Browsing by Author "Bovay, John"
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- The American Rescue Plan: Farms, Food, and FamiliesPierce, Tim; Bovay, John (Virginia Cooperative Extension, 2021)This publication, which accompanies a webinar on “The American Rescue Plan: Farms, Food, and Families”, provides an overview of the American Rescue Plan and its implications for farms, food, and families. The webinar and handout are part of the Virginia Sustainable Farms and Agribusiness Education Initiative offered by Virginia Tech’s Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics and Virginia Cooperative Extension. More information about the program is available at https://aaec.vt.edu/extension/va-sustainable-farms-agribusinesses.html. The webinar is available at: https://video.vt.edu/media/1_sb3hzeg1.
- Animal Welfare Standards and MarketingJacobs, Leonie; Bovay, John; Pierce, Timothy (Virginia Cooperative Extension, 2021)This handout provides an overview of animal welfare economics and the benefits to farmers from marketing their commitments to animal welfare.
- Assessing the Benefits of Virginia Tech Agricultural Programs: Studies in Feeder Cattle Certification and Small Grains BreedingGarber, Benjamin Fredrick (Virginia Tech, 2021-06-03)This thesis consists of two research papers, each of which studies the benefits from a different College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS) program. These analyses provide necessary information to allocate resources efficiently among programs. The first paper studies the Virginia Quality Assured feeder cattle certification program and its effects on feeder cattle prices and profitability. No significant effect on price from VQA certification is found. However, enterprise budgets indicate that VQA cattle allow higher farm profits due to their lower sale weight, which allows for faster turnover and lower prices. The second paper studies the benefits to producers from wheat and barley breeding conducted by Virginia Tech researchers. Variety trial data are combined with acreage estimates constructed from royalty data to estimate gains from replacement of old varieties with new ones. The study finds that the program generated benefits to producers of over $119 million between 2000 and 2018.
- Battling bots: Experiences and strategies to mitigate fraudulent responses in online surveysGoodrich, Brittney; Fenton, Marieke; Penn, Jerrod; Bovay, John; Mountain, Travis (Wiley, 2023-06)Declining survey response rates have driven many researchers to seek out cost-effective methods of increasing participation, such as conducting surveys online, paying incentives, and using social media to engage hard-to-reach populations. Malicious actors can exploit the monetary incentives and anonymity of online surveys, threatening the integrity of survey data. We share two recent experiences conducting online surveys that were inundated with fraudulent responses. Our objective is to increase awareness of this emerging issue and offer guidance for others to mitigate the effects of fraudulent responders in their own research.
- Beef and the Bottom Line: The Effect of Value-Added Certification on Feeder Cattle ProfitabilityGarber, Ben; Alwang, Jeffrey R.; Norton, George W.; Bovay, John (Cambridge University Press, 2022-02-15)Data from 1,422 feeder cattle teleauction lots were used to assess the impacts on profitability of the Virginia quality assured (VQA) feeder cattle program. The analysis finds higher profits for VQA cattle due to their faster turnover and lower feed costs; however, certification does not have a significant effect on price received by producers. The analysis further suggests that the cost associated with production under VQA should be considered in addition to price effects studied in previous literature.
