Suchergebnisse

AbstractEmpirical evidence of the benefit of farm producer organizations (FPOs) in the developing world is mounting. There is, however, no work in South America on the relationship between FPO membership and farm‐level performance. We address the gap by estimating the treatment effect of FPO membership with respect to three outcomes: quantity produced, quantity sold, and price received. The empirical application focuses on the Peruvian coffee sector, where FPOs may have played an important role during the recent price crisis. A sample of approximately 9,000 survey responses from Peruvian coffee producers during the 2015–19 period is used in the analysis. Results show a positive treatment effect of FPO membership on all three farm‐level outcomes. Compared to non‐FPO members, FPO members produced 120–295 kg/ha more, sold 118–296 kg/ha more, and received 0.42–1.53 PEN/kg more. We also find evidence of heterogeneity in the estimated effect of FPO membership across time, farm size, and membership probability. The findings yield novel implications in terms of policy support for FPOs.

This article investigates the attitude and practices of Bt and non-Bt maize farmers in Portugal. Thirty-seven Bt maize farmers were interviewed, representing 22.5% of the total number of Bt maize notifications in the country and 31.5% of the total area planted with Bt maize in 2007. Additionally, 66 non-Bt maize farmers were surveyed in an attempt to investigate their opinion on the Bt technology, its viability, and its future. The most interesting finding is that almost half of all the surveyed maize farmers stated that the ex-ante regulations are rigid and difficult to apply. ; The first and third author acknowledge financial support for the survey from the TransContainer project funded by the European Union under the 6th Framework Programme Priority 5: Food Quality and Safety. ; Includes bibliographical references

AbstractThe relationship between farm‐level milk income over feed cost (IOFC) margin and national margin, profit risk, and terminal stress risk are investigated using data on Wisconsin dairy farms over the period 2000–2017. Results show that farm‐specific IOFC margins were not highly correlated with the national margin, higher farm IOFC margin increased profit level and volatility but decreased downside risk, and farm terminal stress appears unaffected by either the margin or the related payments. These findings suggest that, for sample farms, a policy that targets IOFC margin might reduce downside risk of net farm income.

The new EU proposal (IP/10/921) states that bans on genetically modified (GM) crops should not be based on environmental and health grounds, and it proposes a set of alternative reasons -- including public order and morals -- that can be cited by member states. This reveals the increasing importance of stakeholders' attitudes in GM crops' release decisions. This article analyzes farmers' attitudes and perceptions toward GM maize based on a survey of large-area Greek farmers in Northeastern Greece. A considerable number of respondents (61%) would adopt GM maize if Greece lifts the ban on GM maize cultivation. This result opposes recent findings from countries strongly opposing GM crops (such as France and Hungary), where bans are in line with the majority view of farmers. The ban is against what the majority of large-area farmers in Greece would choose if allowed.