The goal of this 11-page fact sheet is to help producers and other interested parties understand how alternative irrigation systems can affect economic outcomes in agricultural operations. We used chipping potato production in the Hastings area in northeast Florida as an example to discuss factors to consider when selecting an irrigation system. Written by Jenna Rogers, Tatiana Borisova, Lincoln Zotarelli, Kelly Grogan, Jeffrey Ullman, Jessica Bertine, and Kelly Morgan, and published by the UF Department of Food and Resource Economics, September 2014.
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/fe953
Tag: Food and Resource Economics Department
Economic Contributions of Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Related Food Industries in Florida in 2012
Agriculture, natural resources, and related food industries remain a significant force in the economy of Florida, and it is important to recognize their economic contributions for informed public policy. The economic contributions of these industries were re-evaluated for calendar year 2012 to update previous reports and to provide current information on economic trends in the wake of the historic global recession of 2007–2009. This 116-page report was written by Alan W. Hodges, Mohammad Rahmani, and Thomas J. Stevens, and published by the UF Department of Food and Resource Economics, July 2014.
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/fe954
Florida Citrus Outlook 2013/14 Season
This 24-page report provides supply, demand, and price projections of Florida citrus for the 2013/14 season based on the November 2013 forecast of the 2013/14 Florida citrus crop, by variety. Projections are for Florida orange juice and grapefruit juice pack, movement, and ending inventory, along with estimates of US consumption and retail sales of OJ and GJ, preliminary on-tree price estimates, and Brazil’s OJ outlook (given its bearing on Florida’s OJ situation). Written by Matthew J. Salois, and published by the UF Department of Food and Resource Economics, September 2014.
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/fe945
Analyzing Production Records of Commercial Sweet Orange Blocks to Measure Effects of Mechanical Harvesting on Long-Term Production and Tree Health
Ever since mechanical harvesting systems were introduced in the 1960s, growers expressed serious concerns over the potential negative impact mechanical harvesting could have on their trees. A study was undertaken in 2010 to analyze grower production data and compare whether mechanical harvesting had an adverse effect on fruit yield or shortened tree longevity as compared to hand harvesting. The purpose of this article is to describe how the study was organized and to summarize its results and conclusions. This 4-page fact sheet was written by Fritz M. Roka, Lisa H. House, and Katrina R. Mosley, and published by the UF Department of Food and Resource Economics, May 2014.
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/fe949
Advertising and Promotions in the US Green Industry
US firms that sell nursery and garden products have become more interested in effective advertising and promotion strategies. A major question for these green industry firms is how to stimulate additional sales. This 3-page fact sheet was written by Hayk Khachatryan, Alicia Rihn, Marco A. Palma, and Charles R. Hall, and published by the UF Department of Food and Resource Economics, August 2014.
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/fe948
Water Withdrawals and Their Use in Florida in 2010
This publication is based on Florida water use information collected by the United States Geological Service. It expands on EDIS document FE797 that examined Florida water withdrawals data for 2005. In addition, in EDIS document FE757 (Florida’s Water Resources), the authors describe Florida’s abundant water resources—the state receives about 54 inches of rainfall per annum, compared to 30 inches nationwide, and it overlies prolific aquifers. Whether water is scarce or abundant, however, depends not only upon available supplies, but also upon patterns of water use. To gather this information, the United States Geological Survey employs several water-use categories to develop estimates of water withdrawals and water use. This 5-page fact sheet was written by Tatiana Borisova and Jenna Rogers, and published by the UF Department of Food and Resource Economics, May 2014.
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/fe943
Socio-Demographic Characteristics and Concerns about Water Quality Issues of Master Gardener Program Volunteers
To respond to residents’ informational needs, the Cooperative Extension Service offers a variety of volunteer training and certification programs. Who participates in such programs? What types of audiences are being reached? Do such programs increase knowledge and change behavior of the volunteers? In this article, we attempt to answer these questions by summarizing existing studies and using responses to a regional public survey, and by focusing on the Master Gardener program and surface water quality issues as examples. This 7-page fact sheet was written by Tatiana Borisova, Michael Smolen, Maria Pilar Useche, Jon Calabria, Nickola Sochacka, Damian Adams, Diane Boellstorff, Jason Evans, and Robert Mahler, and published by the UF Department of Food and Resource Economics, May 2014.
