• Energy Research
• 2. Zero hunger close

Iowa’s farmland consists of over 16% hay crops and pastureland, a significant portion of which is under cash rental contracts. This study investigates the comparative relationships between cash rental rates for cropped land and non-cropped land, where the latter includes hay and pastureland. We find that higher crop prices resulting from biofuel demand induces land use conversion from non-cropped land to crop production and thus bids up non-cropped land rents. Compared with changes in cropped land cash rents, non-cropped farmland rents could increase by a higher percentage. Non-cropped land cash rental rates are largely determined by crop and feeder cattle prices, population density, soil quality, and proportion of non-cropped land in a specific area. A primary effect of ethanol subsidies is the redistribution of income between corn growers and livestock producers, whereby higher livestock feed costs together with increasing hay and pastureland cash rents harm the dairy and feedlot beef sectors. Our study shows that, because of the positive effect on rents, the policies have an indeterminate effect on landowners operating in the cow-calf sector.

AbstractReducing the usage of fossil fuels is a central issue in ongoing policy debates. This in particular holds for Dutch horticulture, given its energy-intensive production. We analyse differences in energy usage and price responsiveness of horticultural firms by estimating energy demand functions using a Bayesian random coefficient model. Beyond, the effects of a proposed energy tax are assessed. Allowing for firm-specific energy price coefficients gives a better model fit compared to conventional models with fixed slope parameters. This confirms that firms respond differently to energy prices, which is taken into account in simulating the effects of more restrictive energy policies. The results show that larger-sized firms use less gas per square meter yet also point at a considerable spread in additional energy expenses between firms.

Iowa's farmland consists of over 16% hay crops and pastureland, a significant portion of which is under cash rental contracts. This study investigates the comparative relationships between cash rental rates for cropped land and non-cropped land, where the latter includes hay and pastureland. We find that higher crop prices resulting from biofuel demand induces land use conversion from non-cropped land to crop production and thus bids up non-cropped land rents. Compared with changes in cropped land cash rents, non-cropped farmland rents could increase by a higher percentage. Non-cropped land cash rental rates are largely determined by crop and feeder cattle prices, population density, soil quality, and proportion of non-cropped land in a specific area. A primary effect of ethanol subsidies is the redistribution of income between corn growers and livestock producers, whereby higher livestock feed costs together with increasing hay and pastureland cash rents harm the dairy and feedlot beef sectors. Our study shows that, because of the positive effect on rents, the policies have an indeterminate effect on landowners operating in the cow-calf sector.

Effective agricultural policymaking requires the accurate estimation of the production technology and efficiency of farms. However, several methodological issues should be considered when modelling production and estimating technical efficiency. In this paper, we focus on two of these—technological heterogeneity and theoretical consistency—as implied in microeconomic theory. Heterogeneity in the efficiency literature is often evaluated using a variable intercept model. However, in farm production, it is likely that heterogeneity also affects the marginal productivity of production factors. Some earlier papers investigated the effect of unobserved heterogeneity on technical efficiency using latent class models, but the application of random parameter models is limited. One of our main contributions in this paper is that we apply a modified version of a random parameter model to investigate the effect of unobserved heterogeneity on production factors and efficiency. The second aim was to impose regularity conditions into the model through introducing linear and non-linear constraints and thereby investigate their significance. Third, we examined the relationship between unobserved heterogeneity and the natural and economic conditions of farms. Our findings show that heterogeneity has a greater effect on variation in output than technical efficiency; furthermore, the violation of theoretical consistency significantly influences the results. These findings also reveal that the explanatory power of regional natural and economic conditions is significant but not sufficient on the variance of estimated unobserved heterogeneity.

In early lactating cows changes in energy balance (EB) and subsequent mobilisation of body reserves result changes in milk yield (MY) and milk composition. These variations could be used as indicators of changes or problems in feeding, health and fertility. Recently it is postulated that changes in milk fat to protein ratio (FPR) may be associated with a negative EB. A negative EB, typical of the early phase of lactation impairs cows fertility whereas a recovery in EB from its most negative state, signals the initiation of ovarian activity indicating a direct relationship. Therefore, since measuring EB in large populations is difficult and expensive, assessing the genetic association between ratios of milk components and fertility traits, especially at different stages of lactation may provide an inexpensive indicator of EB. Besides, in selection programs, such information could be used to identify sires and cow families that have chronic energy deficiency and poor fertility in early lactation. The objectives of this study were to estimate covariance components for test-day FPR, MY and fertility traits and to assess the genetic associations between these traits during lactation using random regression models (RRM). Genetic parameters of test-day FPR, MY and fertility were estimated using bivariate RRM that combine traits with different data structures employing a meta-model analyses. Fertility traits considered were days from calving to insemination (DFI), days open (DO), number of inseminations (NI), non-return rate to 56 days (NRR). Data was from a total of 22422 first lactation Finnish Ayrshire cows. The sire pedigree file had 638 males of which 509 sires had daughters with data. Heritability of test-day FPR during lactation ranged from 0.08 to 0.17 while the heritability of DFI, DO, NI and NRR were 0.06, 0.03, 0.01 and 0.02, respectively. Genetic correlations between test-day FPR and MY during early lactation ranged from 0.10-0.28. The positive genetic correlation between these traits indicates that genetically high producing cows tend to have high FPR during early lactation. Genetic correlations between test-day FPR and DFI, DO, NI, and NRR during early lactation were from 0.05-0.28, 0.03-0.24, 0.01-0.03, and -0.01-0.03, respectively. Of the fertility traits, the strongest genetic association was between test-day FPR and DFI or DO. The relatively low correlations between test-day FPR and the other fertility traits (NI and NRR) could be due to they are measures of fertility that are recorded after cows recovered from the most negative state of EB and started cycling. The positive and relatively higher genetic correlations between test-day FPR and DFI or DO indicate cows with high test-day FPR in early lactation tends to take longer from calving to first insemination and successful conception. The results from this study indicate that high FPR in early lactation could be used as an indicator of negative EB and cows of poor fertility, which take longer time from calving to first insemination and successful conception.

