most important factors explaining inter-farm variation in efficiency.

Factors Affecting Written Marketing Plan Adoption by Large‐Scale Grain Producers

Grain marketing is becoming increasingly complex for producers. For example, a grain buyer enumerated six marketing alternatives available to producers in 1988 and 11, not counting variations and combinations, in 1994 (Cripe). Thus, producers are faced with a diversity of alternatives in developing their marketing strategies. At the same time, changes in government agricultural policy and increased globalization of agriculture have increased potential price variability (Carlson). As King, Lev, and Nefstead noted, proper evaluation of alternatives is not a trivial problem (p. 205). With the increasing complexity of marketing, some producers developed highly specific marketing plans to guide their decisions (e.g., Rulon). A marketing plan, especially a written plan, is seen as a disciplined approach to marketing in what is a frequently changing and emotionally charged environment (Boehlje). The purpose of this study is to determine the effects of producer and farm characteristics on the adoption of written marketing plans for large-scale Midwestern cash grain farmers. The study also examines whether users and nonusers of marketing plans differ in prices received, forward pricing activities, price objectives, and other marketing characteristics. Data for this study were obtained with a survey of participants in the 1994 Top Farmer Crop Workshop at Purdue University. The sample is not a random sample of farmers and the number of observations is limited. However, these large-sc le farmers rate themselves as above average in managerial skills and their behavior may provide information about the potential for marketing plan use by commercial farmers. The results should be considered exploratory and a sourc of hypotheses for further research.