WorldWideScience

Sample records for receive usda commodity

  1. A Descriptive Analysis of Supply Factors and Prices for USDA Foods in the National School Lunch Program

    Science.gov (United States)

    Peterson, Cora

    2010-01-01

    Purpose/Objectives: Schools that participate in the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) receive a portion of their annual federal funding as commodity entitlement foods--now called USDA Foods--rather than cash payments. Due to rising food prices in recent years, it has been recommended that schools compare the costs and benefits of commodity and…

  2. 75 FR 15403 - Information Collection, Procurement of Agricultural Commodities for Foreign Donation

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-03-29

    ... Agricultural Commodities for Foreign Donation AGENCY: Commodity Credit Corporation, USDA ACTION: Notice... commodities for foreign donation. The Kansas City Commodity Office (KCCO) issues a public invitation... Agricultural Commodities for Foreign Donation. OMB Number: 0560-0258. Expiration Date: May 31, 2010. Type of...

  3. Work Plan: Phase II Investigation at the Former CCC/USDA Grain Storage Facility in Montgomery City, Missouri

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    LaFreniere, Lorraine M [Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)

    2012-05-01

    From September 1949 until September 1966, the Commodity Credit Corporation of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (CCC/USDA) leased property at the southeastern end of Montgomery City, Missouri, for the operation of a grain storage facility. During this time, commercial grain fumigants containing carbon tetrachloride were commonly used by the CCC/USDA and the private grain storage industry to preserve grain in their facilities.

  4. Final Corrective Action Study for the Former CCC/USDA Facility in Hanover, Kansas

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    LaFreniere, Lorraine M. [Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)

    2013-11-01

    Low concentrations of carbon tetrachloride in groundwater and vapor intrusion into a limited number of residences (attributable to the contaminant concentrations in groundwater) have been identified in Hanover, Kansas, at and near a grain storage facility formerly leased and operated by the Commodity Credit Corporation of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (CCC/USDA). At the request of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE 2009h), the CCC/USDA has prepared this Corrective Action Study (CAS) for the facility. The CAS examines corrective actions to address the contamination in groundwater and soil vapor.

  5. Final work plan : investigation of potential contamination at the former USDA facility in Powhattan, Kansas.

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    LaFreniere, L. M.; Environmental Science Division

    2007-02-02

    This Work Plan outlines the scope of work to be conducted to investigate the subsurface contaminant conditions at the property formerly leased by the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) in Powhattan, Kansas (Figure 1.1). Data obtained during this event will be used to (1) evaluate potential contaminant source areas on the property; (2) determine the vertical and horizontal extent of potential contamination; and (3) provide recommendations for future action, with the ultimate goal of assigning this site No Further Action status. The planned investigation includes groundwater monitoring requested by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE), in accordance with Section V of the Intergovernmental Agreement between the KDHE and the Farm Service Agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The work is being performed on behalf of the CCC/USDA by the Environmental Science Division of Argonne National Laboratory. A nonprofit, multidisciplinary research center operated by the University of Chicago for the U.S. Department of Energy, Argonne provides technical assistance to the CCC/USDA with environmental site characterization and remediation at former CCC/USDA grain storage facilities. Argonne issued a Master Work Plan (Argonne 2002) that has been approved by the KDHE. The Master Work Plan describes the general scope of all investigations at former CCC/USDA facilities in Kansas and provides guidance for these investigations. It should be consulted for the complete details of plans for work associated with the former CCC/USDA facility at Powhattan.

  6. 7 CFR 1484.13 - What special definitions apply to the Cooperator program?

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... Marketing Programs, FAS, USDA, or designee. Division Director—the director of a commodity division... agricultural commodities or products and does not have a business interest in or receive remuneration from...

  7. Final corrective action study for the former CCC/USDA facility in Ramona, Kansas.

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    LaFreniere, L. M. (Environmental Science Division)

    2011-04-20

    Past operations at a grain storage facility formerly leased and operated by the Commodity Credit Corporation of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (CCC/USDA) in Ramona, Kansas, resulted in low concentrations of carbon tetrachloride in groundwater that slightly exceed the regulatory standard in only one location. As requested by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, the CCC/USDA has prepared a Corrective Action Study (CAS) for the facility. The CAS examines corrective actions to address groundwater impacted by the former CCC/USDA facility but not releases caused by other potential groundwater contamination sources in Ramona. Four remedial alternatives were considered in the CAS. The recommended remedial alternative in the CAS consists of Environmental Use Control to prevent the inadvertent use of groundwater as a water supply source, coupled with groundwater monitoring to verify the continued natural improvement in groundwater quality. The Commodity Credit Corporation of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (CCC/USDA) has directed Argonne National Laboratory to prepare a Corrective Action Study (CAS), consistent with guidance from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE 2001a), for the CCC/USDA grain storage facility formerly located in Ramona, Kansas. This effort is pursuant to a KDHE (2007a) request. Although carbon tetrachloride levels at the Ramona site are low, they remain above the Kansas Tier 2 risk-based screening level (RBSL) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) maximum contaminant level (MCL) of 5 {micro}g/L (Kansas 2003, 2004). In its request for the CAS, the KDHE (2007a) stated that, because of these levels, risk is associated with potential future exposure to contaminated groundwater. The KDHE therefore determined that additional measures are warranted to limit future use of the property and/or exposure to contaminated media as part of site closure. The KDHE further requested comparison of at least two corrective

  8. USDA Foreign Agricultural Service overview for operational monitoring of current crop conditions and production forecasts.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Crutchfield, J.

    2016-12-01

    The presentation will discuss the current status of the International Production Assessment Division of the USDA ForeignAgricultural Service for operational monitoring and forecasting of current crop conditions, and anticipated productionchanges to produce monthly, multi-source consensus reports on global crop conditions including the use of Earthobservations (EO) from satellite and in situ sources.United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) International Production AssessmentDivision (IPAD) deals exclusively with global crop production forecasting and agricultural analysis in support of the USDAWorld Agricultural Outlook Board (WAOB) lockup process and contributions to the World Agricultural Supply DemandEstimates (WASE) report. Analysts are responsible for discrete regions or countries and conduct in-depth long-termresearch into national agricultural statistics, farming systems, climatic, environmental, and economic factors affectingcrop production. IPAD analysts become highly valued cross-commodity specialists over time, and are routinely soughtout for specialized analyses to support governmental studies. IPAD is responsible for grain, oilseed, and cotton analysison a global basis. IPAD is unique in the tools it uses to analyze crop conditions around the world, including customweather analysis software and databases, satellite imagery and value-added image interpretation products. It alsoincorporates all traditional agricultural intelligence resources into its forecasting program, to make the fullest use ofavailable information in its operational commodity forecasts and analysis. International travel and training play animportant role in learning about foreign agricultural production systems and in developing analyst knowledge andcapabilities.

  9. Summary report on the use of irradiation as a quarantine treatment of agricultural commodities

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1985-01-01

    Considerable data are available to demonstrate that gamma irradiation is an effective quarantine treatment for papaya infested with fruit fly species found in Hawaii. These data are acceptable to the USDA-APHIS as a quarantine treatment for this commodity. However, its practical application can be realized only when FDA approves the use of irradiation, either for this purpose alone or as a process of food preservation. Additional data are needed to develop quarantine treatment schedules for irradiation of other commodities such as citrus, stone fruits, tropical fruits, etc., against these and other insect species. For this reason, a Consultant Meeting was convened at the East-West Center, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, Hawaii from 21 to 23 November, 1983, to evaluate existing data and to define future activities to establish the possible use of irradiation as an acceptable quarantine treatment

  10. Phase II Investigation at the Former CCC/USDA Grain Storage Facility in Savannah, Missouri

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    LaFreniere, Lorraine M. [Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States). Environmental Science Division. Applied Geosciences and Environmental Management Section

    2012-05-01

    From approximately 1949 until 1970, the Commodity Credit Corporation of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (CCC/USDA) operated a grain storage facility on federally owned property approximately 0.25 mi northwest of Savannah, Missouri. During this time, commercial grain fumigants containing carbon tetrachloride were commonly used by the CCC/USDA and the private grain storage industry to preserve grain in their facilities. In November 1998, carbon tetrachloride was detected in a private well (Morgan) roughly 50 ft south of the former CCC/USDA facility, as a result of statewide screening of private wells near former CCC/USDA facilities, conducted in Missouri by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA 1999). The 1998 and subsequent investigations by the EPA and the Missouri Department of Natural Resources (MDNR) confirmed the presence of carbon tetrachloride in the Morgan well, as well as in a second well on property currently owned by the Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT), directly east of the former CCC/USDA facility. The identified concentrations in these two wells were above the EPA maximum contaminant level (MCL) and the Missouri risk-based corrective action default target level (DTL) values of 5.0 μg/L for carbon tetrachloride in water used for domestic purposes (EPA 1999; MDNR 2000a,b, 2006). Because the observed contamination in the Morgan and MoDOT wells might be linked to the past use of carbon tetrachloride-based fumigants at its former grain storage facility, the CCC/USDA is conducting an investigation to (1) characterize the source(s), extent, and factors controlling the subsurface distribution and movement of carbon tetrachloride and (2) evaluate the potential risks to human health, public welfare, and the environment posed by the contamination. This work is being performed in accord with an Intergovernmental Agreement established in 2007 between the Farm Service Agency of the USDA and the MDNR, to address carbon tetrachloride

  11. Optimum commodity taxation with a non-renewable resource

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Daubanes, Julien Xavier; Lasserre, Pierre

    2017-01-01

    We examine optimum commodity taxation (OCT), including the taxation of non-renewable resources (NRRs), by a government that needs to rely on commodity taxes to raise revenues. NRRs should be taxed at higher rates than otherwise-identical conventional commodities, according to an augmented, dynamic...... formulas can directly be used to indicate how Pigovian taxation of carbon NRRs should be increased in the presence of public-revenue needs, as illustrated in a numerical example. We show that NRR substitutes and complements should receive a particular tax treatment. Finally, in a NRR-importing economy...

  12. Irradiation of ready-to-eat foods at USDA'S Eastern Regional Reasearch Center-2003 update

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sommers, Christopher; Fan, Xuetong; Niemira, Brendan; Rajkowski, Kathleen

    2004-09-01

    Ionizing radiation is a safe and effective method for eliminating bacterial pathogens from food products and disinfestation of fruits and vegetables. Since 1980 research has been conducted at USDA's Eastern Regional Research Center pertaining to the elimination of food-borne pathogens from meat, poultry, fruit and vegetable products. Recent work has focused on elimination of pathogens such as Escherichia coli O157:H7, Salmonella spp., and Listeria monocytogenes from ready-to-eat (RTE) food products including hot dogs, bologna, lettuce, cilantro, sprouts and seeds, and frozen vegetables. The ionizing radiation dose required to eliminate those pathogens from RTE foods has been found to be commodity, formulation and temperature dependent. The need to eliminate bacterial pathogens from RTE food products must always be balanced with the maintenance of product quality. In addition to determining the effective ionizing radiation doses required for pathogen elimination the effects of irradiation on product chemistry, nutritional value and organoleptic quality have also been determined. A review of the studies conducted at USDA's Eastern Regional Research Center in 2002 and 2003 is presented in this article.