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/fe942
Florida MarketMaker and Florida Food Connect: Using E-commerce to Enhance Seafood Marketing in Florida
While the state and many non-profit organizations provide information to the Florida seafood and aquaculture industry to help them market their catch, they offer few resources facilitating e-commerce. As a business tool, e-commerce can help expedite the buying and selling of seafood products among consumers, producers, and other businesses within the food industry value chain. E-commerce is a new promotional strategy producers can use to improve their marketing efficiency. For example, the affiliated websites Florida MarketMaker and Florida Food Connect are designed to enhance the online presence for the Florida seafood industry. Web portals such as these increase the visibility of seafood businesses by allowing dealers to create a searchable online profile attracting more customers seeking locally sourced seafood. This 6-page fact sheet was written by Charles M. Adams and William Barker, and published by the UF Department of Food and Resource Economics, May 2014.
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/fe944
Floriculture Crops Economic Outlook for 2014
This 15-page report summarizes industry statistics using data from primary and secondary sources and highlights production and sales trends in the US environmental horticulture industry in 2014. Data sources include the United States Department of Agriculture National Agricultural Statistics Service (USDA/NASS), US Census Bureau, the IBIS World Industry Reports, National Association of Home Builders, S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices, US Bureau of Labor Statistics, University of Florida Bureau of Economic and Business Research, AIA Economics and Market Research Group, and Florida Realtors®. Primary data is collected through the National Nursery Survey, conducted by the Green Industry Research Consortium. Written by Hayk Khachatryan, Alan W. Hodges, and Shawn Steed, and published by the UF Department of Food and Resource Economics, March 2014.
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/fe941
Factors Affecting Consumer Preferences and Demand for Ornamental Plants
The primary goal of this study is to assist industry participants by providing information about consumer purchasing preferences, including information about past and future expenditures on ornamental plants, plant-specific and store-specific factors that influence purchase decisions. Additionally, the study sought to determine whether providing consumers with information about the health and well-being, environmental, and economic benefits of ornamental plants had any effects on consumer preferences for ornamental plants. The main results of the survey are briefly summarized below. The full report titled “Investigation of Factors Affecting Consumer Preferences and Demand for Ornamental Plants” can be downloaded from the UF Horticulture Economics and Marketing Research Program website at http://fred.ifas.ufl.edu/horticulture-economics/publications.shtml”. This 5-page fact sheet was written by Hayk Khachatryan and Hee Jung Choi, and published by the UF Department of Food and Resource Economics, February 2014.
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/fe938
Citrus Greening and Citrus Tree Planting in Florida
This 4-page fact sheet examines the impact of the presence of citrus greening on new tree plantings in the Florida citrus industry. Sweet oranges are by far the most important citrus variety grown in Florida, so the analysis is limited to sweet orange plantings. Because citrus greening impacts citrus producers through reduced yield, increased mortality, and increased cost of production, it is expected that the presence of citrus greening has had an adverse impact on the willingness of growers to invest in new trees. Written by Thomas H. Spreen and Jean-Paul Baldwin, and published by the UF Department of Food and Resource Economics, January 2014.
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/fe937
Complying with Farm Labor Regulations: Correctly Counting Compensable Hours
United States law requires farm employers to keep accurate records of the number of daily compensable hours worked by their seasonal and migrant farm workers. The most prevalent and serious violations occur when agricultural employers do not correctly record the daily start and stop times for seasonal and migrant farm workers and so underreport the number of “compensable” hours for each worker. The purpose of this article is to discuss the concept of “compensable” hours in more detail and eliminate any confusion that might lead agricultural employers to make costly mistakes. This 4-page fact sheet was written by Fritz M. Roka and Michael T. Bayer, and published by the UF Department of Food and Resource Economics, February 2014.
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/fe940
Are Profit and Profitability the Same Thing?
The terms “profit” and “profitability” are used quite frequently in everyday talk to mean the same thing. We often hear someone say “my business made a profit last year” or “my business was profitable.” But are the two statements equivalent? In this article, I’ll explain the two terms, outlining the difference between them, and discussing a few things that growers can do to improve the profitability of a farm business. This 4-page fact sheet was written by Edward Evans, and published by the UF Department of Food and Resource Economics, February 2014.
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/fe939
Economic Consequences of Harmful Algal Blooms: Literature Summary
This 10-page fact sheet summarizes the existing literature that attempts to measure some of the economic consequences associated with harmful algal blooms and describes the methodologies, types and sources of data used, types of HABS examined, research gaps in previous studies. Was written by Sherry L. Larkin and Charles M. Adams, and published by the UF Department of Food and Resource Economics, August 2013.
