Fertilizer use remains very low in most of Africa despite widespread agreement that much higher use rates are required for sustained agricultural productivity growth. This study uses longitudinal farm survey data to estimate maize yield response functions in a relatively high-potential zone of Zambia to determine the profitability of fertilizer use under a range of small-farm conditions found within this zone. The theoretical framework used in this study incorporates agronomic principles of the crop growth process. We generalize the asymmetric production models and define a concept of yield scaling factors. The model distinguishes different roles of inputs and non-input factors in crop production. We estimate the effects of conventional production inputs as well as of household characteristics and government programs on maize yield. The results indicate that recommended fertilizer application rates in the two specific years were often unprofitable, given observed price conditions and the yield response to fertilizer. However, there was substantial variability in yield response to fertilizer based upon the rate of application, the timeliness of fertilizer availability, the use of animal draught power during land preparation, and whether the household incurred the death of an adult member in the past three years. These modifying factors, as well as variations in input and output prices due to proximity to roads and markets, substantially affected the profitability of fertilizer use on maize. Copyright (c) 2009 International Association of Agricultural Economists.

In corporate finance, the impact of capital structure on firm performance has been widely studied. This article extends the capital structure study to the situation in agriculture, explicitly addressing the difference between family farms and corporate firms. We use the Malmquist productivity growth index as a proxy for performance to study the impact of capital structure (debt) on farm performance. We compare the results with those from the traditional performance model that uses profitability (e.g., return on equity (ROE)) as performance measure. Using data from Dutch arable farms, results show that debt has no effect on ROE, whereas it has a positive effect on productivity growth. Copyright 2006, Oxford University Press.

Using a volatility spillover model, we find evidence of significant spillovers from crude oil prices to corn cash and futures prices, and that these spillover effects are time‐varying. Results reveal that corn markets have become much more connected to crude oil markets after the introduction of the Energy Policy Act of 2005. Furthermore, when the ethanol–gasoline consumption ratio exceeds a critical level, crude oil prices transmit positive volatility spillovers into corn prices and movements in corn prices are more energy‐driven. Based on this strong volatility link between crude oil and corn prices, a new cross‐hedging strategy for managing corn price risk using oil futures is examined and its performance is studied. Results show that this cross‐hedging strategy provides only slightly better hedging performance compared with traditional hedging in corn futures markets alone. The implication is that hedging corn price risk in corn futures markets alone can still provide relatively satisfactory performance in the biofuel era. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Jrl Fut Mark

Citrus huanglongbing (HLB), or greening, is the most destructive citrus disease worldwide and is threatening the sustainability of the industry in major citrus-growing regions. Various treatments have been proposed in the literature to manage the disease. We review such literature and conduct an economic analysis based on the reported treatment effects on fruit yield and quality to identify cost-effective management strategies. Our results suggest that, among the treatments we reviewed, broad-spectrum insecticides provide the only cost-effective strategy for mitigating the impact of the disease. Our findings and discussion should help growers, policymakers, and other stakeholders make informed decisions in the search for effective, sustainable, and environmentally friendly treatments and policies against HLB.

We introduce the concept "excess capital capacity" and employ a stochastic input requirement frontier to measure excess capital capacity in agricultural production. We also propose a two-step estimation method that allows endogenous regressors in stochastic frontier models. The first step uses generalized method of moments to get consistent estimates of the frontier parameters in the presence of endogenous regressors. The second step uses maximum likelihood to measure excess capital capacity and evaluate the factors that influence it. The empirical application to Dutch cash crop farms found varying degrees of excess capital capacity. The policy implications of excess capital capacity are discussed.