  13. Irradiation of ready-to-eat foods at USDA'S Eastern Regional Reasearch Center - 2003 update

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sommers, Christopher; Fan Xuetong; Niemira, Brendan; Rajkowski, Kathleen

    2004-01-01

    Ionizing radiation is a safe and effective method for eliminating bacterial pathogens from food products and disinfestation of fruits and vegetables. Since 1980 research has been conducted at USDA's Eastern Regional Research Center pertaining to the elimination of food-borne pathogens from meat, poultry, fruit and vegetable products. Recent work has focused on elimination of pathogens such as Escherichia coli O157:H7, Salmonella spp., and Listeria monocytogenes from ready-to-eat (RTE) food products including hot dogs, bologna, lettuce, cilantro, sprouts and seeds, and frozen vegetables. The ionizing radiation dose required to eliminate those pathogens from RTE foods has been found to be commodity, formulation and temperature dependent. The need to eliminate bacterial pathogens from RTE food products must always be balanced with the maintenance of product quality. In addition to determining the effective ionizing radiation doses required for pathogen elimination the effects of irradiation on product chemistry, nutritional value and organoleptic quality have also been determined. A review of the studies conducted at USDA's Eastern Regional Research Center in 2002 and 2003 is presented in this article

  14. Technical justification for a request to reclassify the former CCC/USDA facility at Canada, Kansas.

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    LaFreniere, L. M.; Environmental Science Division

    2007-12-21

    Contamination in groundwater at Canada, Kansas, was discovered in 1997, during limited private well sampling near former grain storage facilities of the Commodity Credit Corporation, U.S. Department of Agriculture (CCC/USDA). Subsequent investigations by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) confirmed carbon tetrachloride and nitrate concentrations in groundwater above the respective maximum contaminant levels (MCLs) of 5.0 {micro}g/L and 10.0 mg/L. The KDHE investigations identified both the former CCC/USDA grain storage facility and a private grain storage facility as likely sources for the carbon tetrachloride contamination. The CCC/USDA funded extension of a rural water district line to provide a permanent alternate water supply, and the KDHE has conducted long-term monitoring under the State Water Plan. This document presents an analysis of the available information for the Canada site, acquired in previous investigations and the long-term KDHE monitoring. This analysis forms the technical justification for a request to reclassify the former CCC/USDA grain storage facility at Canada as a site requiring no further action under the Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) between the KDHE and the USDA's Farm Service Agency. The KDHE's long-term water level monitoring results indicate a consistent groundwater flow direction to the east-southeast. Consequently, the wells with the highest overall concentrations of carbon tetrachloride are downgradient from the private grain storage facility but not downgradient from the former CCC/USDA facility. The KDHE criterion for reclassification of a site is that contamination there should not pose an unacceptable risk, on the basis of analytical results for four consecutive, equally timed, sequenced sampling episodes over a period of no less than two years. In seven KDHE sampling events over a period of six years (2001-2007), the concentrations of carbon tetrachloride in the monitoring well on the former

  15. Final work plan : investigation of potential contamination at the former CCC/USDA grain storage facility in Hanover, Kansas.

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    LaFreniere, L. M.; Environmental Science Division

    2008-11-19

    The Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC), an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), operated a grain storage facility at the northeastern edge of the city of Hanover, Kansas, from 1950 until the early 1970s. During this time, commercial grain fumigants containing carbon tetrachloride were in common use by the grain storage industry to preserve grain in their facilities. In February 1998, trace to low levels of carbon tetrachloride (below the maximum contaminant level [MCL] of 5.0 {micro}g/L) were detected in two private wells near the former grain storage facility at Hanover, as part of a statewide USDA private well sampling program that was implemented by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) near former CCC/USDA facilities. In April 2007, the CCC/USDA collected near-surface soil samples at 1.8-2 ft BGL (below ground level) at 61 locations across the former CCC/USDA facility. All soil samples were analyzed by the rigorous gas chromatograph-mass spectrometer analytical method (purge-and-trap method). No contamination was found in soil samples above the reporting limit of 10 {micro}g/kg. In July 2007, the CCC/USDA sampled indoor air at nine residences on or adjacent to its former facility to address the residents concerns regarding vapor intrusion. Low levels of carbon tetrachloride were detected at four of the nine homes. Because carbon tetrachloride found in private wells and indoor air at the site might be linked to historical use of fumigants containing carbon tetrachloride at its former grain storage facility, the CCC/USDA is proposing to conduct an investigation to determine the source and extent of the carbon tetrachloride contamination associated with the former facility. This investigation will be conducted in accordance with the intergovernmental agreement between the KDHE and the Farm Service Agency (FSA) of the USDA. The investigation at Hanover will be performed, on behalf of the CCC/USDA, by the Environmental Science

  16. 7 CFR 996.21 - USDA laboratory.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) AGRICULTURAL MARKETING SERVICE (Marketing Agreements... laboratory. USDA laboratory means laboratories of the Science and Technology Programs, Agricultural Marketing Service, USDA, which chemically analyze peanuts for aflatoxin content. ...

  17. Irradiation of ready-to-eat foods at USDA'S Eastern Regional Reasearch Center - 2003 update

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sommers, Christopher; Fan Xuetong; Niemira, Brendan; Rajkowski, Kathleen

    2004-10-01

    Ionizing radiation is a safe and effective method for eliminating bacterial pathogens from food products and disinfestation of fruits and vegetables. Since 1980 research has been conducted at USDA's Eastern Regional Research Center pertaining to the elimination of food-borne pathogens from meat, poultry, fruit and vegetable products. Recent work has focused on elimination of pathogens such as Escherichia coli O157:H7, Salmonella spp., and Listeria monocytogenes from ready-to-eat (RTE) food products including hot dogs, bologna, lettuce, cilantro, sprouts and seeds, and frozen vegetables. The ionizing radiation dose required to eliminate those pathogens from RTE foods has been found to be commodity, formulation and temperature dependent. The need to eliminate bacterial pathogens from RTE food products must always be balanced with the maintenance of product quality. In addition to determining the effective ionizing radiation doses required for pathogen elimination the effects of irradiation on product chemistry, nutritional value and organoleptic quality have also been determined. A review of the studies conducted at USDA's Eastern Regional Research Center in 2002 and 2003 is presented in this article.

  18. A brief review of some pathology research supported by the Georgia Commodity Commission for Pecans at the USDA-ARS, Byron

    Science.gov (United States)

    With the changes currently taking place nationally in the pecan industry, and the production issues faced specifically by growers in Georgia and elsewhere in the southeastern region, the pathology research projects funded by the Georgia Commodity Commission for Pecans (CC) are reviewed. The results ...

  19. 7 CFR 1250.509 - USDA costs.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 10 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false USDA costs. 1250.509 Section 1250.509 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) AGRICULTURAL MARKETING SERVICE (MARKETING AGREEMENTS... Regulations General § 1250.509 USDA costs. Pursuant to § 1250.347 of the Order, the Board shall pay those...

  20. 7 CFR 1207.508 - USDA costs.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 10 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false USDA costs. 1207.508 Section 1207.508 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) AGRICULTURAL MARKETING SERVICE (MARKETING AGREEMENTS... Rules and Regulations General § 1207.508 USDA costs. Pursuant to § 1207.341 of the Plan the Board shall...

  1. Operational Use of Remote Sensing within USDA

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bethel, Glenn R.

    2007-01-01

    A viewgraph presentation of remote sensing imagery within the USDA is shown. USDA Aerial Photography, Digital Sensors, Hurricane imagery, Remote Sensing Sources, Satellites used by Foreign Agricultural Service, Landsat Acquisitions, and Aerial Acquisitions are also shown.

  2. Commodities and Stock Investment

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Syed Jawad Hussain Shahzad

    2014-09-01

    Full Text Available This study is a multivariate analysis of commodities and stock investment in a newly established market scenario. Return distribution asymmetry is examined with higher order movements. Skewness in commodity future’s return is largely insignificant, whereas kurtosis is highly significant for both stock and commodity future contracts. Correlation analysis is done with Pearson’s and Kendall’s tau measures. Commodities provide significant diversification benefits when added in a portfolio of stocks. Compared with stocks, commodity future’s returns show stronger correlation with unexpected inflation. The volatility is measured through Glosten-Jagannathan-Runkle - Generalized Autoregressive Conditional Heteroskedasticity (GJR-GARCH model and reflects that commodities have inverted asymmetric behavior, that is, more impact from the upward shocks compared with downward. Stocks have asymmetric volatility, that is, more impact from negative shocks compared with positive. Gold has highest inverted asymmetric volatility. Tail dependence, measured through Student’s t copula, shows no combined downside movement. In conclusion, commodity investments provide diversification and inflation protection.

  3. The South Florida Avocado Breeding Program at USDA-Agricultural Research Service Subtropical Horticulture Research Station (USDA-ARS SHRS)

    Science.gov (United States)

    USDA-ARS SHRS is part of the USDA National Germplasm Repository system and houses collections of tropical and subtropical fruit trees such as mango, lychee, and avocado. In addition to maintaining the germplasm collections, our mission is to also identify genetic diversity in the collections, to ev...

  4. 7 CFR 996.22 - USDA-approved laboratory.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ..., Agricultural Marketing Service, USDA, that chemically analyze peanuts for aflatoxin content. Quality and... 7 Agriculture 8 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false USDA-approved laboratory. 996.22 Section 996.22 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) AGRICULTURAL MARKETING SERVICE (Marketing...

  5. Understanding international commodity price fluctuations

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Arezki, Rabah; Loungani, Prakash; van der Ploeg, Rick; Venables, Anthony J.

    An overview is provided of recent work on commodity prices, focusing on three themes: (i) "financialization" of commodity markets--commodities being considered by financial investors as a distinct asset class, (ii) trends and forecasts of commodity prices, and (iii) fracking-a shorthand for the

  6. Financialization of commodities

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Michał Falkowski

    2011-12-01

    Full Text Available The basic theory of price formation tells us how the price of a particular asset will change based on the adjustment to its supply and demand. However, values of assets are also determined by other business fundamentals, company’s and world events, human psychology, and investors’ belief about the possible future profit. In recent history that lead to an increase of individual and institutional investors’ interest in allocating their resources in commodity markets. With a large inflow of capital commodities’ prices started to rise making them attractive components to effective investment portfolios. The presented paper addresses the issue of so called commodities ‘financialization’ process. It looks at the main factors standing behind commodities’ price movements and to what extent financial market participants contributed to commodities price volatility in recent years. Based on the data examined it distinguishes the involvement of both commercial and non-commercial traders in short and long term periods of time. As well as explaining the impact of growing investors’ interest in commodity markets it defines other market forces - like currency appreciations and emerging markets - as being part of increased volatility in raw and soft commodity markets. Along with market examination the paper focuses on possible future outcomes in attempts to regulate commodities derivatives markets and potential effects of those efforts.

  7. Final work plan : supplemental upward vapor intrusion investigation at the former CCC/USDA grain storage facility in Hanover, Kansas.

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    LaFreniere, L. M.; Environmental Science Division

    2008-12-15

    The Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC), an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), operated a grain storage facility at the northeastern edge of the city of Hanover, Kansas, from 1950 until the early 1970s. During this time, commercial grain fumigants containing carbon tetrachloride were in common use by the grain storage industry to preserve grain in their facilities. In February 1998, trace to low levels of carbon tetrachloride (below the maximum contaminant level [MCL] of 5.0 {micro}g/L) were detected in two private wells near the former grain storage facility at Hanover, as part of a statewide USDA private well sampling program that was implemented by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) near former CCC/USDA facilities. In 2007, the CCC/USDA conducted near-surface soil sampling at 61 locations and also sampled indoor air at nine residences on or adjacent to its former Hanover facility to address the residents concerns regarding vapor intrusion. Low levels of carbon tetrachloride were detected at four of the nine homes. The results were submitted to the KDHE in October 2007 (Argonne 2007). On the basis of the results, the KDHE requested sub-slab sampling and/or indoor air sampling (KDHE 2007). This Work Plan describes, in detail, the proposed additional scope of work requested by the KDHE and has been developed as a supplement to the comprehensive site investigation work plan that is pending (Argonne 2008). Indoor air samples collected previously from four homes at Hanover were shown to contain the carbon tetrachloride at low concentrations (Table 2.1). It cannot be concluded from these previous data that the source of the detected carbon tetrachloride is vapor intrusion attributable to former grain storage operations of the CCC/USDA at Hanover. The technical objective of the vapor intrusion investigation described here is to assess the risk to human health due to the potential for upward migration of carbon tetrachloride and

  8. 78 FR 68018 - Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-11-13

    ...) Whether the collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the... information collections are best assured of having their full effect if received by December 13, 2013. Copies... commodities. The information is used only by the authorized committees employees and representatives of USDA...

