Contact Us Quick Search
Government Policy and Linkages

  • Adoption Subsidies and the Environmental Impacts of Alternative Energy Crops, Center for Agricultural and Rural Development (CARD) Briefing Paper 07-BP 50, Iowa State University, 2007 - The authors estimate the costs associated with converting land from production of traditional crops to switchgrass. The results indicate that farmers will convert to switchgrass production only with significant conversion subsidies.

  • Agricultural Conservation and the 2007 Farm Bill: A California Perspective, by Antoine Champetier de Ribes and Daniel A. Sumner, AIC Farm Bill Brief #6 - Revising conservation programs can have significant impacts on both agricultural production and environmental quality. The brief describes the main environmental programs in the Farm Bill and considers their implications from a California perspective.

  • Agricultural Research Policy and the 2007 Farm Bill: Some California Perspectives, by Julian M. Alston and Philip G. Pardey, AIC Farm Bill Brief #4 - USDA spending under "Research, Education and Economics" accounted for $2.7 billion, only 2.2 percent of USDA spending in 2005, but is much more important than the expenditure share would suggest.

  • Agriculture's Role in the Economy, University of California Agricultural Issues Center (UC AIC), 2007 - This report summarizes the direct and multiplier effects of agriculture in the California economy and regions of the state. It also discusses California agriculture in the global context. Preprint of Chapter five in UC AIC's "The Measure of California Agriculture, 2006."

  • AIC Issues Brief, Census of Agriculture, 2004 - The recently released 2002 Census of Agriculture provides a wealth of new information that will help frame production, marketing and policy decisions about American agriculture. This AIC Issues Brief presents some information on the census history and data collection methodology and highlights a few major findings of the 2002 Census of Agriculture for the United States and California.

  • Analysis of a Supply-Control Program Under Uncertainty and Imperfect Competition: Chinese Cabbage in Taiwan, Working Paper, University of California, Davis, 2004 - Abstract:  Marketing firms often make commodity purchase decisions without knowing the future selling price of the finished product. Thus, researchers have often attributed the farm-wholesale price spread, after adjusting for marketing costs, as compensation for marketing firms’ risk bearing. However, price spreads in excess of marketing costs can also be due to the exercise of market power by the marketing firms. Thus, in settings where both imperfect competition and marketer risk aversion are plausible, a modeling framework must be sufficiently general to accommodate both types of behavior. This paper develops and estimates such a model in the context of fresh produce marketing. The model is able to analyze both theoretically and empirically the relative importance of market power and risk premiums in farm price determination and also the market power and risk aversion effects of policy interventions such as supply control. The model is applied to the production and marketing of Chinese cabbage in Taiwan and specifically to the analysis of supply-control programs implemented in this industry by the Taiwanese government. The empirical results provide little support for the hypothesis that marketing firms exhibit risk-averse behavior but do show that marketing firms exercise considerable oligopsony power in procurement of the product from farmers.
  • Analyzing Vertical Market Structure and Its Implications for Trade Liberalization and Market Access. University of California, Davis, 2004 - Abstract: This paper uses a general market model to simulate the impacts of trade liberalization for developing countries when market intermediaries may exercise oligopsony power when procuring raw product from developing country producers and/or oligopoly power in selling the product to downstream buyers. Results show that intermediaries can capture large shares of the benefits from trade liberalization when they exercise oligopoly and/or oligopsony power.
  • Commodity Policy and California Agriculture, Agricultural Issues Center, University of California, 2003 - This report reviews some of the most significant governmental programs that influence California agriculture and highlights similarities with and differences from agricultural policy elsewhere. It describes government programs that support California commodities and attempts to quantify that description.
  • Clusters of Grapes and Wine by Rolf A.E. Mueller and Daniel A. Sumner, University of California Agricultural Issues Center, 2006 - This research paper discusses the theory of clusters and the competitiveness and spatial organization of the California wine industry.

