As food producers face increasing costs, many greenhouse growers are turning to controlled environment agriculture. The use of light-emitting diode (LED) supplemental lighting systems may increase a producer’s profitability, but it also comes with a unique set of externalities. Using an online survey, we found that showing images of light pollution from supplemental LED lighting sources facilitated respondents to want more regulation with state government being the desired regulator. Several significant factors influenced survey respondents’ posttreatment preference outcomes for different levels of regulation and regulators including demographic characteristics as well as initial attitudes toward LED lighting systems before treatment.

Tennessee cattle producer willingness to participate in a hypothetical Tennessee Branded Beef Program (TBBP) was examined using 2016 survey data. Willingness to participate in the TBBP was modeled using a probit model. Among those willing to participate, a Tobit model was used to estimate the pounds of live-weight beef producers were willing to supply into a TBBP. Age, production practices, and risk attitudes influenced willingness to participate. Among those willing to participate, projected TBBP supply per farm averaged 32,329 pounds and was influenced by on-farm animal units, production practices, perceived barriers, risk attitudes, and consequentiality beliefs.

Private investment in plant breeding has been increasing while public plant breeding has stagnated or declined. Moreover, research investment among crop commodities is uneven. Using a comprehensive survey of U.S. plant breeders from 1994, we use a simultaneous equations model to examine incentives and public-private tradeoffs in plant breeding research among 84 crop commodities. Allocation of private breeders among crops is strongly influenced by market size, hybrid seed technology, and ease of breeding improvement. In general, the allocation of public breeders does not appear to “crowd out” private breeders, but some competition may occur in applied breeding. Public breeding declines as private breeding increases on a commodity. Public breeding is also affected by market size, ease of breeding improvement, and political influence.

Two double-limit tobit models are used to identify significant risk factors that most affect farm-raised catfish losses from weather-related events and from disease outbreaks. Results of the weather loss model indicate that the variables for operator education level, number of ponds, pond water depth, production management strategy, past experience with severe losses from low oxygen levels from off-farm power outages, past experience with severe losses from diseases, and being in the South are statistically significant. Results of the disease loss model indicate that the variables for operator experience and pond water depth are significant. Development of models explaining weather and disease losses through observable variables provides a better understanding of the interrelation between the loss perils and explanatory variables so management strategies can be developed to mitigate losses from identified risk factors.

Merchandisers of landscape plants can increase the effectiveness of their marketing strategies by identifying target markets. Using a full information maximum likelihood tobit procedure on a system of three equations, target markets for different types of retail outlets in Georgia were identified. The results lend support and empirical evidence to the premise that different retail outlet types have different target markets and thus should develop different market strategies. The estimated target markets are identified and possible marketing strategies suitable for each type of retail outlet are suggested.

To analyze fresh vegetable consumption using household survey data, the tobit model and a more flexible parameterization to the tobit model—the “double hurdle” model—were considered. Based on the likelihood ratio test, the tobit model was rejected against the “double hurdle” specification. Moreover, the results suggest that the tobit model underestimated the impact of the explanatory variables on fresh vegetable expenditures. Other results indicate that total food expenditures (proxy for income), age, household composition, sex, race, marital status, urbanization, region, and seasonality are all important determinants of fresh vegetable expenditures.

A tobit econometric procedure was used to examine the effect of selected demand and supply factors on nonreal estate agricultural lending by commercial banks in Texas. Results show that banks have reduced their agricultural loan portfolios in response to increased use of interest sensitive deposits after deregulation. Moreover, almost half of this decrease came from banks that stopped making agricultural loans. Also, results show that banks affiliated with multi-bank holding companies lend less money to agriculture relative to their assets than do independent banks.

A generalized Heckman model of purchase decisions incorporating perceived consumer quality attributes, ease of purchase, and familiarity with marketing outlets as factors influencing pecan purchases is estimated. Marketing efforts that encourage consumers to expand expenditures on nut products increase both the probability of pecan purchases and the amount purchased. Consumers who use all types of nuts in a wider variety of foods tend to purchase pecans more frequently. A diverse set of marketing outlets provides consumers with convenient sources for purchasing pecans and has a significant influence on the probability of pecan purchases but not the amount of pecans purchased.

Typical supermarket chickens are produced with novel or controversial attributes. This continues despite contrasting growth in consumer interest in organic and natural foods. This study surveyed Delaware consumers' likelihood to purchase chicken given different attributes: free range, given antibiotics, irradiated, fed genetically modified (GM) feed, GM chicken, and price. Examining conjoint analysis data with a heteroskedastic two-limit tobit model, GM chicken and other novel attributes were found to lower purchase likelihood significantly. Understanding these results should help the industry meet consumer preferences while aiding its continued expansion to benefit workers and growers across the South.

Double-cropping of soybeans and wheat is often promoted by extension personnel. This paper seeks to explain how the decision to adopt double-cropping is made, using a Tobit regression model. Tobit makes use of more of the information in the data set than do logit or probit and explains not only the decision to double-crop but also the rate of adoption. The paper considers factors such as profit and risk perceptions and risk which have not been included in the past models used to explain adoption of technology. The results show that risk perception is important. Contrary to the findings of some other adoption studies, this decision in not influenced by human capital factors. The farmers who double-crop are more highly leveraged and appear to do so both to achieve higher income and as part of a risk diversification strategy. This is consistent with the importance of the location factor, measured as the average number of growing degree days at the farm's location. Growing degree days is a proxy for the actual distribution of returns from double-cropping and is the main factor explaining this decision. Extensive adoption of double-cropping in cooler regions of the Midwest must await technological advances that can increase the profitability of double-cropping by reducing the growing season for wheat and/or beans.

A survey of Kansas, Texas, and Iowa agricultural producers was taken to examine the factors affecting their grain marketing practices. Sales indices models and models of qualitative choice are used to determine whether marketers' choices of cash market, forward contract, or futures and options oriented marketing practices are significantly affected by their personal and farm business characteristics. Results indicate that geographic location, farm size, grain enterprise specialization, farming experience, use of grain storage, and use of crop insurance have significant effects upon the respondents' choice of grain marketing practices.

One source of phosphorous pollution in areas of high chicken production isrunoff from fields using fertilizer from these operations. A potentialsolution is to feed chicken high available phosphorus (HAP) corn, reducingphosphorus in manure. This study examined consumer purchase likelihood ofchickens fed HAP, created traditionally or through genetic modification, andother genetically modified (GM) corn including Bt and Roundup-ready. Surveyresults from the Delmarva Peninsula found considerable interest in non-GMHAP corn, although GM HAP corn was not typically viewed as more acceptablethan other GM varieties. Overall, the marketplace appears open to productsgeared toward environmental benefits.

Socioeconomic factors influencing consumer demand for nursery products and landscape projects were investigated using consumer survey data collected from North Carolina in 2008. Tobit models were estimated for censored dependent variables, budget expenditure shares on nursery products, and landscape spending. The most significant factors influencing the share of income spent on nursery products were age and household income. The elderly and baby boomers tend to spend less on bedding plants, perennials, and outdoor hardscapes than Generations X and Y. The income elasticities suggest that the amount spent on outdoor living projects is sensitive to changes in household income, whereas spending in vegetable plants and chemicals is less responsive to income.