- Building Partnerships to Address Social and Technological Challenges to Enhance Farm Profitability and Improve Water Quality Through Better Grassland ManagementStafford, Carl; Clark, Robert; Ritchie, Liesel A.; Pent, Gabriel; Fike, John H.; Benner, John; Swanson, Carrie; Baker, Scott; Mize, Timothy; Temu, Vitalis; Payne, Kathryn; Gill, Duane A.; Mullins, D.; McGuire, R.; Teutsch, Chris; Thomason, Wade E.; Grev, Amanda; Blevins, Phil; Clarke, C.; Poore, Matt; Booher, Matt; Stanley, Tom; Halich, Greg; Bovay, John; Love, Kenner; Byington, amy A.; Baldwin, Elizabeth; Haugen, Inga (2023-05-15)With 2.1 million acres of pastureland and 1.25 million acres of hay land in Virginia, the rural Virginia landscape is predominately grassland. These lands form the base of the $3.96 billion-dollar livestock and dairy industry in Virginia. Managing these livestock in a profitable manner for farmers and beneficial to the environment is important. A cultural tradition with roots in colonial times has been to run animals in large fields year-round throughout Virginia. Livestock often graze from spring until fall (about 220 days), and farmers feed hay the remainder of the year. Spikes in the cost of fuel, fertilizer, and equipment are making traditional grazing/haying systems less profitable. The Virginia Cooperative Extension Farm Enterprise budgets show that that the cost of hay accounts for over 50% of the cost of sustaining livestock annually. University of Kentucky shows that most cow-calf producers maximize their profitability by shifting from grazing 220 days to grazing 275 to 300 days. Extension agents working with livestock producers found that they could improve their profitability by at least $75 per cow by extending their grazing season. The same phenomenon applies to other types of grazing livestock. If ten percent of the livestock producers in the state adopted better grazing management to extend their grazing season by 60 days, profitability is expected to for Virginia grazing livestock producers by over $5 million per year. Practices such as rotational grazing and stream exclusion are directly tied to National and State goals to improve water quality in the Chesapeake Bay. Virginia’s Phase III WIP (Chesapeake Bay Watershed Improvement Plan) seeks the exclusion of livestock from all perennial streams and achieving good rotational grazing practices on 347,000 acres of pasture. A number of agencies and private sector groups have been providing cost share and technical guidance to incentivize livestock stream exclusion and the installation of pasture management infrastructure. Installation is only part of the challenge. Farmers also need to be taught how to how to manage the system in a profitable manner and have been slow to adopt good pasture management practices. Preliminary data show that 87% of Virginia’s cow-calf producers manage their grasslands using traditional methods. Only six percent have extended their grazing season beyond 265 days.
- A Century of Profligacy? The Measurement and Evolution of Food WasteBovay, John; Zhang, Wei (Cambridge University Press, 2019)Food waste has been recognized as an economic issue for at least a century and is gaining tremendous traction in academia as well as in discourse about public policy. The goal of our study is to examine the evolution of food waste over the last several decades at the United States and global levels. We first review the methodologies that have been used to estimate the magnitude of food waste so that the quality of the data can be evaluated. Though with limitations, existing data generally show that for many regions of the world, including the United States, preconsumer food loss and waste as a share of total supply has been stable in recent decades. However, the aggregate share wasted masks important changes over time. We provide some evidence that food waste has shifted downstream in recent decades, i.e., from producers and processors to retailers and consumers. Through a reflection on the trends in major socioeconomic factors, we hypothesize that this downstream shift has been driven by increases in household incomes, improvements in technology, and changes in culture and institutions.
- Corporate Social Responsibility as a Business StrategyBovay, John; Pierce, Timothy M. (Virginia Cooperative Extension, 2021-02-12)Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) dates back to the early 1900s and has become common in modern business models. As incomes have risen worldwide, consumers have begun to demand more products that are produced by firms that engage in CSR and market their commitments to it. This handout, which accompanies a webinar on 'Corporate Social Responsibility as a Business Strategy', provides an overview of the economics of CSR and why businesses may want to engage in it. The webinar and handout are part of the Virginia Sustainable Farms and Agribusiness Education Initiative offered by Virginia Tech's Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics and Virginia Cooperative Extension. More information about the program is available at https://aaec.vt.edu/extension/va-sustainable-farms-agribusinesses.html
- COVID-19 Resources for Virginia Farmers, Agribusinesses, and Cooperative Extension Agents and SpecialistsBovay, John (Virginia Cooperative Extension, 2020)List of online resources from federal and state government entities for help dealing with COVID-19
- Demystifying Food Labels for Meat and Poultry Products Part I: OverviewNeill, Clinton L.; Qi, Tao; Bovay, John (Virginia Cooperative Extension, 2024)Food labels often represent credence attributes, which are qualities consumers cannot verify even after consumption. This creates an information asymmetry between producers and consumers (Kuchler et al., 2017). For producers and consumers alike, the meaning behind the labels found on meat products may be confusing. The purpose of this publication is to help improve buyer understanding of retail meat and poultry product labels using text and infographics. Each infographic contains basic facts and straightforward definitions of common words and phrases included on labels used on meat and poultry products found in grocery stores nationwide.
