SABIIA - Sistema Aberto e Integrado de Informação em Agricultura (Sabiia)

World trade talks have foundered recently, in part due to developing country demands that industrialized countries reduce their large farm support programs to allow poor farmers in the global South to compete more fairly. Claiming that Northern farm subsidies amount to over $1 billion a day, and that the average European cow receives more in subsidies than the nearly three billion people who live on less than two dollars a day, Southern governments, farmer groups, and international aid groups have demanded steep cuts in Northern agricultural subsidies. This paper examines the economic and policy aspects of the subsidy debate. We begin with an examination of the most widely used measure of agricultural support, the OECD's Producer Support Estimate. We...

Community Control in a Global Economy: Lessons from Mexico's Economic Integration Process

Palavras-chave: Trade; Agricultural subsidies; Corn; Mexico; Agricultural and Food Policy.

Ano: 2004

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/15590

Waters, Eliza; Wise, Timothy A..

The North American Free Trade Agreement appeared to promise economic growth for Mexico and improved living conditions for its people. While the Mexican economy has recovered significantly from its post-NAFTA collapse, there is mounting evidence that many of the pre-NAFTA warnings of worsening poverty and deteriorating environmental conditions were true, if exaggerated. However one interprets the statistics, there is little doubt that the economic integration process, which began a full decade before NAFTA took effect, has created a significant restructuring of the Mexican economy, with some of the country's most vulnerable residents facing the harshest conditions. How have those most affected by the economic integration process responded to the challenges...

Understanding the Farm Problem: Six Common Errors in Presenting Farm Statistics

Palavras-chave: Community/Rural/Urban Development.

Ano: 2001

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/15584

Free Trade, Corn, and the Environment: Environmental Impacts of US - Mexico Corn Trade Under NAFTA

Palavras-chave: Agricultural and Food Policy.

Ano: 2005

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/15597

Flores, Regina; Ney, Luke; Gallagher, Kevin P.; Wise, Timothy A.; Ackerman, Frank.

The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) had a profound impact on corn trade between the United States and Mexico. Negotiated tariff reductions and the Mexican government's decision not to charge some tariffs to which it was entitled resulted in a doubling of US corn exports to Mexico. This paper examines the environmental implications of this change on both sides of the border. For the US, increased exports to Mexico due to trade liberalization represent one percent of total US production and should therefore be considered responsible for one percent of the environmental impacts of corn production. These are considerable, including: high chemical use; water pollution due to runoff; unsustainable water use for irrigation; the expansion of...

Identifying the Real Winners from U.S. Agricultural Policies

Palavras-chave: International Relations/Trade.

Ano: 2003

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/15604

In this paper, we argue that advocates for new U.S. agricultural trade policies should consider refocusing their campaigns on the corporate livestock sector rather than farmers. There is little evidence that farmers as a group are reaping significant gains from current U.S. agricultural subsidy programs, even though they are the direct recipients. Low prices and high costs have left farmers with stagnant or declining net farm incomes. Furthermore, there is little conclusive evidence that the removal of U.S. subsidy payments would significantly reduce production or raise prices, though there is significant disagreement on this point. There is wider agreement that U.S. farm policies contribute significantly to depressed prices for agricultural commodities....

Living High on the Hog: Factory Farms, Federal Policy, and the Structural Transformation of Swine Production

Palavras-chave: Agricultural and Food Policy.

Ano: 2005

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/15602

Starmer, Elanor; Wise, Timothy A..

U.S. farm policy reforms in 1996 produced significant overproduction of supported crops, with prices falling to levels that were often below average farm production costs. Among the beneficiaries of the policy shift were the largest corporate purchasers of supported crops, as they saw a steady supply of low-priced inputs. Industrial livestock firms were among the most significant buyers of U.S. corn and soybeans, the main components of livestock feed. Filling an important gap in the literature, this paper estimates the savings to industrial hog operations between 1997 and 2005 from feed components priced at levels below their production costs. The savings are found to be significant. We also find that industrial hog companies benefited from weak federal...

Feeding the Factory Farm: Implicit Subsidies to the Broiler Chicken Industry

Palavras-chave: Agribusiness; Agricultural and Food Policy; Agricultural Finance; Crop Production/Industries; Demand and Price Analysis; Environmental Economics and Policy; Farm Management; Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety; Industrial Organization; Livestock Production/Industries; Production Economics.

Ano: 2007

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/37709

Starmer, Elanor; Witteman, Aimee; Wise, Timothy A..

Since the passage of the 1996 Farm Bill, the U.S. market prices of soybeans and corn have dropped 21% and 32%, respectively. These commodities are sold on the market at a price below what they cost to produce. If U.S. agricultural policies contribute to this trend, then they do so to the benefit of commodity purchasers, particularly the industrial operations that use the commodities as raw material inputs. Corporate-owned livestock operations are a case in point. This paper focuses on the broiler chicken industry, which, in the United States, is fully industrialized and vertically integrated. We compare the average costs of production for broiler feed components—corn and soybean meal—with market prices, and then use these cost-price margins to estimate the...

Policy Space for Mexican Maize: Protecting Agro-biodiversity by Promoting Rural Livelihoods

Palavras-chave: Agribusiness; Agricultural and Food Policy; Agricultural Finance; Crop Production/Industries; Demand and Price Analysis; Farm Management; Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety; Industrial Organization; Livestock Production/Industries; Political Economy; Production Economics.

Ano: 2006

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/37162

Since the introduction of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in 1994, traditional maize farmers in Mexico have faced difficult economic conditions. In barely more than a decade, as many as one million farmers may have abandoned their land under economic pressure from rising imports, low prices for maize and other traditional crops, weak local and regional demand, and large reductions in public sector support for agriculture. The losses are environmental as well as economic. With the loss of traditional maize, there has been a documented loss of the agricultural biodiversity of which these farmers and their ancestors have been stewards for centuries. With maize trade scheduled to be fully liberalized under NAFTA in 2008, many farm groups are...