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/fe936
A Synopsis of US Consumer Perception of Genetically Modified (Biotech) Crops
Over the last few decades, the use of modern tools of molecular biology has made it possible to discover, isolate, and introduce several important agricultural traits in cultivated crops. Such improvements are usually accomplished by the technique known as genetic engineering, also known as genetic modification. The aim of this article is to provide an update on recent developments with respect to GM food crops, as well as an assessment of US public opinion with regards to GM foods in general. A successful case of how a US-grown GM crop gained acceptance in one of the strictest fruit importing countries is presented. This 8-page fact sheet was written by Edward A. Evans and Fredy H. Ballen, and published by the UF Department of Food and Resource Economics, June 2013.
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/fe934
US-Panama Free Trade Agreement: What Is in It for Florida Agriculture?
On October 12, 2011, four years after it was agreed upon by both parties, the United States government signed into law the reciprocal US–Panama Free Trade Agreement (FTA)/Trade Promotion Agreement (TPA). The FTA provides US companies with better access to the Panamanian market and ensures that most US exports of consumer and industrial products to Panama will be accorded immediate duty-free privileges. The main elements of the US–Panama FTA as it relates to agricultural trade revolve around market access, agricultural export subsidies, safeguards, the sugar compensation mechanism, and sanitary and phytosanitary measures. This 11-page fact sheet was written by Edward A. Evans and Fredy H. Ballen, and published by the UF Department of Food and Resource Economics, May 2013.
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/fe932
Measuring Productivity of Citrus Hand Harvesters and Assessing Implications on Harvest Costs and Mechanical Harvesting Developments (FE933)
Existing mechanical harvesters recover 70 to 95 percent of the available fruit crop. While changes can be made to increase fruit recovery percentages, mechanical systems will never equal the fruit recovery percentages from hand-harvesting crews, much less capture 100 percent of the available fruit. Whether or not to glean (to use manual labor to collect fruit not harvested by the machine) will remain an important question that growers will have to face with every block they choose to mechanically harvest. This study incorporated field harvesting data and developed a model that predicted the extent to which labor productivity would be affected by decreasing the number of oranges available for harvesting by manual labor. Given current market prices of fruit, recovery percentage of crops harvested using mechanical harvesting equipment can improve up to 99 percent and gleaning will remain a profitable activity.
This 6-page fact sheet was written by Fritz M. Roka and Barbara R. Hyman, and published by the UF Department of Food and Resource Economics, May 2013.
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/fe933
Costos Estimados en el 2010 para Establecer y Producir Pitaya (Fruta Dragón) en el Sur de Florida (FE921)
Como consecuencia de la creciente competencia extranjera y la disminución de rendimientos de los productos agrícolas tradicionales, muchos productores en el Sur de la Florida se han embarcado en una búsqueda agresiva de productos agrícolas que sean alternativas viables. Un producto que ha llamado la atención es la pitaya, una especie de cactus trepador autóctona de las regiones de bosques tropicales de México, Centroamérica y América del Sur. De menos de 50 hectáreas plantadas en la Florida en fecha tan reciente como 2006, la producción se ha multiplicado por seis y ahora se estima en alrededor de 320 acres. This 6-page fact sheet was written by Edward A. Evans, Jordan Huntley, Jonathan Crane, and Allen F. Wysocki, and published by the UF Department of Food and Resource Economics, March 2013.
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/fe921
Estimacion de costos de establecimiento y produccion de papaya en el sur de la Florida en 2012 (FE920)
El alza reciente en los precios de la papaya, consecuencia de las restricciones fitosanitarias impuestas a la fruta proveniente de México, ha despertado el interés de productores en el Sur de la Florida, quienes han percibido la oportunidad de suplir la demanda por papaya madura en los Estados Unidos. No obstante, hay mucha incertidumbre con respecto a la viabilidad económica del negocio. El objetivo de este documento es proveer información acerca del retorno económico y los costos de producción de un cultivo de 5 acres de papaya en el Sur de la Florida. Igualmente, se evaluaron precios y rendimientos que permitirían que el negocio fuese rentable en el Sur de Florida. This 7-page fact sheet was written by Edward A. Evans, Fredy H. Ballen, y Jonathan H. Crane, and published by the UF Department of Food and Resource Economics, February 2013.
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/fe920
Regulatory and Market Risk Factors and the Emissions Reduction Potential for Energy Intensive Firms (FE919)
In the last decade, one of the major global environmental concerns has been greenhouse gas emissions. As part of the political debate over climate change, various policy initiatives are being proposed. Energy intensive firms that emit large amounts of greenhouse gases (e.g., floriculture or nursery firms with heated greenhouses) will be operating in an environment of high regulatory and market uncertainties in the coming years. This 3-page fact sheet presents a brief introduction of the regulatory and market risks faced by energy intensive firms and a case study of emissions reduction potential in the horticulture industry. Written by Zhengfei Guan, and published by the UF Department of Food and Resource Economics, March 2013.
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/fe919