  9. 7 CFR 46.18 - Record of produce received.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ..., Inspections, Marketing Practices), DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE MARKETING OF PERISHABLE AGRICULTURAL COMMODITIES REGULATIONS (OTHER THAN RULES OF PRACTICE) UNDER THE PERISHABLE AGRICULTURAL COMMODITIES ACT, 1930 Records of... a record of all produce received and this record shall be in the form of a book (preferably a bound...

  10. COMMODITY MARKET MATH MODELS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Boris V. Mednikov

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available The article describes enterprise mathmodels, its interactions with environment in commodity market and quantitativeconditions for its success and the crisis in such kind of interaction. Showed: the number of commodity market successfulparticipants should be certain, regardless of market size; any size commodity market, including monopolistic, is assuccessful as producers’ average activity dynamics is balanced with consumers’average activity dynamics.

  11. Commodities, energy and environmental finance

    CERN Document Server

    Ludkovski, Michael; Sircar, Ronnie

    2015-01-01

    This volume is a collection of chapters covering the latest developments in applications of financial mathematics and statistics to topics in energy, commodity financial markets and environmental economics. The research presented is based on the presentations and discussions that took place during the Fields Institute Focus Program on Commodities, Energy and Environmental Finance in August 2013. The authors include applied mathematicians, economists and industry practitioners, providing for a multi-disciplinary spectrum of perspectives on the subject. The volume consists of four sections: Electricity Markets; Real Options; Trading in Commodity Markets; and Oligopolistic Models for Energy Production. Taken together, the chapters give a comprehensive summary of the current state of the art in quantitative analysis of commodities and energy finance. The topics covered include structural models of electricity markets, financialization of commodities, valuation of commodity real options, game-theory analysis of ...

  12. USDA soil classification system dictates site surface management

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bowmer, W.J.

    1985-01-01

    Success or failure of site surface management practices greatly affects long-term site stability. The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) soil classification system best documents those parameters which control the success of installed practices for managing both erosion and surface drainage. The USDA system concentrates on soil characteristics in the upper three meters of the surface that support the associated flora both physically and physiologically. The USDA soil survey first identifies soil series based on detailed characteristics that are related to production potential. Using the production potential, land use capability classes are developed. Capability classes reveal the highest and best agronomic use for the site. Lower number classes are considered arable while higher number classes are best suited for grazing agriculture. Application of ecological principles based on the USDA soil survey reveals the current state of the site relative to its ecological potential. To assure success, site management practices must be chosen that are compatible with both production capability and current state of the site

  13. 7 CFR 170.4 - Who may participate in the USDA Farmers Market?

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 3 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Who may participate in the USDA Farmers Market? 170.4... MARKETING PRACTICES UNDER THE AGRICULTURAL MARKETING ACT OF 1946 USDA FARMERS MARKET § 170.4 Who may participate in the USDA Farmers Market? Members of three groups may participate in the USDA Farmers Markets...

  14. 7 CFR 250.57 - Commodity schools.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 4 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Commodity schools. 250.57 Section 250.57 Agriculture... TERRITORIES AND POSSESSIONS AND AREAS UNDER ITS JURISDICTION National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and Other Child Nutrition Programs § 250.57 Commodity schools. (a) Categorization of commodity schools. Commodity...

  15. UNCTAD commodity yearbook 1990

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1990-01-01

    The Commodity Yearbook is intended to provide disaggregated data at the world, regional and country levels for trade and consumption in selected agricultural primary commodities and minerals, ores and metals. Production series have been included for the latter group of commodities, since comprehensive diaggregated data are unavailable elsewhere. Basic tables have been designed, from both the commodity and the country point of view, to serve as background material to international commodity discussions and negotiations in the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development. The classification of countries and territories by region has been adopted for statistical convenience only, and follows that employed by the Statistical Office of the United Nations. Four main regions are defined: Developed market economy countries, Countries of Eastern Europe, Socialist countries of Asia and Developing countries and territories. For developed and developing countries and territories, the main regions have been further subdivided (e.g., EEC, EFTA, Africa, etc.) to provide additional information. The exact composition of each region is shown in section V of the general notes

  16. Final work plan : Phase I investigation of potential contamination at the former CCC/USDA grain storage facility in Savannah, Missouri.

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    LaFreniere, L. M.; Environmental Science Division

    2007-10-12

    From approximately 1949 until 1970, the Commodity Credit Corporation of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (CCC/USDA) operated a grain storage facility on federally owned property approximately 0.25 mi northwest of Savannah, Missouri. During this time, commercial grain fumigants containing carbon tetrachloride were commonly used by the CCC/USDA and the private grain storage industry to preserve grain in their facilities. In November 1998, carbon tetrachloride was detected in a private well (Morgan) roughly 50 ft south of the former CCC/USDA facility, as a result of state-wide screening of private wells near former CCC/USDA facilities, conducted in Missouri by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA 1999). The 1998 and subsequent investigations by the EPA and the Missouri Department of Natural Resources (MoDNR) confirmed the presence of carbon tetrachloride in the Morgan well, as well as in a second well (on property currently occupied by the Missouri Department of Transportation [MoDOT]), approximately 400 ft east of the former CCC/USDA facility. Carbon tetrachloride concentrations in the Morgan well have ranged from the initial value of 29 {micro}g/L in 1998, up to a maximum of 61 {micro}g/L in 1999, and back down to 22 {micro}g/L in 2005. The carbon tetrachloride concentration in the MoDOT well in 2000 (the only time it was sampled) was 321 {micro}g/L. The concentrations for the two wells are above the EPA maximum contaminant level (MCL) of 5 {micro}g/L for carbon tetrachloride (EPA 1999; MoDNR 2000a,b). Because the observed contamination in the Morgan and MoDOT wells might be linked to the past use of carbon tetrachloride-based grain fumigants at its former grain storage facility, the CCC/USDA will conduct investigations to (1) characterize the source(s), extent, and factors controlling the subsurface distribution and movement of carbon tetrachloride at Savannah and (2) evaluate the health and environmental threats potentially posed by the contamination

  17. 29 CFR 780.114 - Wild commodities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... Agricultural Or Horticultural Commodities § 780.114 Wild commodities. Employees engaged in the gathering or harvesting of wild commodities such as mosses, wild rice, burls and laurel plants, the trapping of wild... 29 Labor 3 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Wild commodities. 780.114 Section 780.114 Labor Regulations...

  18. Cross-commodity hedges

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Simard, T.

    1999-01-01

    Energy risk management is the principal topic of this paper. Four major subjects are examined: cross-commodity trading objectives (reduce the risk of an underlying exposure in another commodity); portfolio risk reduction (an Alberta power distributor exposed to high pool prices could protect against high pool prices through a fixed price purchase of Alberta natural gas); tailoring pricing to customer needs (sell power to the gas producer indexed to the price of gas); and (4) reducing insurance costs (rather than purchasing downside protection (puts) individually against oil and gas prices, a producer could purchase a basket option). Since the key issue in cross-commodity transactions is the estimation of correlation, it is important to be prepared to alter correlation assumptions. 1 tab., 2 figs

  19. Space and commodity-based society

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gvozden Vladimir

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available The space is privileged in the commodity-based society. It is well known that the economic space in the 19th and 20th centuries rapidly managed to subordinate all other areas 'conveying and instilling in them their own meanings and goals' (G. Milatović. A new form of space that qualifies commodity society was created, marked by dualities: openness-closeness, private-public, sameness-difference. This paper is an attempt to criticize the usual analysis of the categories of commodity-space, linked to the ambivalent role of the state as a guarantor of the functioning of the commodity-based society, as well as its controlling instance. The increasing delocalisation of the political changes the nature of the space in the commodity-based society. Privileged areas are produced that create an illusion of protection of consumers (shopping malls, gated communities, theme parks, video surveillance, while at the same time social differentiation and identification are produced through the symbolic order of commodities and a sense of inclusion or exclusion from that order. At the same time, the examples of tourism and selling places demonstrate that such a commodity-space unusually easy reconciles sameness and difference. It entails uniformity to help achieve the fluctuation of goods, while insisting on the local as different, especially in terms of the role of particularity in the global trade.

  20. 7 CFR 1962.19 - Claims against Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC).

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... sell or pledge to CCC as loan collateral under the Price Support Program, commodities on which FmHA or... County Supervisor will make immediate demand on the borrower for the amount of the CCC loan or the... CCC. (2) On receiving information from the State Director that CCC has called the borrower's loan, the...

  1. Founding Digital Currency on Imprecise Commodity

    OpenAIRE

    Yuan, Zimu; Xu, Zhiwei

    2015-01-01

    Current digital currency schemes provide instantaneous exchange on precise commodity, in which "precise" means a buyer can possibly verify the function of the commodity without error. However, imprecise commodities, e.g. statistical data, with error existing are abundant in digital world. Existing digital currency schemes do not offer a mechanism to help the buyer for payment decision on precision of commodity, which may lead the buyer to a dilemma between having to buy and being unconfident....

  2. Final work plan : phase I investigation of potential contamination at the former CCC/USDA grain storage facility in Montgomery City, Missouri.

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    LaFreniere, L. M.; Environmental Science Division

    2010-08-16

    From September 1949 until September 1966, the Commodity Credit Corporation of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (CCC/USDA) leased property at the southeastern end of Montgomery City, Missouri, for the operation of a grain storage facility. During this time, commercial grain fumigants containing carbon tetrachloride were commonly used by the CCC/USDA and the private grain storage industry to preserve grain in their facilities. In January 2000, carbon tetrachloride was detected in a soil sample (220 {micro}g/kg) and two soil gas samples (58 {micro}g/m{sup 3} and 550 {micro}g/m{sup 3}) collected at the former CCC/USDA facility, as a result of a pre-CERCLIS site screening investigation (SSI) performed by TN & Associates, Inc., on behalf of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Region VII (MoDNR 2001). In June 2001, the Missouri Department of Natural Resources (MoDNR) conducted further sampling of the soils and groundwater at the former CCC/USDA facility as part of a preliminary assessment/site inspection (PA/SI). The MoDNR confirmed the presence of carbon tetrachloride (at a maximum identified concentration of 2,810 {micro}g/kg) and chloroform (maximum 82 {micro}g/kg) in the soils and also detected carbon tetrachloride and chloroform (42.2 {micro}g/L and 58.4 {micro}g/L, respectively) in a groundwater sample collected at the former facility (MoDNR 2001). The carbon tetrachloride levels identified in the soils and groundwater are above the default target level (DTL) values established by the MoDNR for this contaminant in soils of all types (79.6 {micro}g/kg) and in groundwater (5.0 {micro}g/L), as outlined in Missouri Risk-Based Corrective Action (MRBCA): Departmental Technical Guidance (MoDNR 2006a). The corresponding MRBCA DTL values for chloroform are 76.6 {micro}g/kg in soils of all types and 80 {micro}g/L in groundwater. Because the observed contamination at Montgomery City might be linked to the past use of carbon tetrachloride-based fumigants at its

  3. Rifkin takes aim at USDA animal research.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fox, Jeffrey L

    1984-10-19

    Jeremy Rifkin has filed a lawsuit to block U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) experiments involving the transfer of human growth hormone genes into sheep and pigs, which he rejects on environmental, economic, and ethical grounds. His real target is the Department's animal breeding program; his ultimate aim is "to establish the principle that there should be no crossing of species barriers in animals." USDA officials have not yet responded to the lawsuit but they intend to continue the experiments, which they consider crucial to the progress of research, until told to stop.