- Demystifying Food Labels for Meat and Poultry Products Part II: Labels for Specific ProductsNeill, Clinton L.; Qi, Tao; Bovay, John (Virginia Cooperative Extension, 2024)Labels on food products can inform consumers about quality information and product differentiation, in other words, what features, or attributes distinguish it from similar products. Sometimes labels can signal to consumers that the products on which they appear have a different taste or texture than other similar products. Other times, labels reflect information about how the product was produced, which may not affect the taste or texture. Producers can use product differentiation and communicate information about food quality or attributes to consumers using labels. This publication and an accompanying publication provide information to help consumers understand and interpret labels on meat and poultry products, and help producers understand how they may use labels to differentiate their products and increase their profit margins. “Demystifying Food Labels for Meat and Poultry Products Part I: Overview” (VCE publication AAEC-229NP) provides basic information about meat and poultry labels and examples of labels that may be found on multiple different categories of products. The labels discussed in this publication are specific to certain types of meat (beef and lamb) and poultry.
- Economics of Farm and Agribusiness SustainabilityBovay, John; Pierce, Timothy M. (Virginia Cooperative Extension, 2021-02-25)Consumer demand for food grown using sustainable farm practices is at an all-time high (Nielsen, 2018). This is compelling farmers to explore various options to improve sustainability. This handout, which accompanies a webinar on 'Business Goals and Sustainability', provides an overview of the economics of farm and agribusiness sustainability. The webinar and handout are part of the Virginia Sustainable Farms and Agribusiness Education Initiative offered by Virginia Tech's Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics and Virginia Cooperative Extension. More information about the program is available at https://aaec.vt.edu/extension/va-sustainable-farms-agribusinesses.html
- Essays on Price Analysis of Livestock MarketWang, Yangchuan (Virginia Tech, 2022-09-07)This dissertation consists of three chapters. The first chapter titled ``U.S. Grass-fed Beef Price Premiums" examined monthly retail-level price premiums for grass-fed beef (relative to conventional grain-fed beef) in the U.S. from 2014 through 2021. We found that premiums were heterogeneous, with premium cuts (such as sirloin steak, tenderloin, ribeye, and filet mignon) enjoying the highest premiums. Premiums were not consistent with price levels, as the lowest premiums were observed for short ribs, skirt steak, and flank steak. Our findings suggest that grass-fed beef price premiums were negatively affected by the consumption of food away from home. Changes in income, increased information about taste, protein and minerals, fat, revocation of the USDA grass-fed certification program in 2016 and COVID-19 pandemic, also affected premiums for several individual cuts. Premiums were not sensitive to changes in information about climate change. The second chapter, ``Impact of Animal Disease Outbreaks on The U.S. Meat Demand'', examined the impact of the mad cow (BSE) and bird flu (AI) outbreaks on the demand for beef, pork, and broilers in the U.S from 1997 to 2019. Using time-varying elasticities obtained from a Rotterdam model with animal disease cases, we found that BSE outbreaks reduced beef consumption by 0.64 percent and increased pork consumption by 2.34 percent, on average. While BSE outbreaks reduced beef demand, these effects were short lived and did not extend beyond one quarter. On the other hand, broiler consumption decreased during the HPAI outbreaks while beef and broiler consumption increased after such outbreaks. Our time-varying cross-price elasticities indicated that substitution between beef and broilers and beef and pork strengthened after Quarter 4 of 2003. The third chapter is titled ``Impact of North American Mad Cow Disease Outbreaks on The U.S. Cattle Futures". Our study developed a distributional event response model (DERM) framework to show the duration and magnitude of market responses of the U.S. cattle futures market during episodes of mad cow disease (BSE) in North America between 2010 and 2019. Our results indicated that the 2017 U.S. BSE outbreak reduced the returns of live cattle futures. Additionally, the average duration of the BSE event response was about 8.5 days.