  • The Farm Bill and California Dairy, by Joseph Balagtas, Hayley Boriss and Daniel A. Sumner, AIC Farm Bill Brief #5 - Dairy policy is particularly important to California. Dairy producers, consumers and the rural economy and environment all have a stake in federal dairy policy. Dairy is by far the largest agricultural industry in California, accounting for about 14 percent of agricultural value in the state. 

  • The Dairy Provision of the 2002 Farm Bill - The Impact on California, Ag Marketing Resource Center, Agricultural Issues Center, University of California, 2002 - Examines the impact of the 2002 Farm Bill's dairy provisions on California’s dairy situation.
  • Dissipation of Regulatory Rents: Neglected Cost of Milk Marketing Orders,  Joseph V. Balagtas and Daniel A. Sumner, University of California Agricultural Issues Center Working Paper, 2007 - This paper models and measures the losses incurred when farmers compete for access to the program benefits in the context of milk marketing orders in the United States.  Participation costs are shown to significantly reduce producer benefits and increase social costs of the regulation. Gains from program participation attracted entry into the regulated market, resulting in excess production of beverage quality milk for the manufacturing milk market.
  • Does 5-a-Day Pay?, AIC Issues Brief no. 27, 2004 - A 6-page summary. This study examines potential gains to growers from increasing consumption of fruits and vegetables to recommended levels in a cancer prevention diet.  
  • Economic Consequences of Invasive Species Policies in the Presence of Commodity Programs: Theory and Application to Citrus Canker, Review of Agricultural Economics, Vol 27, Number 3, 2005, pp 498-504.  DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-9353.2005.00250.x  
  • Effects of Milk Marketing Order Regulation on the Share of Fluid-grade Milk in the United States,  Joseph V. Balagtas, Aaron Smith, and Daniel A. Sumner, Paper forthcoming in the American Journal of Agricultural Economics, 2007 - The share of raw milk meeting fluid quality (Grade A) standards in the United States rose steadily through the latter half of the 20th Century, but a shrinking portion of that milk was used in fluid products. The authors' findings support the hypothesis that marketing orders significantly encouraged the growth in Grade A share of milk, which has been increasingly used for manufactured dairy products.
  • Effects of Price for Premiums for Multiple Product Attributes on Product Quality, Corinne Alexander, Rachael E. Goodhue, Sandeep Mohapatra, and Gordon C. Rausser - The authors examine how growers respond to price incentives and how these incentives interact for two important processing tomato quality attributes: limited use tomatoes and material other than tomatoes.
  • EU Support Reductions Would Benefit California Tomato Growers and Processors, Bradley J. Rickard and Daniel A. Sumner, California Agriculture, 2006 - Article that presents simulation model results from a 50 percent reduction in European Union Trade barriers and subsidies.
  • The Farm Bill and California Food and Agriculture, by Daniel A. Sumner - Every five years or so the United States reconsiders its major food, farm and rural policies in a new "Farm Bill." AIC Farm Bill Brief #1 provides an overview for considering the options for the 2007 Farm Bill.
  • Farm Bill Energy Provisions: A California Perspective, by Hyunok Lee and Daniel A. Sumner, AIC Farm Bill Brief #7 - Energy is among the most discussed topics in the lead up to the 2007 Farm Bill. While the high cost of energy to farmers and ranchers has been raised, that issue has not been central to the discussion. Instead, the main focus has been on programs related to agriculture as a producer of energy, especially biofuels.
    •  
  • Farm Subsidies and Obesity in the United States. Julian M. Alston, Daniel A. Sumner and Stephen A. Vosti.  November/December 2007. This University of California study finds no evidence to support the claim that farm subsidies have contributed significantly to obesity.