  4. Emergence of Commodity Derivatives as Defensive Instrument in Portfolio Risk Hedging: A Case of Indian Commodity Markets

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Singhal Shelly

    2017-04-01

    Full Text Available This paper empirically examines whether commodity derivatives can be used as an alternative investment asset in India where commodity markets are at emerging state and provides the same diversification benefit as they provide in developed commodity markets. In India only commodity futures are prevalent so various commodity indices representing various sectors has been used in the study. Diversification aspect of commodity derivatives has been tested initially by using correlation analysis. Compounded Daily Growth rate and Relative Standard deviation has been used as a measure of calculating risk and return of daily data of SENSEX, BOND and four Commodity Indices (MCX Comdex, MCX AGRI, MCX Metal, MCX Energy. Markowitz Efficient Frontier theory has been used to calculate portfolio risk return and Sharpe risk adjusted ratio has been used to evaluate the various portfolios. Optimal portfolio has been obtained for the combination of equity, bond and commodity and overall results of the study indicate that an investor who is risk averse will prefer to invest in combination of SENSEX, BOND & MCX Energy whereas an investor who gets utility by taking more risk for more returns will prefer to invest in combination of SENSEX, BOND & MCX Metal. Investor having inclination towards moderate risk return would tend to invest in MCX AGRI along with SENSEX and BOND.

  5. 17 CFR 33.3 - Unlawful commodity option transactions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... 17 Commodity and Securities Exchanges 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Unlawful commodity option... REGULATION OF DOMESTIC EXCHANGE-TRADED COMMODITY OPTION TRANSACTIONS § 33.3 Unlawful commodity option... of, or maintain a position in, any commodity option transaction subject to the provisions of this...

  6. USDA snack food and beverage standards: how big of a stretch for the states?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chriqui, Jamie F; Piekarz, Elizabeth; Chaloupka, Frank J

    2014-06-01

    The USDA snack food and beverage standards take effect in school year (SY) 2014-2015. Although the USDA standards will provide nationwide requirements, concerns exist about compliance. This study examined whether existing state laws are aligned with the USDA standards to determine whether some states may be better positioned to facilitate compliance. Codified state statutory and regulatory laws effective for SY 2012-2013 for each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia were identified through Boolean keyword searches using the Westlaw and LexisNexis databases. Laws were analyzed for alignment with 18 snack food and beverage provisions contained within the USDA standards. Thirty-eight states had snack food and beverage standards; 33 states' laws exceeded restrictions on foods of minimal nutritional value. Of the 33 states, no states' laws fully met the USDA's standards, 16 states' laws fully met and 10 states' laws partially met at least one USDA provision, and seven states' laws met no USDA provisions. One state's law met 9 of 18 provisions. On average, states met 4 of 18 provisions. States were more likely to meet individual USDA beverage than snack provisions. Implementation and compliance with the USDA standards may be facilitated in states with laws already containing provisions aligned with the USDA standards and may be more difficult in states with fewer or no provisions in alignment, suggesting possible geographic areas for the USDA to target with technical assistance and training efforts and for advocates to work in to facilitate compliance.

  7. Strategic contracting practices to improve procurement of health commodities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Arney, Leslie; Yadav, Prashant; Miller, Roger; Wilkerson, Taylor

    2014-08-01

    Public-sector entities responsible for procurement of essential medicines and health commodities in developing countries often lack the technical capacity to efficiently ensure supply security. Under strict public scrutiny and pressures to be transparent, many agencies continue to use archaic procurement methods and to depend on inflexible forecasts and cumbersome tendering processes. On the basis of semi-structured literature reviews and interviews, we identified framework agreements as a strategic procurement practice used by the U.S. federal government that may also be suitable for global health supply chains. Framework agreements are long-term contracts that provide the terms and conditions under which smaller repeat purchasing orders may be issued for a defined period of time. Such agreements are common in U.S. and United Nations procurement systems and in other developed countries and multilateral organizations. In contrast, framework agreements appear to be seldom used in procurement of health commodities in countries of sub-Saharan Africa. The current practice of floating tenders multiple times a year contributes to long lead times and stock-outs, and it hampers the manufacturer's or supplier's ability to plan and respond to the government's needs. To date, government's use of strategic contracting practices in public procurement of health commodities has not received much attention in most developing countries. It may present an opportunity for substantial improvements in procurement efficiency and commodity availability. Enabling legislation and strengthened technical capacity to develop and manage long-term contracts could facilitate the use of framework contracts in sub-Saharan Africa, with improved supply security and cost savings likely to result.

  8. The Australian Dollar's Long-Term Fluctuations and Trend: The Commodity Prices-cum-Economic Cycles Hypothesis

    OpenAIRE

    Sanidas, Elias

    2005-01-01

    The Australian dollar’s exchange rate (mainly in relation to the American dollar) has received a considerable attention in research and several models have been proposed to explain its trend and fluctuations. Thus, as a conclusion of this research we can say that this commodity currency very much depends on the terms of trade which in turn depend on commodity prices. The present paper is based on this conclusion and hence proposes the possibility that the Australian dollar’s behavior is overw...

  9. USDA-EPA Collaborative Ammonia Research

    Science.gov (United States)

    In 2014, a work group was formed between USDA and EPA to facilitate information exchange on ammonia emissions from agriculture, air quality impacts and emission mitigation options and to identify opportunities for collaboration. This document provides background on the work grou...

  10. USDA-ARS extension activities in medical, veterinary and urban entomology

    Science.gov (United States)

    Within the USDA Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS), National Program 104 conducts research on veterinary, medical, and urban entomology. The goal of this program is to develop more effective methods of preventing or suppressing insects, ticks, and mites that affect animal and human well-being....

  11. Mineral Commodity Summaries 2009

    Science.gov (United States)

    ,

    2009-01-01

    Each chapter of the 2009 edition of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Mineral Commodity Summaries (MCS) includes information on events, trends, and issues for each mineral commodity as well as discussions and tabular presentations on domestic industry structure, Government programs, tariffs, 5-year salient statistics, and world production and resources. The MCS is the earliest comprehensive source of 2008 mineral production data for the world. More than 90 individual minerals and materials are covered by two-page synopses. For mineral commodities for which there is a Government stockpile, detailed information concerning the stockpile status is included in the two-page synopsis. Because specific information concerning committed inventory was no longer available from the Defense Logistics Agency, National Defense Stockpile Center, that information, which was included in earlier Mineral Commodity Summaries publications, has been deleted from Mineral Commodity Summaries 2009. National reserves and reserve base information for most mineral commodities found in this report, including those for the United States, are derived from a variety of sources. The ideal source of such information would be comprehensive evaluations that apply the same criteria to deposits in different geographic areas and report the results by country. In the absence of such evaluations, national reserves and reserve base estimates compiled by countries for selected mineral commodities are a primary source of national reserves and reserve base information. Lacking national assessment information by governments, sources such as academic articles, company reports, common business practice, presentations by company representatives, and trade journal articles, or a combination of these, serve as the basis for national reserves and reserve base information reported in the mineral commodity sections of this publication. A national estimate may be assembled from the following: historically reported

  12. A Comparative Cost Analysis of Commodity Foods from the U. S. Department of Agriculture in the National School Lunch Program

    Science.gov (United States)

    Peterson, Cora

    2009-01-01

    Schools that participate in the National School Lunch Program receive a portion of their federal funding as commodity foods rather than cash payments. This research compared the product costs and estimated total procurement costs of commodity and commercial foods from the school district perspective using data from 579 Minnesota ordering sites in…

  13. Factor Structure in Commodity Futures Return and Volatility

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Christoffersen, Peter; Lunde, Asger; Olesen, Kasper Vinther

    Using data on more than 750 million futures trades during 2004-2013, we analyze eight stylized facts of commodity price and volatility dynamics in the post financialization period. We pay particular attention to the factor structure in returns and volatility and to commodity market integration...... with the equity market. We find evidence of a factor structure in daily commodity futures returns. However, the factor structure in daily commodity futures volatility is even stronger than in returns. When computing model-free realized commodity betas with the stock market we find that they were high during 2008......-2010 but have since returned to the pre-crisis level close to zero. The common factor in commodity volatility is nevertheless clearly related to stock market volatility. We conclude that, while commodity markets appear to again be segmented from the equity market when only returns are considered, commodity...

  14. Final work plan : indoor air and ambient air sampling near the former CCC/USDA grain storage facility in Everest, Kansas.

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    LaFreniere, L. M. (Environmental Science Division)

    2010-05-24

    The Commodity Credit Corporation of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (CCC/USDA) operated a grain storage facility at the western edge of Everest, Kansas, from the early 1950s to the early 1970s. Sampling by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) in 1997 resulted in the detection of carbon tetrachloride in one domestic well (the Nigh well) northwest of the former facility. On behalf of the CCC/USDA, Argonne National Laboratory subsequently conducted a series of investigations to characterize the contamination (Argonne 2003, 2006a,b,c). Automatic, continuous monitoring of groundwater levels began in 2002 and is ongoing at six locations. The results have consistently indicated groundwater flow toward the north-northwest from the former CCC/USDA property to the Nigh property, then west-southwest from the Nigh property to the intermittent creek. Sitewide periodic groundwater and surface water sampling with analysis for volatile organic compounds (VOCs) began in 2008. Argonne's combined data indicate no significant downgradient extension of contamination since 2000. At present, the sampling is annual, as approved by the KDHE (2009) in response to a plan developed for the CCC/USDA (Argonne 2009). This document presents a plan for collecting indoor air samples in homes located along and adjacent to the defined extent of the carbon tetrachloride contamination. The plan was requested by the KDHE. Ambient air samples to represent the conditions along this pathway will also be taken. The purpose of the proposed work is to satisfy KDHE requirements and to collect additional data for assessing the risk to human health due to the potential upward migration of carbon tetrachloride and its primary degradation product (chloroform) into homes located in close proximity to the former grain storage facility, as well as along and within 100 ft laterally from the currently defined plume emanating from the former Everest facility. Investigation of the indoor air

  15. The Principles and the Specifics of Trading in Commodities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baran, Dušan; Herbacsková, Anita

    2012-12-01

    In the present period of instability on financial markets, investments in commodities are the solution for elimination of the consequences of inflation and ensure the yield. When investing in commodities, the use of specifics of commodities compared to other assets. The distribution of commodities we can interpret for agricultural commodities, commodities of energy, precious and other metals, and weather. Therefore, in the framework of the investment portfolio are the commodities. This is the reason why one of the most popular types of investment assets now become commodities. In the interpretation of particular commodities we talk about commodity futures. The reason is that the spot market with commodities is limited storage facilities. The growth of the popularity, which allows a wide range of commodities, has caused that in addition to from institutional investors and speculators for trade may involve even small investors. This development will be supplemented by interpretation of the charts and figers, which will be commented and used for generalization of knowledge. Finally, the article will be interpreted by the further development of the market for commodities as it by article assumes from the results of research.

  16. Multiple commodities in statistical microeconomics: Model and market

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baaquie, Belal E.; Yu, Miao; Du, Xin

    2016-11-01

    A statistical generalization of microeconomics has been made in Baaquie (2013). In Baaquie et al. (2015), the market behavior of single commodities was analyzed and it was shown that market data provides strong support for the statistical microeconomic description of commodity prices. The case of multiple commodities is studied and a parsimonious generalization of the single commodity model is made for the multiple commodities case. Market data shows that the generalization can accurately model the simultaneous correlation functions of up to four commodities. To accurately model five or more commodities, further terms have to be included in the model. This study shows that the statistical microeconomics approach is a comprehensive and complete formulation of microeconomics, and which is independent to the mainstream formulation of microeconomics.