- Essays on the economics of bee-friendly beefChishimba, Elizabeth (Virginia Tech, 2024-11-12)The decline in bee populations, driven by biodiversity loss, poses a major threat to food production systems, as many wild plants and agricultural crops rely on bee pollination services. Addressing this issue requires coordinated efforts from producers, retailers, and consumers to restore pollinator habitats. This study explores two key aspects of promoting bee-friendly beef as a potential solution to support pollinator conservation. First, the study examines beef cattle producers' willingness to adopt native warm-season grass and wildflower (NWSG-WF) pastures through conservation programs. A discrete choice experiment revealed that producers require cost-share payments to convert pastureland into NWSG-WF systems. For a 10% conversion, producers would accept an average of $134.58 per acre (51% of establishment costs), while increasing conversions to 20% or 30% would raise the required payments to $154.55 (59%) and $199.06 (76%), respectively. Factors influencing producer participation include education level and interest in pollinator restoration, with those having thin forage coverage being more likely to adopt NWSG-WF. Second, a nationwide choice experiment survey of 2,136 U.S. beef consumers reveals a clear preference for bee-friendly beef over conventional options. On average, consumers are willing to pay $0.87 more per pound for beef produced using pollinator-friendly practices. Certain consumer segments, such as those who volunteer or donate to environmental organizations ($1.74/lb) and those knowledgeable about pollinator decline ($1.39/lb), exhibit an even higher willingness to pay. This suggests that raising public awareness about pollinator conservation could drive greater support for eco-labeled products like bee-friendly beef. Overall, the findings highlight opportunities to promote bee-friendly beef through consumer awareness campaigns and targeted conservation incentives for producers. By aligning consumer preferences with producer incentives, bee-friendly beef production can contribute to both pollinator conservation and sustainable cattle farming.
- Farm Financial Risk Management Series Part I: Overview of Financial Systems for New and Beginning FarmersMorgan, Kim; Callan, Peter; Mark, Alyssa; Niewolny, Kim; Nartea, Theresa; Scott, Kelli; Hilleary, Jim; Li, Yanggu; Bovay, John (Virginia Cooperative Extension, 2022)
- Farm Financial Risk Management Series Part II: Introduction of Financial Systems for New and Beginning FarmersMorgan, Kim; Callan, Peter; Mark, Alyssa; Niewolny, Kim; Nartea, Theresa; Scott, Kelli; Li, Yanggu; Bovay, John (2022)
- Farm Financial Risk Management Series Part III: Introduction to Farm Planning BudgetsMorgan, Kim; Callan, Peter; Mark, Alyssa; Niewolny, Kimberly L.; Nartea, Theresa; Scott, Kelli; Hilleary, James; Li, Yanggu; Bovay, John (Virginia Cooperative Extension, 2022)There are many factors to consider before starting a new farm enterprise. Financial management is an important component in the startup and decision-making processes for beginning farmers. The purpose of this series of publications is to inform Virginia agribusiness owners and managers about farm financial risk management tools, techniques, and resources available to help them prepare and use a financial systems approach for their operations. The information provided in this publication is expected to improve manager decision-making by providing a better understanding of the value of constructing financial statements and planning budgets to help them manage risks associated with the financial aspects specific to the agriculture industry. The topics covered in this resource are not all-inclusive, but after reading this publication, beginning farmers should be prepared to move forward in planning for their farms. The accompanying parts in the series include “Farm Financial Risk Management Series Part I: Overview of Financial Systems for New and Beginning Farmers” (Virginia Cooperative Extension publication AAEC-114P (AAEC-296P)), and “Farm Financial Risk Management Series Part II: Introduction to Farm Financial Statements” (Virginia Cooperative Extension publication AAEC-115P (AAEC-297P)). A compilation of excellent resources that includes examples, how-to videos, and training resources is included in the appendix at the end of this publication. For questions about this or other farm startup topics, contact the local Virginia Cooperative Extension office or visit the Virginia Beginning Farmer and Rancher Coalition Program website at www.vabeginningfarmer.org.