In view of increasing energy and resource scarcities, nutrient recycling from domestic wastewater is a promising way to obtain mineral fertilizers. Given the lacking evidence about the acceptance of recycling fertilizers by the farming sector, we elicited farmer preferences and willingness to pay (WTP) for selected attributes of mineral fertilizers made from domestic sewage and kitchen waste. We conducted a Discrete Choice Experiment with 206 German farmers and fitted a Random Parameter Logit (RPL) model. As-suming an average market price level of around 300 euros per tonne of N-P-K fertilizer, the choice exper-iment revealed that farmers not engaged in non-food production such as forage cultivation or renewable energies activities and without farmer-to-consumer direct marketing would accept a recycling fertilizer only together with a financial compensation via price discount of approximately 10%. The average WTP drops considerably if a fertilizer’s heavy metal contents are relatively high and if the absence of drug residues cannot be guaranteed, whereas a customizable nutrient composition and a constant supply availability would have a sales promoting effect. Farmers’ characteristics can only partly explain the notable heterogeneity of the WTP for the considered fertilizer attributes. Even though the WTP for a recycling fertilizer is on average less than that for a conventional mineral fertilizer, the estimated WTP standard deviations suggest that not all farmers expect a financial compensation via price discount when purchasing recycling fertilizers.

Irrigation facilities in the cold winter deserts (CWDs) of Uzbekistan are very traditional and poorly managed, resulting in low water use efficiency and low productivity. Improving the irrigation facilities in these deserts is a key priority for the country. This study intended to contribute towards the development of the irrigation systems through identification and quantification of the relative implicit values smallholder farmers confer to the key characteristics of irrigation facilities. We elicited preferences with discrete choice experiments, estimated willingness to pay for these attributes using random parameters logit models, and analyzed heuristics in the choice process using a series of latent class models. Our results show that farmers have clear preferences for higher watering frequency and no interest in sharing irrigation water with downstream users. We also observed that there are distinct groups of farmers with comparable but different levels of preference. The development of irrigation facilities in the water-scarce parts of Uzbekistan would benefit from careful consideration of the preferences of the target communities and targeting of the schemes based on the broad heterogeneities within the communities. This will aid in the maintenance of irrigation systems and, as a result, increase agricultural production and productivity.

The objectives of the study were to develop a multivariate framework for analyzing energy balance data from lactating cows and investigate potential changes in maintenance requirements and partial efficiencies of energy utilization by lactating cows over the years. The proposed model accounted for the fact that metabolizable energy intake, milk energy output, and tissue energy balance are random variables that interact mutually. The model was specified through structural equations implemented in a Bayesian framework. The structural equations, along with a model traditionally used to estimate energetic parameters, were fitted to a large database of indirect calorimetry records from lactating cows. Maintenance requirements and partial efficiencies for both models were similar to values reported in the literature. In particular, the estimated parameters (with 95% credible interval in parentheses) for the proposed model were: net energy requirement for maintenance equal to 0.36 (0.34, 0.38) MJ/kg of metabolic body weight·day; the efficiency of utilizing dietary energy for milk production and tissue gain were 0.63 (0.61, 0.64) and 0.70 (0.68, 0.72), respectively; the efficiency of utilizing body stores for milk production was 0.89 (0.87, 0.91). Furthermore, additional analyses were conducted for which energetic parameters were allowed to depend on the decade in which studies were conducted. These models investigated potential changes in maintenance requirements and partial efficiencies over the years. Canonical correlation analysis was used to investigate the association between changes in energetic parameters with additional dietary and animal characteristics available in the database. For both models, net energy requirement for maintenance and the efficiency of utilizing dietary energy for milk production and tissue gain increased in the more recent decades, whereas the efficiency of utilizing body stores for milk production remained unchanged. The increase in maintenance requirements in modern milk production systems is consistent with the literature that describes increased fasting heat production in cows of higher genetic merit. The increase in utilization of dietary energy for milk production and tissue gain was partially attributed to the changes in dietary composition, in particular to the increase in dietary ether extract to levels closer to currently observed in modern milk production systems. Therefore, the estimated energetic parameters from this study can be used to update maintenance requirements and partial efficiencies of energy utilization in North American feeding systems for lactating cows.