  17. Dual-component video image analysis system (VIASCAN) as a predictor of beef carcass red meat yield percentage and for augmenting application of USDA yield grades.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cannell, R C; Tatum, J D; Belk, K E; Wise, J W; Clayton, R P; Smith, G C

    1999-11-01

    An improved ability to quantify differences in the fabrication yields of beef carcasses would facilitate the application of value-based marketing. This study was conducted to evaluate the ability of the Dual-Component Australian VIASCAN to 1) predict fabricated beef subprimal yields as a percentage of carcass weight at each of three fat-trim levels and 2) augment USDA yield grading, thereby improving accuracy of grade placement. Steer and heifer carcasses (n = 240) were evaluated using VIASCAN, as well as by USDA expert and online graders, before fabrication of carcasses to each of three fat-trim levels. Expert yield grade (YG), online YG, VIASCAN estimates, and VIASCAN estimated ribeye area used to augment actual and expert grader estimates of the remaining YG factors (adjusted fat thickness, percentage of kidney-pelvic-heart fat, and hot carcass weight), respectively, 1) accounted for 51, 37, 46, and 55% of the variation in fabricated yields of commodity-trimmed subprimals, 2) accounted for 74, 54, 66, and 75% of the variation in fabricated yields of closely trimmed subprimals, and 3) accounted for 74, 54, 71, and 75% of the variation in fabricated yields of very closely trimmed subprimals. The VIASCAN system predicted fabrication yields more accurately than current online yield grading and, when certain VIASCAN-measured traits were combined with some USDA yield grade factors in an augmentation system, the accuracy of cutability prediction was improved, at packing plant line speeds, to a level matching that of expert graders applying grades at a comfortable rate.

  18. 17 CFR 37.3 - Requirements for underlying commodities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... that are a security futures product, and the registered derivatives transaction execution facility is a... 17 Commodity and Securities Exchanges 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Requirements for underlying commodities. 37.3 Section 37.3 Commodity and Securities Exchanges COMMODITY FUTURES TRADING COMMISSION...

  19. 7 CFR 1421.110 - Commodity certificate exchanges.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... commodity certificate for the marketing assistance loan collateral. (b) The exchange rate is the lesser of... assistance loan collateral. (3) Immediately exchanging the purchased commodity certificate for the outstanding loan collateral. (e) The authority to make commodity certificates available to the producer will...

  20. The Creation and Role of the USDA Biomass Research Centers

    Science.gov (United States)

    William F. Anderson; Jeffery Steiner; Randy Raper; Ken Vogel; Terry Coffelt; Brenton Sharratt; Bob Rummer; Robert L. Deal; Alan Rudie

    2011-01-01

    The Five USDA Biomass Research Centers were created to facilitate coordinated research to enhance the establishment of a sustainable feedstock production for bio-based renewable energy in the United States. Scientists and staff of the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) and Forest Service (FS) within USDA collaborate with other federal agencies, universities and...

  1. 7 CFR 900.26 - Requesting USDA data for use at an amendatory hearing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... Marketing Agreements and Marketing Orders § 900.26 Requesting USDA data for use at an amendatory hearing. Requests for preparation of USDA data to be used at a Federal milk marketing agreement or order amendatory... 7 Agriculture 8 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Requesting USDA data for use at an amendatory hearing...

  2. 17 CFR 32.3 - Unlawful commodity option transactions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... 17 Commodity and Securities Exchanges 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Unlawful commodity option... REGULATION OF COMMODITY OPTION TRANSACTIONS § 32.3 Unlawful commodity option transactions. (a) On and after... extend credit in lieu thereof) from an option customer as payment of the purchase price in connection...

  3. 17 CFR 31.6 - Registration of leverage commodities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... taking delivery to buy or sell the leverage commodity; (2) Explain the effect of such changes upon the... 17 Commodity and Securities Exchanges 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Registration of leverage... LEVERAGE TRANSACTIONS § 31.6 Registration of leverage commodities. (a) Registration of leverage commodities...

  4. 7 CFR 170.2 - Is the USDA Farmers Market a producer-only market?

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 3 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Is the USDA Farmers Market a producer-only market? 170...) MISCELLANEOUS MARKETING PRACTICES UNDER THE AGRICULTURAL MARKETING ACT OF 1946 USDA FARMERS MARKET § 170.2 Is the USDA Farmers Market a producer-only market? Yes. A producer-only market is one that does not offer...

  5. 17 CFR 32.11 - Suspension of commodity option transactions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... 17 Commodity and Securities Exchanges 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Suspension of commodity option... REGULATION OF COMMODITY OPTION TRANSACTIONS § 32.11 Suspension of commodity option transactions. (a... accept money, securities or property in connection with, the purchase or sale of any commodity option, or...

  6. USDA-ASCS 1936-1939 Air Photos

    Data.gov (United States)

    Minnesota Department of Natural Resources — This data set is a digital version of aerial photographs taken during the 1936-1939 time frame for the USDA-ASCS. These photos were originally recorded at a scale of...

  7. KDHE Project Code: C6-074-00002: Progress and Monitoring Report for the LDB/SVE/AS System at the Former CCC/USDA Grain Storage Facility, Agra, Kansas, in July-December 2015

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    LaFreniere, Lorraine M. [Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)

    2016-02-01

    The Commodity Credit Corporation of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (CCC/USDA) operated a grain storage facility at Agra, Kansas, from the 1950s to the early 1970s. No structures remain on the property, and the land is used for agricultural purposes, specifically wheat production. The property is currently owned by the Kyle Railroad Co. and is leased to Mr. Herb VanEaton. The Pro-Ag Marketing grain storage facility is directly south of the former CCC/USDA facility. Quarterly progress reports for October-December 2008, January-March 2009, and April- June 2009 (Argonne 2009a,b,c) provided detailed information regarding construction and startup of the cleanup. Previous periodic monitoring reports (Argonne 2010a,b,c,d, 2011a,b,c, 2012, 2013a,b,c, 2014a,b) have tracked the subsequent progress of the cleanup effort. Data for evaluation of system performance are collected primarily by sampling SVE effluents, soil gas monitoring points, and groundwater wells for analysis for volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Table 1.1 provides a detailed chronological summary of activities during implementation of the cleanup.

  8. 7 CFR 900.40 - Written testimony and USDA data request requirements.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... and Nut Marketing Agreements and Marketing Orders § 900.40 Written testimony and USDA data request... 7 Agriculture 8 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Written testimony and USDA data request requirements...) AGRICULTURAL MARKETING SERVICE (Marketing Agreements and Orders; Fruits, Vegetables, Nuts), DEPARTMENT OF...

  9. The Reform and Design of Commodity Taxes in the Presence of Tax Evasion with Illustrative Evidence from India

    OpenAIRE

    Ray, R.

    1994-01-01

    The literature on tax evasion and its implication for optimal tax theory has concentrated on income tax evasion. The issue of commodity tax evasion has received relatively little attention even though it is important in many cases, especially in developing countries. This paper proposes a theory of marginal reform of indirect taxes that recognises the presence of commodity tax evasion. Illustrative evidence from Indian data confirm the sensitivity of the Pareto improving direction of marginal...

  10. Mineral commodity summaries 2015

    Science.gov (United States)

    ,

    2015-01-01

    Each chapter of the 2015 edition of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Mineral Commodity Summaries (MCS) includes information on events, trends, and issues for each mineral commodity as well as discussions and tabular presentations on domestic industry structure, Government programs, tariffs, 5-year salient statistics, and world production and resources. The MCS is the earliest comprehensive source of 2014 mineral production data for the world. More than 90 individual minerals and materials are covered by two-page synopses.

  11. 49 CFR 1248.1 - Freight commodity statistics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... 49 Transportation 9 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Freight commodity statistics. 1248.1 Section 1248... STATISTICS § 1248.1 Freight commodity statistics. All class I railroads, as described in § 1240.1 of this... statistics on the basis of the commodity codes named in § 1248.101. Carriers shall report quarterly on the...

  12. Joint USDA/DOE meeting

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    1994-07-01

    This documents contains the details from the USDA/USDOE meeting on April 11--12, 1994. Topics discussed include: genetic research, environmental research, renewable energy sources, food supply, improved fertilizers, new pesticides, research programs combining the efforts of the two agencies to develop new products for use in the agriculture industry, environmentally safe products, getting more with less money, and various other subjects dealing with how cooperation among these agencies can improve the agriculture industry.

  13. 1993 commodity flow survey : state summaries

    Science.gov (United States)

    1997-06-01

    This report summarizes the Commodity Flow Survey (CFS) state reports released between February 1996 and July 1996 by the Bureau of the Census and the 1993 Commodity Flow Survey: Preliminary Observations by the Bureau of Transportation Statistics. Inf...

  14. How market structure drives commodity prices

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Bin; Wong, K. Y. Michael; Chan, Amos H. M.; So, Tsz Yan; Heimonen, Hermanni; Wei, Junyi; Saad, David

    2017-11-01

    We introduce an agent-based model, in which agents set their prices to maximize profit. At steady state the market self-organizes into three groups: excess producers, consumers and balanced agents, with prices determined by their own resource level and a couple of macroscopic parameters that emerge naturally from the analysis, akin to mean-field parameters in statistical mechanics. When resources are scarce prices rise sharply below a turning point that marks the disappearance of excess producers. To compare the model with real empirical data, we study the relationship between commodity prices and stock-to-use ratios in a range of commodities such as agricultural products and metals. By introducing an elasticity parameter to mitigate noise and long-term changes in commodities data, we confirm the trend of rising prices, provide evidence for turning points, and indicate yield points for less essential commodities.

  15. Multinetwork of international trade: A commodity-specific analysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barigozzi, Matteo; Fagiolo, Giorgio; Garlaschelli, Diego

    2010-04-01

    We study the topological properties of the multinetwork of commodity-specific trade relations among world countries over the 1992-2003 period, comparing them with those of the aggregate-trade network, known in the literature as the international-trade network (ITN). We show that link-weight distributions of commodity-specific networks are extremely heterogeneous and (quasi) log normality of aggregate link-weight distribution is generated as a sheer outcome of aggregation. Commodity-specific networks also display average connectivity, clustering, and centrality levels very different from their aggregate counterpart. We also find that ITN complete connectivity is mainly achieved through the presence of many weak links that keep commodity-specific networks together and that the correlation structure existing between topological statistics within each single network is fairly robust and mimics that of the aggregate network. Finally, we employ cross-commodity correlations between link weights to build hierarchies of commodities. Our results suggest that on the top of a relatively time-invariant “intrinsic” taxonomy (based on inherent between-commodity similarities), the roles played by different commodities in the ITN have become more and more dissimilar, possibly as the result of an increased trade specialization. Our approach is general and can be used to characterize any multinetwork emerging as a nontrivial aggregation of several interdependent layers.

  16. 7 CFR 170.3 - What products may be sold at the USDA Farmers Market?

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 3 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false What products may be sold at the USDA Farmers Market...) MISCELLANEOUS MARKETING PRACTICES UNDER THE AGRICULTURAL MARKETING ACT OF 1946 USDA FARMERS MARKET § 170.3 What products may be sold at the USDA Farmers Market? Products that may be sold at the market include, but are...

  17. The Price of Commodity Risk in Stock and Futures Markets

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    M. Boons (Martijn); F.A. de Roon (Frans); M.K. Szymanowska (Marta)

    2014-01-01

    textabstractWe find that commodity risk is priced in the cross-section of US stock returns. Following the financialization of commodities, investors hedge commodity price risk directly in the futures market, primarily via commodity index investments, whereas before they gained commodity exposure

  18. 17 CFR 14.4 - Violation of Commodity Exchange Act.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... 17 Commodity and Securities Exchanges 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Violation of Commodity Exchange Act. 14.4 Section 14.4 Commodity and Securities Exchanges COMMODITY FUTURES TRADING COMMISSION... Exchange Act. The Commission may deny, temporarily or permanently, the privilege of appearing or practicing...

