Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Wheat and barley losses caused by scab epidemics in the United States during the 1990s
were estimated at close to 3 billion of US dollars (US$). American wheat farmers were
estimated to have lost over 13.6 billion tons, evaluated at about 2.5 billion US$. Economic
losses for wheat producers in Canada in the same period were estimated as 220 million US$
in Quebec and Ontario and 300 million US$ in Manitoba (Windels, 2000). In 1992, the
average wheat yields in northeastern North Dakota and northwestern Minnesota were about
3.36 t/ha. In 1993, the yields lowered respectively to 1.68 t/ha and to 2.01 t/ha and from 1994
through 1998, the yields fluctuated but always remained between 1.75 and 2.29 (Windels,
2000).
In another simulation conducted for the same period (1991-1997), Johnson et al. (1998)
measured the cumulative economic losses suffered by wheat producers in nine US states
concerning three wheat classes (soft red winter, hard red spring, and durum), taking into
account the loss of production (bushels) and changes in prices (US$/bushels). According to
the analysis, during the 1991-1997 period, wheat producers in the affected regions suffered
cumulative losses of 1.300 million US$ (61.8% hard red spring, 32.6% soft red winter, and
5.6% durum). Nganje et al. (2001) continued the analysis started by Johnson et al. for the
1998-2000 period, simulating the primary (production and prices) and secondary impact of
losses incurred in other sectors of the economy which result from subsequent rounds of
spending and re-spending within an economy. The direct combined effect of price discounts
and yield reduction from FHB were estimated at 733 US$ million, while the combined direct
and secondary losses were estimated at 2.300 US$ million. Income losses resulted in a
reduction in farm numbers: about 2000 farms were lost in North Dakota during the 1992-1996
period, versus 500 during the previous four years. The economic cost of DON in wheat and
corn was estimated in a simulation conducted by CAST (2003). In this simulation, the direct
costs for yields that did not respect U.S. food and feed crop advisory limits, the direct costs
for potential livestock losses, the costs of efforts to mitigate the contamination (dry storage,
physical separation during milling, and testing) and human health hazard were taken into
account. The simulation generated mean annual costs for DON of 637 million US$ in crop
losses (wheat and corn) and 18 million US$ in feed losses. The mean simulated annual cost of
livestock losses was about 2 million US$.
These simulation give an idea of the magnitude of the economic effects of FHB infection
and DON contamination. They refer to contamination in some U.S. regions, but infections
and contaminations have been reported in a wealth of literature from all over the world where
wheat is cultivated (Table 1). Nevertheless, in order to reduce the impact of the exclusion of
the food and feed industries for the DON contaminated wheat stocks, other industrial uses
could be considered. Mesterházy (2004) indicated three possibilities that have greater chance:
a) direct energy production, b) usage for gasoline production, c) alcohol production for
industrial use or as fuel. In this way, the utilization of contaminated grain could be a feasible
solution for the farmers who cannot sell their contaminated grain to the feed and food
markets.
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