- Food safety, reputation, and regulationBovay, John (Wiley, 2022-01-01)This article reviews the empirical economics literature on food safety, reputation, and regulation. Producers have strong private incentives to provide safe food, largely related to reputation, especially the negative demand effects seen in response to food-safety problems. Mandatory disclosure of information about food safety can change demand and improve safety outcomes. Private incentives led producers and marketers to adopt private and collective standards for produce safety prior to the implementation of similar government regulations in the United States. Private and collective standards and government regulations all have distributional effects. The article concludes with some policy suggestions informed by the literature.
- GMO, Bioengineered Labeling, and Non-GMO FoodPierce, Timothy; Bovay, John (Virginia Cooperative Extension, 2021)The acronym GMO stands for Genetically Modified Organisms. Terms with similar meanings include: Genetically Engineered (GE), Genetically Modified (GM), Transgenic, Biotech, Bioengineered, or Products Made with Modern Biotechnology. This factsheet, which accompanies a webinar on “Non-GMO, GMO, and bioengineered food labeling”, provides an overview of the definitions of these labels in the United States. The webinar and factsheet are part of the Virginia Sustainable Farms and Agribusiness Education Initiative offered by Virginia Tech’s Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics and Virginia Cooperative Extension. More information about the program is available at https://aaec.vt.edu/extension/va-sustainable-farms-agribusinesses.html. More information about GMOs can be found at websites created by Purdue University (2016) and the University of Connecticut (2017), and other references listed at the end of this factsheet.
- Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the U.S. and Virginia Farms and Businesses: May 2020Holt, Matthew T.; Bovay, John; Friedel, Jennifer S.; Isengildina-Massa, Olga; Kayser, Patrick; van Senten, Jonathan; Grant, Jason H.; Orden, David R.; Marchant, Mary A. (Virginia Tech. Agricultural and Applied Economics, 2020-05)This report addresses various aspects of the impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had on Virginia’s farm and agribusiness sector as of the beginning of May 2020. At the time of this writing (May 7, 2020) the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports approximately 1.2 million cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in the United States, and over 70,000 deaths.1 Virginia’s Department of Public Health reports over 21,000 cases and over 700 deaths.2 33.5 million people have filed for unemployment claims in the United States since mid-March.3 The economic impacts of the disease have been felt much more broadly, as businesses have been forced to close or operate under different conditions, and as consumer spending power declines. As we look ahead, there is tremendous uncertainty about how the pandemic will end and how it will affect the global economy and our individual lives and livelihoods both in the short term and permanently. This report includes a general economic outlook, by Matthew Holt; overviews of the pandemic’s disruptions to the U.S. food supply chain and several major agricultural industries in Virginia, by John Bovay; an overview of agricultural policy under the pandemic, by Jennifer Friedel; a detailed analysis of effects of the pandemic on Virginia grain markets, by Olga Isengildina Massa and Patrick Kayser; an overview of results of a national survey of the impacts of the pandemic on aquaculture producers, with a focus on Virginia’s main aquaculture products, by Jonathan van Senten; and analysis of the current state of affairs for U.S.-China agricultural trade, by Jason Grant, David Orden, and Mary Marchant.