  • Grassfed Certification: The Case of the Uruguayan Beef Industry, University of California Agricultural Issues Center, 2005 - Kansas State University and ORT University report on the development and operation of Uruguay's beef traceability (DIOSE) program and industry. Discusses whether U.S. producers could benefit from USDA Process Verification certification for grassfed beef production systems. 
  • An Analysis of the Costs and Benefits to Consumers and Growers from the Consumption of Recommended Amounts and Types of Fruits and Vegetables for Cancer Prevention, University of California Agricultural Issues Center, 2004 - The full 66-page report to the California Department of Health Services and California Nutrition Network.
  • Industry-Mandated Testing to Improve Food Safety: the New U.S. Marketing Order for Pistachios, Agricultural Issues Center, University of California - This study investigates the federal marketing order and outlines how collective action in the form of a marketing order can serve as a useful tool to ensure a safe food product and increase benefits to producers and consumers.
  • Market Power in the Corn Sector: How Does It Affect the Impacts of the Ethanal Subsidy? University of California Agricultural Issues Center, 2008. Market power is discussed frequently in debates about subsidies for ethanol production. The structural conditions in the corn industry create a case for concerns about market power. This paper by Tina L. Saitone, Richard J. Sexton and Steven E. Sexton develops an analytical model for determining the production and price impacts and the distribution of benefits from the U.S. ethanol subsidy when upstream sellers in the seed sector and downstream buyers in the processing sector may exercise market power. Results demonstrate that the impacts on prices and output are limited for modest departures from competition. Distributional impacts are much greater. Seed producers and corn processors with market power are able to capture relatively large shares of the benefits of the subsidy.
  • Marketing California's Agricultural Production, Chapter 4 in California Agriculture: Dimensions and Issues. University of California Giannini Foundation of Agricultural Economics, 2004.
  • Minimum Quality Standards, Industry Self Regulation, and Economic Welfare.  This paper by Tina L. Saitone and Richard J. Sexton at the University of California, Davis addresses the impact of producers collectively imposing minimum quality standards (MQS) on their own industry. One benefit of an imposed MQS is that it enhances quality in production, however with a voluntary program, consumers actually lose and it may create a net loss to the economy as a whole. February 2008.
  • Multinomial Logit Framework to Estimating Bid Shading in Procurement Auctions, With Application to Cattle Sales in the Texas Panhandle. Working Paper, University of California, Davis, 2004 - Abstract: In this paper, the authors develop an empirical model to estimate the magnitude of bid shading present in an auction based upon multinomial probability models. The methodology works well in settings where data allow a good estimation of a bidder's probability of winning, but the approach does not rely upon the bidding process following any particular structural framework or on the existence of a control group. The model is applied to bidding for live cattle by beef-packing plants in the Panhandle region of Texas, where idiosyncratic features of the bidding environment make structural analysis difficult or impossible.
  • Nutrition Issues to Address in the Farm Bill 2007: A California Perspective, by Lucia Kaiser and Catherine Lamp, AIC Farm Bill Brief #2 - The Nutrition title of the 2007 Farm Bill provides Congress the vehicle to revise these programs and reorient the outlays to the most important national priorities. California consumers, producers and taxpayers have a major stake in assuring that revisions be undertaken in the interest of more effective programs.
  • Obstacles in the Agritourism Regulatory Process: Perspectives of Operators and Officials in Ten California Counties (pdf). Agricultural Issues Center, University of California, 2003 - Examines local regulatory obstacles facing California farmers and ranchers interested in agritourism operations.