  19. Choosing a commode for the ward environment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ballinger, C; Pain, H; Pascoe, J; Gore, S

    The choice of appropriate equipment to promote patient independence and enhance nursing care is of major concern to the nurse in the ward environment. This article reports on a recent evaluation of specialist commodes, (Ballinger et al, 1994), with reference to the programme funded by the Medical Devices Agency, Department of Health, under whose auspices the project was carried out. The results of user evaluations and technical tests of six mobile commodes are presented, the preferred model being the Mayfair commode supplied by Carters (J&A) Ltd. The article concludes by identifying a number of important considerations to bear in mind when selecting a commode.

  20. Statistical field theory of futures commodity prices

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baaquie, Belal E.; Yu, Miao

    2018-02-01

    The statistical theory of commodity prices has been formulated by Baaquie (2013). Further empirical studies of single (Baaquie et al., 2015) and multiple commodity prices (Baaquie et al., 2016) have provided strong evidence in support the primary assumptions of the statistical formulation. In this paper, the model for spot prices (Baaquie, 2013) is extended to model futures commodity prices using a statistical field theory of futures commodity prices. The futures prices are modeled as a two dimensional statistical field and a nonlinear Lagrangian is postulated. Empirical studies provide clear evidence in support of the model, with many nontrivial features of the model finding unexpected support from market data.

  1. USDA/FSA Imagery Programs - Public Map Gallery

    Data.gov (United States)

    Farm Service Agency, Department of Agriculture — Imagery programs are an important part of maintaining, creating and updating geospatial data at the USDA Farm Service Agency. Imagery acquisition is provided by the...

  2. USDA's Systematic Entomology Laboratory (SEL): Global leadership and innovation in insect systematics

    Science.gov (United States)

    A longstanding agreement between the USDA and the Smithsonian Institution created the National Insect Collection, one of the premiere entomological resources on the planet. Since its inception, USDA scientists associated with the National Insect Collection have been at the forefront of documenting i...

  3. Expected commodity returns and pricing models

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cortazar, Gonzalo; Kovacevic, Ivo; Schwartz, Eduardo S.

    2015-01-01

    Stochastic models of commodity prices have evolved considerably in terms of their structure and the number and interpretation of the state variables that model the underlying risk. Using multiple factors, different specifications and modern estimation techniques, these models have gained wide acceptance because of their success in accurately fitting the observed commodity futures' term structures and their dynamics. It is not well emphasized however that these models, in addition to providing the risk neutral distribution of future spot prices, also provide their true distribution. While the parameters of the risk neutral distribution are estimated more precisely and are usually statistically significant, some of the parameters of the true distribution are typically measured with large errors and are statistically insignificant. In this paper we argue that to increase the reliability of commodity pricing models, and therefore their use by practitioners, some of their parameters — in particular the risk premium parameters — should be obtained from other sources and we show that this can be done without losing any precision in the pricing of futures contracts. We show how the risk premium parameters can be obtained from estimations of expected futures returns and provide alternative procedures for estimating these expected futures returns. - Highlights: • Simple methodology to improve the performance of commodity pricing models • New information about commodity futures expected return is added to the estimation. • No significant effect in pricing futures contracts is observed. • More reliable commodity pricing model's expected returns are obtained. • Methodology is open to any expected futures return model preferred by practitioner

  4. Complete Genome Sequence of the Soybean Symbiont Bradyrhizobium japonicum Strain USDA6T

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nobukazu Uchiike

    2011-10-01

    Full Text Available The complete nucleotide sequence of the genome of the soybean symbiont Bradyrhizobium japonicum strain USDA6T was determined. The genome of USDA6T is a single circular chromosome of 9,207,384 bp. The genome size is similar to that of the genome of another soybean symbiont, B. japonicum USDA110 (9,105,828 bp. Comparison of the whole-genome sequences of USDA6T and USDA110 showed colinearity of major regions in the two genomes, although a large inversion exists between them. A significantly high level of sequence conservation was detected in three regions on each genome. The gene constitution and nucleotide sequence features in these three regions indicate that they may have been derived from a symbiosis island. An ancestral, large symbiosis island, approximately 860 kb in total size, appears to have been split into these three regions by unknown large-scale genome rearrangements. The two integration events responsible for this appear to have taken place independently, but through comparable mechanisms, in both genomes.

  5. COMMODITY MARKET REGULATION: EXPORTING COUNTRIES VERSUS IMPORTING COUNTRIES

    OpenAIRE

    Souza, Leonardo Silveira

    2012-01-01

    The high in commodity prices in the international market in the last decade, tensions escalated between exporting and importing commodities countries, the extent of having their demands and pressures discussed in the main international organizations, especially in the G20. As altas nas cotações das commodities no mercado internacional na última década acirraram as tensões entre países exportadores e importadores de commodities, a ponto de terem suas reivindicações e pressões debatidas no...

  6. A two-commodity perishable inventory system

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    B Sivakumar

    2005-12-01

    Full Text Available We present a two-commodity perishable stochastic inventory system under continuous review at a service facility with a finite waiting room. The maximum storage capacity for the i–th item is fixed as Si (i = 1, 2. We assume that a demand for the i–th commodity is of unit size. The arrival instants of customers to the service station constitutes a Poisson process with parameter lambda. The customer demands for these commodities are assumed to be in the ratio p1:p2. An individual customer is issued a demanded item after a random time of service with a negative exponential distribution. The items are perishable in nature and the life time of items of each commodity is assumed to be exponentially distributed. Both commodities are supposed to be substitutable in the sense that at the instant of any zero-stock, the other item may be used to meet the demand. A joint reordering policy is adopted with a random lead time for orders with exponential distribution. The joint probability distribution of the number of customers in the system and the inventory levels are obtained in both the transient and steady states. We also derive some stationary performance measures. The results are illustrated by means of a numerical example.

  7. Trends and prospects of international major commodity prices

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Maria Cartas

    2013-04-01

    Full Text Available Trends and prospects of international major commodity prices. In 2012, the international commodity markets have seen declining prices, especially during the first half of the year, with some improvement mainly in the last quarter. On the whole, most of major commodity prices declined, following generally weaker demand and the uncertain global economic situation. The short term outlook shows broad declines of prices for all major commodity groups, including oil and excepting metal prices, which are expected to be sustained by the global economic recovery and increasing demand, mainly in China. This country represents a major player, with a great contribution to the movement of prices on most of international commodity markets, as she has a great role in the world consumption and trade of commodities, as well as in the world production of some of these goods, on the one hand, and enjoys huge financial resources, on the other.

  8. Factor Structure in Commodity Futures Return and Volatility

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Christoffersen, Peter; Lunde, Asger; Olesen, Kasper Vinther

    -2010 but have since returned to the pre-crisis level close to zero. The common factor in commodity volatility is nevertheless clearly related to stock market volatility. We conclude that, while commodity markets appear to again be segmented from the equity market when only returns are considered, commodity...

  9. Commodity Price Fluctuations: A Century of Analysis

    OpenAIRE

    Walter Labys

    2005-01-01

    Commodity prices again! The twentieth century has only been the latest spectator to the impacts and importance of commodity price fluctuations. It is reasonably well known that commodity price records have come down to us from the ancient civilizations of India, Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece and Rome. Earlier in the century, formal research began on the relationships between agricultural demand, supply and prices in a market context. This research not only evolved in sophistication but extended ...

  10. The stochastic seasonal behavior of energy commodity convenience yields

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mirantes, Andrés García; Población, Javier; Serna, Gregorio

    2013-01-01

    This paper contributes to the commodity pricing literature by consistently modeling the convenience yield with its empirically observed properties. Specifically, in this paper, we show how a four-factor model for the stochastic behavior of commodity prices, with two long- and short-term factors and two additional seasonal factors, may accommodate some of the most important empirically observed characteristics of commodity convenience yields, such as the mean reversion and stochastic seasonality. Based on this evidence, a theoretical model is presented and estimated to characterize the commodity convenience yield dynamics that are consistent with previous findings. We also show that commodity price seasonality is better estimated through convenience yields than through futures prices. - Highlights: • Energy commodity convenience yields exhibit mean reversion and stochastic seasonality. • We present a model for convenience yields accounting for their observed characteristics. • Commodity price seasonality is better estimated through convenience yields

  11. 17 CFR 32.9 - Fraud in connection with commodity option transactions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... 17 Commodity and Securities Exchanges 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Fraud in connection with commodity option transactions. 32.9 Section 32.9 Commodity and Securities Exchanges COMMODITY FUTURES TRADING COMMISSION REGULATION OF COMMODITY OPTION TRANSACTIONS § 32.9 Fraud in connection with commodity...

  12. USDA research and honey bee health

    Science.gov (United States)

    The USDA - Agricultural Research Service Bee Research Laboratory (BRL) is comprised of nine full-time federal employees and a team of 20+ students and collaborators from the U.S., England, Thailand, Spain, and China. The mission of the BRL is to provide innovative tools and insights for building and...

  13. How Macroecomic Factors Influence the Commodity Market in the Financialization Period: The Case of S & P GSCI Commodity Index

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kamil Smolík

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available In connection to the process of financialization of commodity markets which is caused by the sharp increase of money flowing into the commodity markets, the question of which factors affect commodity and commodity indices prices is discussed. In this article, the importance of chosen macroeconomic determinants to the price variability of one of the most important commodity indexes S & P GSCI by using the Boosted Trees method is quantified. The results obtained in the research show that changes in the monthly values of macroeconomic determinants reflect and can, according to the model used, explain the volatility of the monthly average index S & P GSCI Total Return to more than 75%. The most important macroeconomic determinants proved to be Nominal Effective Exchange Rate of USD or US – Short-term interest rates.

  14. 7 CFR 170.5 - Is there a fee to participate in the USDA Farmers Market?

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 3 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Is there a fee to participate in the USDA Farmers... (CONTINUED) MISCELLANEOUS MARKETING PRACTICES UNDER THE AGRICULTURAL MARKETING ACT OF 1946 USDA FARMERS MARKET § 170.5 Is there a fee to participate in the USDA Farmers Market? No, there are no fees charged to...

  15. News Release: USDA Joins Fair Food Network, State and Local Partners to

    Science.gov (United States)

    vitamin C, calcium, and iron. The Food Bank of Eastern Michigan in Flint is distributing those USDA Foods Joins Fair Food Network, State and Local Partners to Promote Nutrition Resources for Lead-Affected Flint Residents News Release: USDA Joins Fair Food Network, State and Local Partners to Promote Nutrition

  16. 22 CFR 201.63 - Maximum prices for commodities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... actually incurred in moving the commodities supplied from the point of purchase to a position alongside or... between those points. (g) Commodity price subject to escalation. If a purchase contract contains a price.... prevailing market price—U.S. source. The purchase price for a commodity, the source of which is the United...

  17. Biofuel and Food-Commodity Prices

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    David Zilberman

    2012-09-01

    Full Text Available The paper summarizes key findings of alternative lines of research on the relationship between food and fuel markets, and identifies gaps between two bodies of literature: one that investigates the relationship between food and fuel prices, and another that investigates the impact of the introduction of biofuels on commodity-food prices. The former body of literature suggests that biofuel prices do not affect food-commodity prices, but the latter suggests it does. We try to explain this gap, and then show that although biofuel was an important contributor to the recent food-price inflation of 2001–2008, its effect on food-commodity prices declined after the recession of 2008/09. We also show that the introduction of cross-price elasticity is important when explaining soybean price, but less so when explaining corn prices.

  18. 15 CFR 740.18 - Agricultural commodities (AGR).

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... commodity meets the definition of “agricultural commodities” in part 772 of the EAR; (2) The commodity is... international terrorism or the transaction raises nonproliferation concerns, you may not use License Exception...

  19. Managing commodity markets: the case of OPEC

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Salman, R.; Ferroukhi, R.

