C-FARE’s 2002 Symposium
“Public Information and the Food and Agricultural System”
November 6, 2002
Washington, DC
South Agriculture Building
The Council on Food, Agricultural and Resource Economics’ (C-FARE) annual symposium will focus on the importance of good data and information for valuable public and private decisions. The structural changes in agriculture and agribusiness over the last few decades have shifted data and information needs. As a result, data collection programs must be designed with various critical issues in mind.
This symposium will stimulate debate on emerging data problems. At the center of this discussion is the identification of information needs, which will lead to possible alternatives and an examination of the realities of providing information, including unintended consequences.
Moderator – Kitty Smith - ERS
8:30 – 9:30 An Overview of Public Information and the Agriculture and Food System
Richard Just - University of Maryland
This overview will focus on some of the changes in the agriculture and food sectors over the last twenty years and how these changes have influenced data collection and information needs. Well informed policy and private decisions require data and information programs designed with the critical issues facing decision makers in mind. Thus, it is important to identify critical knowledge and information gaps and concentrate on emerging data needs and alternatives for providing information.
9:30 – 10:30 How Breakthroughs in Information Systems Impact Local Decisions
Bruce Babcock - Iowa State University
Environmental and conservation programs call for clear priorities, practical goals, cost effective practices, and the ability to measure and monitor. Timely data is crucial to the successful implementation of these programs. New technology and modeling tools are helping local and state program managers achieve the economic efficiencies offered by flexible, locally managed programs. Watershed modeling is now being conducted across regions that encompass several states and thousands of watersheds to address specific environmental problems.
10:30 – 11:00 Break
11:00 – Noon Data, Structural Change, and Public Policy: The Case of Mandatory Livestock Price Reporting
Ted Schroeder - Kansas State University
The structural change occurring in many agricultural sectors in the United States is putting demands on the public and private sectors for more precise and timely data and information. As spot markets become thinner they are a less reliable indicator of the actual marginal value of the traded product. Oligopsonistic and oligopolistic industries alter data needs and reduce data availability while vertical alliances create new data needs (e.g., contract terms and pricing formulas). A recent example is the Livestock Price Reporting Act of 1999, which requires the compilation and publication of livestock prices at the processor/wholesale and retail level for representative meat products. Dr. Schroeder focuses on the challenges that the public and private sectors have faced as implementation of the Act has progressed.
Updates will also be provided on our web site at http://www.cfare.org/