Economic analysis by grad student Shadi Atallah and Miguel Gomez, assistant professor in the Char... more Economic analysis by grad student Shadi Atallah and Miguel Gomez, assistant professor in the Charles Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management shows that leafroll transmitted through nursery stock costs growers $9,000 to $16,000 per acre over the life of a vineyard
The economics of grapevine leafroll control through vine replacement has a spatial component. A ... more The economics of grapevine leafroll control through vine replacement has a spatial component. A new model by Shady Atallah and Miguel Gomez demonstrates that testing vines adjacent to those with leafroll symptoms and replacing them if they test positive increases expected net present value by 19%
The aim of this paper is to aid researchers in estimating the economic benefits of policies that ... more The aim of this paper is to aid researchers in estimating the economic benefits of policies that provide private forest landowners with payments (subsidies) to control ecosystem service disturbances such as bioinvasion on their property. Specifically, this paper provides an estimate of the estimation error induced by the common “representative agent” approach to policy assessment in cases where these landowners have heterogeneous preferences for the ecosystem services(s) (ES) being impaired. We develop a heterogeneous-agent model designed to value policy-driven ES disturbance control in heterogeneous landscapes. This model is then used to explore the relationship between ES preference heterogeneity and the estimation error generated when agents are assumed to have homogeneous preferences. We find that failure to account for landowner preference heterogeneity when performing policy impact assessments/valuation can significantly underestimate a policy’s true benefits. We also find tha...
Pathogen-tested foundation plant stocks are the cornerstone of sustainable specialty crop product... more Pathogen-tested foundation plant stocks are the cornerstone of sustainable specialty crop production. They provide the propagative units that are used to produce clean planting materials, which are essential as the first-line management option of diseases caused by graft-transmissible pathogens such as viruses, viroids, bacteria, and phytoplasmas. In the United States, efforts to produce, maintain, and distribute pathogen-tested propagative material of specialty crops are spearheaded by centers of the National Clean Plant Network (NCPN). Agricultural economists collaborated with plant pathologists, extension educators, specialty crop growers, and regulators to investigate the impacts of select diseases caused by graft-transmissible pathogens and to estimate the return on investments in NCPN centers. Economic studies have proven valuable to the NCPN in (i) incentivizing the use of clean planting material derived from pathogen-tested foundation plant stocks; (ii) documenting benefits ...
Grapevine leafroll disease (GLRD) is a devastating viral disease found across all grapegrowing re... more Grapevine leafroll disease (GLRD) is a devastating viral disease found across all grapegrowing regions. Vineyard managers have adopted various strategies for managing GLRD, including roguing individual symptomatic vines and replacing them with certified vines derived from clean, virus-tested stocks; applying insecticides targeting mealybug vector populations to reduce disease spread and minimize long-term impacts; and fully replanting vineyards at the onset of disease symptoms. Moreover, some managers elect not to control GLRD at all. We collected survey data from vineyard managers throughout the three major California grapegrowing counties, Napa, Sonoma, and Northern San Joaquin Valley, to estimate the economic impact of GLRD on Cabernet Sauvignon vines. The goal was to identify cost-minimizing management strategies under various disease-prevalence levels, price penalties, timing of disease onset relative to vineyard age, yield losses, and costs of control. Our results estimated that the economic cost of GLRD ranged from $29,902 to $226,405 per ha. Roguing symptomatic vines and replanting with certified vines in combination with insecticides to reduce mealybugs may minimize losses if GLRD prevalence is low (between 5 and 10%), while a full vineyard replacement should be pursued if disease prevalence is higher, generally above 25%, although regional differences were noted. These findings should help vineyard managers in the three regions examined to adopt optimal GLRD management strategies that can be tailored regionally or locally to unique market opportunities, potential market prices, and annual operating costs.
This article is the first of two publications that analyzes economic opportunities in forest farm... more This article is the first of two publications that analyzes economic opportunities in forest farming for Indiana forest plantation owners. This study explores growing hops along the fence lines of newly established forest stands, while the second study investigates producing American ginseng in older (20- to 30-year-old) forests. The economic analysis presented in this article is developed for two hops varieties, 'Cascade' and 'Comet', based on marketability and presumed adaption to low sunlight, respectively.
Forest invasive plants can cause market (MES) and non-market ecosystem service (NMES) losses to p... more Forest invasive plants can cause market (MES) and non-market ecosystem service (NMES) losses to private forest landowners. Because bio-invasions create spatial-dynamic ecological-economic linkages among landowners, bio-invasion control is a weaker-link public good and is likely to be underprovided. We hypothesize that heterogeneity in forest landowner preferences is a major determinant of bio-invasion spatial externalities. To test this hypothesis, we develop a spatial-dynamic model of bio-invasion and control with two agents that value differently the MES and NMES produced by their forestlands. The bio-invasion spreads within and across lands according to short, and long-distance dispersal mechanisms and landowners make control decisions that ignore the impacts on their neighbors. In the absence of longdistance dispersal, they both control the bio-invasion regardless of their preferences. In the presence of long-distance dispersal and the case of heterogeneous preferences, a centra...
Forest farming in North America is becoming a popular practice that provides short-term income fo... more Forest farming in North America is becoming a popular practice that provides short-term income for owners of new forest plantations while their trees reach maturity. This income diversification is particularly relevant for many of the Indiana hardwood plantations planted in the last decade, but will not fulfill their economic potential until 60–70 years from establishment. This article is the second in a two-part series aimed at analyzing economic opportunities in forest farming for Indiana forest plantation owners. The first study explores growing hops along the tree line of newly established forest stands, while this second study investigates producing American ginseng in older (20- to 30-year-old) forest plantations.