    1993-01-01

    Since primary commodity producers first took control of their natural resources, they have attempted to utilize production/price management with varying degrees of success. As a tool aimed at regulating, rather than controlling, commodity markets, this type of resource management is an essential means of achieving realistic economic returns, which, in the long run, serves the interests of the producer of the commodity in question, as well as its consumer. By regulating commodity markets in times of stable prices producing countries would benefit from a steady and constant level of export earnings, thus allowing them to achieve a sustainable level of economic development. As far as the oil market is concerned, stable prices, set in a range favourable to both producers and consumers, would give investors the confidence needed for long-term exploration. This is particularly important for a commodity such as oil, at a time when the lead time between exploration starting and actual production getting under way is increasing. Not only would producers benefit from stable export earnings, which are an essential requirement for the planning of their development process, but consuming countries would at the same time benefit in two ways: first, they would gain security of supply; and second, as fluctuations in their expenditure for this commodity are reduced, they would be a position to manage their economies more efficiently. (author)

  20. Portfolio Diversification with Commodities in Times of Financialization

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Adam Zaremba

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available The study concentrates on the benefits of passive commodity investments in the context of the phenomenon of financialization. The research investigates the implications of increase in the correlation coefficients between equity and commodity investments for investors in financial markets. The paper is composed of several parts. First, the attributes of commodity investments and their benefits in the portfolio optimization are explored. Second, the phenomenon of the financialization is described and the research hypothesis is developed. Next, an empirical analysis is performed. I simulate the mean-variance spanning tests to examine the benefits of commodity investments before and after accounting for the impact of financialization. I proceed separate analysis for pre- and post-financialization period. The empirical research is based on asset classes’ returns and other related variables from years 1991-2012. The performed investigations indicate that the market financialization may have significant implications for commodity investors. Due to increase in correlation coefficients, the inclusion of the commodity futures in the traditional stock-bond portfolio appears to be no longer reasonable.

  1. Organized Retailing of Horticultural Commodities

    OpenAIRE

    Sinha, Piyush Kumar; Thomas, Sujo

    2012-01-01

    Owing to rapid urbanization and changing consumption patterns, more and more retailers are trying to put their best efforts to discover new avenues of success when it comes to the sales of horticultural commodities. There are several Indian companies as well as foreign companies who have been focusing all their energies to succeed in the organized retail sector of Indian horticulture commodities. The Indian retail industry is worth $470 million and organized retail stands at $26 million which...

  2. Influence of rising commodity prices on energy policy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Keppo, I.J.

    2009-04-01

    During the past few years we have first witnessed a rapid increase in the prices of commodities and then later, as a consequence of the economic downturn, an even more drastic drop. Simultaneously with the commodity price increase, an increase in the investment costs of power plants was experienced. The rise in material costs was often stated as one of the reasons for this increase. In this study the relationship between commodity costs and energy prices is studied. A bottom-up approach is used for estimating what kind of an impact increased commodity prices alone could be expected to have on the investment costs on the one hand, and how increased energy prices may affect commodity production costs on the other. The results indicate that although the commodity production costs usually have a fairly large energy component, even high increases in commodity prices, and therefore raw material costs of power plant investments, can not explain the recently experienced hikes in power plant investment costs; a doubling of the costs of the main raw material flows could explain an investment cost increase of some 5-10%, depending on the power plant type. This would seem to indicate that other contributing factors, such as bottlenecks in the production of power plant components, may play an important role in the recent investment cost increase

  3. Mineral commodity summaries 2013

    Science.gov (United States)

    ,

    2013-01-01

    Each chapter of the 2013 edition of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Mineral Commodity Summaries (MCS) includes information on events, trends, and issues for each mineral commodity as well as discussions and tabular presentations on domestic industry structure, Government programs, tariffs, 5-year salient statistics, and world production and resources. The MCS is the earliest comprehensive source of 2012 mineral production data for the world. More than 90 individual minerals and materials are covered by two-page synopses. For mineral commodities for which there is a Government stockpile, detailed information concerning the stockpile status is included in the two-page synopsis. Abbreviations and units of measure, and definitions of selected terms used in the report, are in Appendix A and Appendix B, respectively. “Appendix C—Reserves and Resources” includes “Part A—Resource/Reserve Classification for Minerals” and “Part B—Sources of Reserves Data.” A directory of USGS minerals information country specialists and their responsibilities is Appendix D. The USGS continually strives to improve the value of its publications to users. Constructive comments and suggestions by readers of the MCS 2013 are welcomed.

  4. Mineral commodity summaries 2014

    Science.gov (United States)

    ,

    2014-01-01

    Each chapter of the 2014 edition of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Mineral Commodity Summaries (MCS) includes information on events, trends, and issues for each mineral commodity as well as discussions and tabular presentations on domestic industry structure, Government programs, tariffs, 5-year salient statistics, and world production and resources. The MCS is the earliest comprehensive source of 2013 mineral production data for the world. More than 90 individual minerals and materials are covered by two-page synopses. For mineral commodities for which there is a Government stockpile, detailed information concerning the stockpile status is included in the two-page synopsis. Abbreviations and units of measure, and definitions of selected terms used in the report, are in Appendix A and Appendix B, respectively. “Appendix C—Reserves and Resources” includes “Part A—Resource/Reserve Classification for Minerals” and “Part B—Sources of Reserves Data.” A directory of USGS minerals information country specialists and their responsibilities is Appendix D. The USGS continually strives to improve the value of its publications to users. Constructive comments and suggestions by readers of the MCS 2014 are welcomed.

  5. Portfolio Diversification with Commodity Futures: Properties of Levered Futures

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Woodard, J.D.; Egelkraut, T.M.; Garcia, P.; Pennings, J.M.E.

    2005-01-01

    Portfolio Diversification with Commodity Futures: Properties of Levered Futures This study extends previous work on the impact of commodity futures on portfolio performance by explicitly incorporating levered futures into the portfolio optimization problem. Using data on nine individual commodity

  6. Development of commodity exchange in Croatia

    OpenAIRE

    Sicel, Mladen

    2009-01-01

    Purpose of this thesis work is to show relevance and necessarity for existing of commodity exchange and it’s influence to the economy of Croatia. Because eastern part of Croatia, region called Slavonia is mostly agricultural oriented, it is of essential relevance to establish and make operate of first commodity exchange in Croatia.

  7. 17 CFR 33.10 - Fraud in connection with commodity option transactions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... 17 Commodity and Securities Exchanges 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Fraud in connection with commodity option transactions. 33.10 Section 33.10 Commodity and Securities Exchanges COMMODITY FUTURES TRADING COMMISSION REGULATION OF DOMESTIC EXCHANGE-TRADED COMMODITY OPTION TRANSACTIONS § 33.10 Fraud in...

  8. 17 CFR 4.14 - Exemption from registration as a commodity trading advisor.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... a commodity trading advisor. 4.14 Section 4.14 Commodity and Securities Exchanges COMMODITY FUTURES TRADING COMMISSION COMMODITY POOL OPERATORS AND COMMODITY TRADING ADVISORS General Provisions, Definitions and Exemptions § 4.14 Exemption from registration as a commodity trading advisor. This section is...

  9. 7 CFR 205.311 - USDA Seal.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ...) On a white background with a brown outer circle and with the term, “USDA,” in green overlaying a... (2) On a white or transparent background with black outer circle and black “USDA” on a white or transparent upper half of the circle with a contrasting white or transparent “organic” on the black lower half...

  10. Modeling Multi-commodity Trade Information Exchange Methods

    CERN Document Server

    Traczyk, Tomasz

    2012-01-01

    Market mechanisms are entering into new fields of economy, in which some constraints of physical world, e.g. Kirchoffs Law in power grid, must be taken into account during trading. On such markets, some of commodities, like telecommunication bandwidth or electrical energy, appear to be non-storable, and must be exchanged in real-time. On the other hand, the markets tend to react at shortest possible time, so an idea to delegate some competency to autonomous software agents is very attractive. Multi-commodity mechanism addresses the aforementioned requirements. Modeling the relationships between the commodities allows to formulate new, more sophisticated models and mechanisms, which reflect decision situations in a better manner. Application of multi-commodity approach requires solving several issues related to data modeling, communication, semantics aspects of communication, reliability, etc. This book answers some of the questions and points out promising paths for implementation and development. Presented s...

  11. Supplement: Commodity Index Report

    Data.gov (United States)

    Commodity Futures Trading Commission — Shows index traders in selected agricultural markets. These traders are drawn from the noncommercial and commercial categories. The noncommercial category includes...

  12. Do Exchange Rates Really Help Forecasting Commodity Prices?

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bork, Lasse; Kaltwasser, Pablo Rovira; Sercu, Piet

    Chen et al. (2010) report that for ‘commodity currencies’, the exchange rate predicts the country’s commodity index but not vice versa. The commodity currency hypothesis is consistent with the Engle and West (2005) exchange rate model if the fundamental is chosen to be the country’s key export...... expectations, one should mostly observe contemporaneous correlations, not one-directional cross-predictability from one variable toward the other. Using three different data sets and various econometric techniques, we do find the contemporaneous correlations as predicted by the financial asset view......-averaged prices in the commodity index data that they use (price averaging induces spurious autocorrelation and predictability) and to features in their test procedures....

  13. 77 FR 17001 - USDA Public Stakeholder Meeting: Match Making in the Biofuels Value Chain

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-03-23

    ... DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE USDA Public Stakeholder Meeting: Match Making in the Biofuels Value... and representatives from the participating stakeholders will respond with short formal presentations... through USDA's security clearance. ADDRESSES: Patio, United States Department of Agriculture Whitten...

  14. 7 CFR 1427.22 - Commodity certificate exchanges.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... commodity certificate for the marketing assistance loan collateral. This provision terminates effective... exchange the marketing assistance loan collateral, and (3) Immediately exchanging the purchased commodity certificate for the outstanding loan collateral. [67 FR 64459, Oct. 18, 2002, as amended at 73 FR 65722, Nov...

  15. An update on USDA swine gene banking

    Science.gov (United States)

    The USDA, Agricultural Research Service, National Animal Germplasm Program (NAGP) collects, preserves, evaluates and utilizes germplasm (semen, eggs, embryos, DNA) from all of the agricultural species in the US in order to create a secure collection. The material can be released for any of a number...

  16. Commodity team motivation and performance

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Englyst, Linda; Jørgensen, Frances; Johansen, John

    2008-01-01

    In this article, an in-depth single case study is presented in order to explore and discuss the functioning of commodity teams in a global sourcing context. Specifically, the study aimed at identifying factors that may influence team members' motivation to participate in activities that create...... opportunities for synergy and coordination of purchasing. In the teams studied, motivation appeared to be influenced to some degree by a number of factors, including rewards, leadership behaviours, goal setting, and the career goals of the commodity team members. In some cases, inconsistencies between...

  17. Commodity Team Motivation and Performance

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Englyst, Linda; Jørgensen, Frances; Johansen, John

    2008-01-01

    In this article, an in-depth single case study is presented in order to explore and discuss the functioning of commodity teams in a global sourcing context. Specifically, the study aimed at identifying factors that may influence team members' motivation to participate in activities that create...... opportunities for synergy and coordination of purchasing. In the teams studied, motivation appeared to be influenced to some degree by a number of factors, including rewards, leadership behaviours, goal setting, and the career goals of the commodity team members. In some cases, inconsistencies between...

  18. Bitcoin: not a currency-like informational commodity

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Bergstra, J.A.

