Cooperatives and Contracting in Agriculture: The Case of West Liberty Foods, October 2005

The West Liberty Foods turkey cooperative was formed in 1996 to purchase the assets and assume operations of Louis Rich Foods (an investor-owned processing rm), which, at the time, announced the imminent shutdown of its West Liberty, Iowa, processing facility. We study the creation and performance of this ���new generation��� cooperative using eld interviews with grower members and company management. We describe changes, before and after the buyout, in the contractual apparatus used for procuring live turkeys, and in the communication requirements, work expectations, and nancial positions of growers. During the private ownership period, most of the inputs (except labor and facilities) were provided by the rm; there was substantial supervision of the growers' actions; growers faced little price and production risk; and growers' equity was due largely to ownership of land and other farm assets. Our interviews reveal that, after cooperative formation, growers were exposed to considerable additional risk; monitoring of growers by the rm was less intensive; grower time and effort commitments to turkey production increased substantially; and a signicant fraction of rm (cooperative) equity came from growers' willingness to leverage their farm and personal assets (and hence indirectly their existing relationships with local lenders). We argue that some of these changes are consistent with a nancial contract where asset pledging and its corollary risk generate higher work effort by growers and a reduction in agency rents. These economies likely compensate for an organizational deadweight loss traditionally associated with cooperative governance.

On the Segregation of Genetically Modified, Conventional, and Organic Products in European Agriculture: A Multi-market Equilibrium Analysis, October 2005

Evaluating the possible benefits of the introduction of genetically modified (GM) crops must address the issue of consumer resistance as well as the complex regulation that has ensued. In the European Union (EU) this regulation envisions the ���co-existence��� of GM food with conventional and quality-enhanced products, mandates the labelling and traceability of GM products, and allows only a stringent adventitious presence of GM content in other products. All these elements are brought together within a partial equilibrium model of the EU agricultural food sector. The model comprises conventional, GM and organic food. Demand is modelled in a novel fashion, whereby organic and conventional products are treated as horizontally differentiated but GM products are vertically differentiated (weakly inferior) relative to conventional ones. Supply accounts explicitly for the land constraint at the sector level and for the need for additional resources to produce organic food. Model calibration and simulation allow insights into the qualitative and quantitative effects of the large-scale introduction of GM products in the EU market. We find that the introduction of GM food reduces overall EU welfare, mostly because of the associated need for costly segregation of non-GM products, but the producers of quality-enhanced products actually benefit.

Report of Recommendations to the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, June 30, 2005

State Audit Reports

Pharmaceutical and Industrial Traits in Genetically Modified Crops: Co-existence with Conventional Agriculture, August 2006

This paper discusses the implications of using genetically modified crops to biomanufacture pharmaceuticals and industrial compounds from the perspective of their co-existence with conventional agriculture. Such plant-made pharmaceuticals and plantmade industrial products rely on exciting scientific and technological breakthroughs and promise new opportunities for the agricultural sector, but they also entail novel risks. The management of the externalities and of the possible unintended economic effects that arise in this context is critical and poses difficult questions for regulators.

Little Dairy on the Prairie: from butter makin' to high-tech agriculture, 2005

In 2001, extensive archaeological excavations were conducted at the Oneida Cheese Factory in Jones County. The county is a microcosm of larger dairying trends found throughout northeast Iowa, the state���s premier dairy-producing region. Jones County moved from homemade cheese and butter production by farm women, to the industrialization of the dairy farm and opening of cheese factories and butter creameries. A number of innovations affected the industry around the turn-of-the-twentieth century, including reliable butterfat testing, the introduction of ensilage (silos) that created yearround milk production, and consolidation of the many local creameries into larger creamery organizations, such as the Diamond Creamery run by Henry D. Sherman of Jones County. Iowa���s dairy industry of today looks very different from its heritage: consolidation and competition have drastically reduced the number of cows, dairy farms, and processing plants. In recent years, northeast Iowa has become the center of a movement to revitalize Iowa���s dairy industry, particularly through the use of value-added strategies, such as niche markets and large regional co-operatives: the lessons from Iowa���s dairying legacy are resurfacing as a solution to modern agricultural challenges.

DNR Interactive Mapping: A tool for Iowa Agriculture, 2006

The planning tools you need to improve both your farming operation and Iowa���s streams and lakes are right at your fingertips. With DNR interactive mapping online, you can access a large amount of information for free and without special software.

Agriculture et Peche: Strategie de Developpement a L���Horizon 2015 & Plan D���Action 2005-2008

strat��giques importants, le programme national de s��curit�� alimentaire du Cap-Vert, avec une orientation marqu��e pour la r��duction de la pauvret�� le PANA II en cours d�����laboration, le document UNDAF2 pour le Cap-Vert ��labor�� en septembre 2002, avec quatre axes d���intervention prioritaire et cinq dimensions transversales. la dimension genre, pour favoriser la participation effective de toutes les couches de la soci��t�� (notamment les femmes) au processus de d��veloppement socio-��conomique du pays, particuli��rement dans les politiques, strat��gies et programmes du MAAP en coh��rence avec la politique de d��centralisation du Gouvernement. les dynamiques d���int��gration sous-r��gionale en cours dans le cadre de la CEDEAO3, et du CILSS4, et continentales dans le cadre du NEPAD5. C'est en tenant compte de l���ensemble du cadre contextuel ��voqu�� et de la complexit�� des t��ches �� accomplir que le Gouvernement a sollicit�� l'assistance de la FAO, au titre du programme de coop��ration technique, pour l���aider �� ��laborer une strat��gie de d��veloppement agricole �� long terme (horizon 2015) et pr��parer un Plan d���actions prioritaires �� moyen terme.