Economic analysis by grad student Shadi Atallah and Miguel Gomez, assistant professor in the Char... more Economic analysis by grad student Shadi Atallah and Miguel Gomez, assistant professor in the Charles Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management shows that leafroll transmitted through nursery stock costs growers $9,000 to $16,000 per acre over the life of a vineyard
The economics of grapevine leafroll control through vine replacement has a spatial component. A ... more The economics of grapevine leafroll control through vine replacement has a spatial component. A new model by Shady Atallah and Miguel Gomez demonstrates that testing vines adjacent to those with leafroll symptoms and replacing them if they test positive increases expected net present value by 19%
The aim of this paper is to aid researchers in estimating the economic benefits of policies that ... more The aim of this paper is to aid researchers in estimating the economic benefits of policies that provide private forest landowners with payments (subsidies) to control ecosystem service disturbances such as bioinvasion on their property. Specifically, this paper provides an estimate of the estimation error induced by the common “representative agent” approach to policy assessment in cases where these landowners have heterogeneous preferences for the ecosystem services(s) (ES) being impaired. We develop a heterogeneous-agent model designed to value policy-driven ES disturbance control in heterogeneous landscapes. This model is then used to explore the relationship between ES preference heterogeneity and the estimation error generated when agents are assumed to have homogeneous preferences. We find that failure to account for landowner preference heterogeneity when performing policy impact assessments/valuation can significantly underestimate a policy’s true benefits. We also find tha...
Pathogen-tested foundation plant stocks are the cornerstone of sustainable specialty crop product... more Pathogen-tested foundation plant stocks are the cornerstone of sustainable specialty crop production. They provide the propagative units that are used to produce clean planting materials, which are essential as the first-line management option of diseases caused by graft-transmissible pathogens such as viruses, viroids, bacteria, and phytoplasmas. In the United States, efforts to produce, maintain, and distribute pathogen-tested propagative material of specialty crops are spearheaded by centers of the National Clean Plant Network (NCPN). Agricultural economists collaborated with plant pathologists, extension educators, specialty crop growers, and regulators to investigate the impacts of select diseases caused by graft-transmissible pathogens and to estimate the return on investments in NCPN centers. Economic studies have proven valuable to the NCPN in (i) incentivizing the use of clean planting material derived from pathogen-tested foundation plant stocks; (ii) documenting benefits ...
Grapevine leafroll disease (GLRD) is a devastating viral disease found across all grapegrowing re... more Grapevine leafroll disease (GLRD) is a devastating viral disease found across all grapegrowing regions. Vineyard managers have adopted various strategies for managing GLRD, including roguing individual symptomatic vines and replacing them with certified vines derived from clean, virus-tested stocks; applying insecticides targeting mealybug vector populations to reduce disease spread and minimize long-term impacts; and fully replanting vineyards at the onset of disease symptoms. Moreover, some managers elect not to control GLRD at all. We collected survey data from vineyard managers throughout the three major California grapegrowing counties, Napa, Sonoma, and Northern San Joaquin Valley, to estimate the economic impact of GLRD on Cabernet Sauvignon vines. The goal was to identify cost-minimizing management strategies under various disease-prevalence levels, price penalties, timing of disease onset relative to vineyard age, yield losses, and costs of control. Our results estimated that the economic cost of GLRD ranged from $29,902 to $226,405 per ha. Roguing symptomatic vines and replanting with certified vines in combination with insecticides to reduce mealybugs may minimize losses if GLRD prevalence is low (between 5 and 10%), while a full vineyard replacement should be pursued if disease prevalence is higher, generally above 25%, although regional differences were noted. These findings should help vineyard managers in the three regions examined to adopt optimal GLRD management strategies that can be tailored regionally or locally to unique market opportunities, potential market prices, and annual operating costs.
This article is the first of two publications that analyzes economic opportunities in forest farm... more This article is the first of two publications that analyzes economic opportunities in forest farming for Indiana forest plantation owners. This study explores growing hops along the fence lines of newly established forest stands, while the second study investigates producing American ginseng in older (20- to 30-year-old) forests. The economic analysis presented in this article is developed for two hops varieties, 'Cascade' and 'Comet', based on marketability and presumed adaption to low sunlight, respectively.
Forest invasive plants can cause market (MES) and non-market ecosystem service (NMES) losses to p... more Forest invasive plants can cause market (MES) and non-market ecosystem service (NMES) losses to private forest landowners. Because bio-invasions create spatial-dynamic ecological-economic linkages among landowners, bio-invasion control is a weaker-link public good and is likely to be underprovided. We hypothesize that heterogeneity in forest landowner preferences is a major determinant of bio-invasion spatial externalities. To test this hypothesis, we develop a spatial-dynamic model of bio-invasion and control with two agents that value differently the MES and NMES produced by their forestlands. The bio-invasion spreads within and across lands according to short, and long-distance dispersal mechanisms and landowners make control decisions that ignore the impacts on their neighbors. In the absence of longdistance dispersal, they both control the bio-invasion regardless of their preferences. In the presence of long-distance dispersal and the case of heterogeneous preferences, a centra...
Forest farming in North America is becoming a popular practice that provides short-term income fo... more Forest farming in North America is becoming a popular practice that provides short-term income for owners of new forest plantations while their trees reach maturity. This income diversification is particularly relevant for many of the Indiana hardwood plantations planted in the last decade, but will not fulfill their economic potential until 60–70 years from establishment. This article is the second in a two-part series aimed at analyzing economic opportunities in forest farming for Indiana forest plantation owners. The first study explores growing hops along the tree line of newly established forest stands, while this second study investigates producing American ginseng in older (20- to 30-year-old) forest plantations.
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