  • Organic Agriculture in the 2007 Farm Bill, by Karen Klonsky, AIC Farm Bill Brief #3 -  The 2007 Farm Bill is likely to address issues important for producers and consumers, especially research and development and additional support to facilitate the growth of the organic industry.

  • Political Market Power of Milk Producers Reflected in U.S. Milk Pricing Regulations by Byeong-Il Ahn and Daniel A. Sumner, 2006 - This University of California paper assesses, in two ways, the political market power of milk producers relative to buyers.

  • Statistical Profile of Horticultural Crop Farm Industries in California, Giannini Foundation Report 348, University of California, 2004 - Explains methodology used to collect and analyze the survey data employed. The Executive Summary and report sans the data tables can be viewed at http://giannini.ucop.edu/ResearchReports/Lee_BlankBook.pdf. Appendix data tables can be viewed at http://giannini.ucop.edu/ResearchReports/Lee_BlankPt2.pdf.

  • Removal of U.S. Ethanol Domestic and Trade Distortions: Impact on U.S. and Brazilian ethanol markets, Center for Agricultural and Rural Development (CARD) Working Paper 06-WP 427, Iowa State University, 2006 (revised) - Using a multi-market international ethanol model calibrated on 2005 market data and policies, the authors analyze the impact of trade liberalization and removal of the U.S. federal tax credit on U.S. and Brazilian ethanol markets. The removal of trade distortions and $0.51 per gallon tax credit to ethanol refiners induces a 16.5 percent increase in the world ethanol price. 

  • Statistical Review of California's Organic Agriculture 2000-2005, Karen Klonsky and Kurt Richter. University of California Agricultural Issues Center, 2007 - This publication quantifies the current size and growth of the organic industry in California in terms of acres, farm gate sales and number of growers statewide and by commodity, commodity group, county and region, based on California Department of Agriculture registration data from 1999-2005. 
  • Statistical Review of California's Organic Agriculture 1998-2003, Karen Klonsky and Kurt Richter, University of California Agricultural Issues Center, 2005 - This publication quantifies the current size and growth of the organic industry in California in terms of acres, farm gate sales and number of growers statewide and by commodity, commodity group, county, and region, based on California Department of Agriculture registration data from 1997-2003.
  • Supermarket Fluid Milk Pricing Practices in the Western United States. Agribusiness, 2004 - Abstract: This study analyzes retail milk pricing by supermarkets and marketing margin behavior for four fluid milk products in nine large metropolitan markets in the Western United States. Three empirical measures provide significant evidence of noncompetitive price behavior in each of the markets. Correlations of retail price changes indicate considerable pricing independence among retailers across cities, while rankings of retail prices by milk product provide significant evidence that prices are not based primarily on costs, as would be true if pricing were competitive. Estimated retail price responses to farm price changes are consistent with monopoly pricing behavior for several of the milk products in several of the markets.
  • Supply and Demand for Commodity Components: Implications of Free Trade versus the AUSFTA for the U.S. Dairy Industry, University of California Agricultural Issues Center, 2006 - This paper presents a simulation model of world dairy markets and analyzes the effects on U.S. milk markets of both a hypothetical agreement allowing free bilateral trade in dairy products and the actual Australian-U.S. Free Trade Agreement.
  • Traceability, Liability and Incentives for Food Safety and Quality by Sébastien Pouliot and Daniel A. Sumner, 2006 - Pouliot and Sumner show how exogenous increases in food traceability create incentives for farms and marketing firms to supply safer food by increasing liability costs.
  • Trade Adjustment Assistance and California Commodities. AIC Issues Brief, No. 25, 2004.
  • Vertical Contracts Between Manufacturers and Retailers: Inference With Limited Data - The Case of Yogurt, University of California Giannini Foundation of Agricultural Economics, ARE Update Vol. 8, No. 2, 2004.
  • What Would Happen if Federal Farm Subsidies Were Eliminated? Evidence for Colusa and Tulare Counties. University of California Giannini Foundation of Agricultural Economics, ARE Update, Vol. 8, No. 5, 2005.
  • Wild Pigs in California: The Issues, Marcia Kreith, AIC Issues Brief, No. 33, 2007 - The story of the wild pig in California, its economic and environmental impacts and evolving policy concerns.
 
Back Back Print Top Top
Green Border
Ag Marketing Resource Center Copyright © 2002-2007. All Rights Reserved.