AgBioForum, vol. 12, no. 3 & 4 (2009)
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Special Issue: Herbicide Resistant Crops: Diffusion, Benefits, Pricing, and Resistance Management. Click on one of the browse buttons above for a complete listing of the contents of this issue.
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Item Weed Management Costs, Weed Best Management Practices, and the Roundup Ready[trademark] Weed Management Program(AgBioForum, 2009) Hurley, Terrance M.; Mitchell, Paul D. (Paul David); Frisvold, George B.Roundup Ready[trademark] (RR) crops have been widely adopted because they provide significant benefits to growers, but glyphosate- resistant weeds threaten the sustainability of these benefits. Weed best-management practices (BMPs) help manage resistance, but could increase weed-control costs, limiting their adoption. We use survey results to explore how adoption of BMPs affects weed-management costs in corn, cotton, and soybeans, controlling for farmer and regional characteristics. More experienced growers had lower weed-control costs. Cleaning equipment, using herbicides with different modes of action, and using supplemental tillage are BMPs associated with increased costs for some crops, which may explain why they are less widely adopted than other BMPs. However, growers commonly use other weed BMPs that also increase costs. Regression results suggest adoption of RR crops reduces weed-control costs and that weed scouting reduces costs for cotton and soybean growers. Use of residual herbicides was associated with higher costs for cotton growers, but not for corn or soybean growers. Rotating RR and non-RR crops on the same acreage was associated with higher costs for soybeans, but not for corn or cotton growers.Item Stakeholder Positions Toward GM Food : the Case of Vitamin A Biofortified Cassava in Brazil(AgBioForum, 2009) Gonzalez, Carolina; Garcia, James; Johnson, NancyThis article examines the factors that affect stakeholders' positions toward genetically modified (GM) crops in Brazil, both in general and in the case of GM cassava in particular. Perceptions about the benefits of second-generation GM crops that have direct benefits for consumer are analyzed, and the tradeoffs that stakeholders make between the advantages of GM crops in terms of food quality and their potential risks in other areas as the environment are assessed. Using the Multiple Correspondence Analysis and cluster approaches, it was revealed that most of the stakeholders have positive attitudes toward GM crops. A high percentage agrees with the introduction of a GM cassava; however, a significant number of stakeholders are against this introduction because Brazil has other nutritional sources to combat Vitamin A deficiency. In addition, the country is a center of origin and diversity for cassava, which increases potential environmental risk associated with GMO release.Item Simultaneous Diffusion of Herbicide Resistant Cotton and Conservation Tillage(AgBioForum, 2009) Frisvold, George B.; Boor, Abigail; Reeves, Jeanne M.This study used state-level data from 1997-2002 to econometrically estimate factors explaining the diffusion of two technologies by US cotton producers: herbicide-resistant (HR) cotton seed varieties and conservation tillage. A simultaneous equation model is estimated to examine complementarities between the two technologies. Based on results from a three-stage least squares model, the null hypothesis that diffusion of one technology is independent of diffusion of the other is rejected. Elasticities calculated at sample means indicate that a 1% increase in a state's adoption rate for HR cotton increases the state's adoption rate for conservation tillage by 0.48%. A 1% increase in the adoption rate of conservation tillage increases the adoption rate of HR cotton by 0.16%.Item Pricing of Herbicide-Tolerant Soybean Seeds : A Market-Structure Approach(AgBioForum, 2009) Shi, Guanming; Chavas, Jean-Paul; Stiegert, Kyle W.This article investigates the effects of supply-side factors on the pricing of soybean seeds in the United States. We discuss recent trends that have shaped the US soybean seed market. Using an econometric model, we also analyze the impacts on soybean seed prices of changes in market size, market concentration, and vertical organization (including vertical integration and biotech trait licensing). We simulate the effects of recent market changes on the pricing of different seed types. The analysis finds that increased within-market concentration tends to enhance seed price in that market. However, in a multi-market framework, the simulations show that the presence of complementarity in production and distribution mitigates these price enhancing effects.Item Predicted Willingness of Irish Farmers to Adopt GM Technology(AgBioForum, 2009) Keelan, Conor; Thorne, Fiona S.; Flanagan, Paul; Newman, Carol, 1977-; Mullins, EwenIn this article, we use a probit model to assess the factors that will influence the decision of Irish farmers to adopt genetically modified (GM) technology should they be given a choice in the near future of selecting between GM and non-GM varieties of crops. The results from the probit model indicate that among the likely early adopters of GM technology in Ireland are farmers with large farm acreage who are specialist crop farmers and who have formal agricultural education together with access to high-quality soils. Contrary to expectations and theory, the farmer's age was insignificant in the final specification of the model. Neither tenure nor profitability had any influence in determining the likelihood of adoption once farm size was accounted for, indicating that farm size may dominate other farm-level characteristics.