    2014-01-01

    Six assertions concerning the status of Bitcoin are formulated and defended: (i) Bitcoin is not and will not become a currency-like informational commodity, (ii) currency-like informational commodities that aren’t currencies must be frauds, (ii) specific BTC amounts may become monetized and thus may

  19. Food irradiation in the United States: irradiation as a phytosanitary treatment for fresh fruits and vegetables and for the control of microorganisms in meat and poultry

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ross, Ralph T.; Engeljohn, Dan

    2000-01-01

    Recently there has been a renewed focus on food irradiation in the United States (US) for the disinfestation of fresh fruits and vegetables to eliminate pests from imported agricultural commodities that could threaten the economic viability of American agriculture and for the control of bacterium E. coli 0157:H7 in beef, a pathogen that threatens the safety of the US domestic food supply. In January 1999 USDA/APHIS published in the Federal Register a rule which authorized irradiation as a guarantee treatment for papayas for movement from Hawaii to the US mainland. This treatment was never used for a number of reasons. However, in December, 1993, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published its final rule to terminate production and consumption of methyl bromide, the only remaining broad spectrum fumigant for disinfesting agricultural commodities for pests of quarantine significance on imported and exported commodities. With increased global trade pressures and the possible loss of methyl bromide as a fumigant for regulatory pests treatment made it imperative that practical treatment options be explored including irradiation. In May 1996, USDA/APHIS published a Notice of Policy which sets forth a policy statement that share positions and policies of USDA concerning the use of irradiation as a phytosanitary treatment. Subsequently in July, 1997, USDA/APHIS amended its Hawaiian regulation by increasing the dose required for papayas intended for interstate movement and by allowing carambolas and litchis also to move interstate as well. Fruits from Hawaii to the US mainland are currently being irradiated and distributed in commerce throughout the US Irradiation treatments now afford movement of many exotic fruits to the US mainland that could not be done earlier due to the lack of available treatment methods. To help combat this potential public health problem, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved treating red meat products. This process has been

  20. Responsibilities of the USDA-Food and Nutrition Service in Nutrition Assistance Response to Natural Disasters.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abernathy, Toni

    2015-01-01

    USDA makes sure that nutritious USDA Foods are made available to States, Indian Tribal Organizations and Emergency Feeding Organizations to help feed survivors of natural disasters and other emergencies when needed.

  1. 17 CFR 37.4 - Election to trade excluded and exempt commodities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... 17 Commodity and Securities Exchanges 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Election to trade excluded and exempt commodities. 37.4 Section 37.4 Commodity and Securities Exchanges COMMODITY FUTURES TRADING COMMISSION DERIVATIVES TRANSACTION EXECUTION FACILITIES § 37.4 Election to trade excluded and exempt...

  2. The social sciences, philosophy, and the cultural turn in the 1930s USDA.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jewett, Andrew

    2013-01-01

    One of the more unusual attempts by the American state to mobilize academic expertise unfolded in the late 1930s, when the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) hired scholars in the "culture and personality" fields and philosophy to aid its efforts to promote economic, social, and cultural change in the countryside. USDA progressives also reached out to disciplinary scholars in other ways as they sought to institute a deliberative mode of planning in local communities and to remake the curricula of the land-grant colleges in support of that project. These USDA initiatives and scholars' responses reveal that scientific knowledge was mobilized in the 1930s not just for the instrumental purpose of regulating economic behavior but also to explain and legitimate federal programs and to inform ambitious projects for cultural change. At the USDA, as at many other sites between the wars, scientific thinkers turned to the social sciences and philosophy in order to understand and then change the public mind. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  3. Global oil prices, macroeconomic fundamentals and China's commodity sector comovements

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chen, Peng

    2015-01-01

    This paper investigates the common movements of commodity sectors in China as well as the economic underpinnings of the comovements. We employ a Bayesian dynamic latent factor model to disentangle the common and idiosyncratic sector-specific factors of the prices of a group of China's commodity sectors: petrochemicals, grains, energy, non-ferrous metals, oils & fats, and softs. The results indicate that the common factor accounts for a significant portion of the fluctuations of China's commodity sectors, providing evidence of the strong commodity sector comovements in China. We further use a VAR model to link the common movements across China's commodity sectors to the underlying determinants, including global oil price shocks and domestic macroeconomic fluctuations. We find that the global oil price shocks have strong effects on the common movements across commodity sectors in China in addition to its domestic macroeconomic fluctuations at long horizons. However, at short horizons, the common movements across commodity sectors in China respond more strongly to the global oil shocks than to its domestic macroeconomic fluctuations. - Highlights: • We examine the comovements of commodity prices at the industry level in China. • The common factor accounts for a significant portion of commodity sector fluctuations. • We investigate the joint impacts of global oil price shocks and domestic macro fluctuations on the comovements. • The global oil price shocks have persistent and strong effects on the comovements. • The impacts of domestic macro fluctuations on the comovements differ at short and long horizons.

  4. Data Cubes Integration in Spatial OLAP for Agricultural Commodities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Putri, A. I.; Sitanggang, I. S.

    2017-03-01

    Ministry of Agriculture Indonesia collects data of agricultural commodities in Indonesia in the annual period. Agricultural commodities data include food crops, horticulture, plantations, and livestock. The data are available in the spreadsheet format. This study developed data cubes for food crops, plantations, and livestock using the galaxy schema of data warehouse and integrated the data cubes into the SOLAP Horticulture using SpagoBI. SOLAP is useful for data analysis and data visualization. The application displays agricultural commodities data in form of crosstab and chart. This study also developed the location intelligence module that visualizes agricultural commodities data on the map. The system was tested using the black box approach. The result showed that main functions including roll up, drill down, slice, dice, and pivot work properly. This application is expected to enable users to easily obtain data summaries of agricultural commodities.

  5. PILA: Sub-Meter Localization Using CSI from Commodity Wi-Fi Devices.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tian, Zengshan; Li, Ze; Zhou, Mu; Jin, Yue; Wu, Zipeng

    2016-10-10

    The aim of this paper is to present a new indoor localization approach by employing the Angle-of-arrival (AOA) and Received Signal Strength (RSS) measurements in Wi-Fi network. To achieve this goal, we first collect the Channel State Information (CSI) by using the commodity Wi-Fi devices with our designed three antennas to estimate the AOA of Wi-Fi signal. Second, we propose a direct path identification algorithm to obtain the direct signal path for the sake of reducing the interference of multipath effect on the AOA estimation. Third, we construct a new objective function to solve the localization problem by integrating the AOA and RSS information. Although the localization problem is non-convex, we use the Second-order Cone Programming (SOCP) relaxation approach to transform it into a convex problem. Finally, the effectiveness of our approach is verified based on the prototype implementation by using the commodity Wi-Fi devices. The experimental results show that our approach can achieve the median error 0.7 m in the actual indoor environment.

  6. 7 CFR 1466.11 - Technical services provided by qualified personnel not affiliated with USDA.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... not affiliated with USDA. 1466.11 Section 1466.11 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of... OPERATIONS ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY INCENTIVES PROGRAM Contracts and Payments § 1466.11 Technical services provided by qualified personnel not affiliated with USDA. (a) NRCS may use the services of qualified TSPs...

  7. A dataset on tail risk of commodities markets.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Powell, Robert J; Vo, Duc H; Pham, Thach N; Singh, Abhay K

    2017-12-01

    This article contains the datasets related to the research article "The long and short of commodity tails and their relationship to Asian equity markets"(Powell et al., 2017) [1]. The datasets contain the daily prices (and price movements) of 24 different commodities decomposed from the S&P GSCI index and the daily prices (and price movements) of three share market indices including World, Asia, and South East Asia for the period 2004-2015. Then, the dataset is divided into annual periods, showing the worst 5% of price movements for each year. The datasets are convenient to examine the tail risk of different commodities as measured by Conditional Value at Risk (CVaR) as well as their changes over periods. The datasets can also be used to investigate the association between commodity markets and share markets.

  8. Commodity, pre-salt and development

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Alvim, Carlos Feu; Fantine, Jose [Univerisdade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ/COPPE), RJ (Brazil). Coordenacao do Programa de Pos-graduacao em Engenharia

    2008-04-15

    'Brazil is essentially an agricultural country' was the economical truism taught in school in the 1950s. The country was under the influence of the coffee cycle that has followed other ones based on extractive or agricultural products in successive cycles since the Colonial period: pau-brasil, sugarcane, gold, cocoa, rubber, etc. Presently commodities dominate our exports and one might ask: is Brazil essentially a commodity-exporting country? The recent publication of the government document 'Productive development policy - innovate and invest to support growth' makes it opportune to discuss the subject. (author)

  9. 7 CFR 636.18 - Technical services provided by qualified personnel not affiliated with USDA.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... HABITAT INCENTIVES PROGRAM § 636.18 Technical services provided by qualified personnel not affiliated with... affiliated with USDA. 636.18 Section 636.18 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture... provided by qualified personnel not affiliated with USDA may include, but is not limited to: Conservation...

  10. 7 CFR 3406.6 - USDA agency cooperator requirement.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... 3406.6 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) COOPERATIVE STATE RESEARCH, EDUCATION, AND EXTENSION SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 1890 INSTITUTION CAPACITY BUILDING GRANTS... other USDA employees serving on the campuses of the 1890 colleges and universities, may assist with...

  11. Primary Commodity Dependency: A Limiting Factor for Achieving Democracy

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-03-24

    two ~gricultural crops, minerals, petroleum, or fisheries can be considered primary commodity dependent. Tea, coffee, and cocoa ; peanuts and cotton...Rostow’s Development Model Pre-conditions for take-off mass consumption democracy. In 1960s, economists, associated democratization to a developmental...Commodities can be renewable or non-renewable. Petroleum, diamonds, cocoa , bananas, coffee, and timber are just a few of the commodities that have

  12. The Reform and Design of Commodity Taxes in the Presence of Tax Evasion with Illustrative Evidence from India

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Ray, R.

    1994-01-01

    The literature on tax evasion and its implication for optimal tax theory has concentrated on income tax evasion. The issue of commodity tax evasion has received relatively little attention even though it is important in many cases, especially in developing countries. This paper proposes a theory of

  13. 7 CFR 17.5 - Contracts between commodity suppliers and importers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... officers and a description of the firm's experience as an exporter of U.S. agricultural commodities. Copies... under this part and the purchase authorization. (3) If, at the time the commodity supplier reports the... requirements unless otherwise specified in the purchase authorization. (1) Commodity contracts between...

  14. Toward Improved Market Access for ASEAN Agricultural Commodities

    International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

    ... technical report, November 2009 - May 2013. Études. Towards improved market access for ASEAN agricultural commodities : donor partnerships strategy and plan. Rapports. Towards improved market access for ASEAN agricultural commodities : project inception meeting report, Palm Garden Hotel, Putrajaya, Malaysia, ...

  15. Limits to Arbitrage and Hedging: Evidence from Commodity Markets

    OpenAIRE

    Acharya, Viral V; Lochstoer, Lars; Ramadorai, Tarun

    2009-01-01

    Motivated by the literature on limits-to-arbitrage, we build an equilibrium model of commodity markets in which speculators are capital constrained, and commodity producers have hedging demands for commodity futures. Increases (decreases) in producers' hedging demand (speculators' risk-capacity) increase hedging costs via price-pressure on futures, reduce producers' inventory holdings, and thus spot prices. Consistent with our model, producers' default risk forecasts futures returns, spot pri...

  16. What's New in USDA's Food Distribution Program for Schools? School Programs USDA Foods Update. Volume 14, Issue 1

    Science.gov (United States)

    US Department of Agriculture, 2009

    2009-01-01

    This paper provides an update on all the new products and projects that U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) has been working on, in its effort to help schools meet the nutritional needs of the students and to help in the President's challenge to End Childhood Hunger by 2015. This issue includes: (1) Back to…

  17. Progress Report on the ISCR Pilot Test Conducted at the Former CCC/USDA Grain Storage Facility in Montgomery City, Missouri, as of April 2013

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    LaFreniere, Lorraine M. [Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States). Environmental Science Division. Applied Geoscience and Environmental Restoration Program

    2013-06-01

    The Commodity Credit Corporation of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (CCC/USDA) is conducting an environmental investigation at the former CCC/USDA grain storage facility on the county fairgrounds in Montgomery City, Missouri, to evaluate contamination associated with the former use of grain fumigants containing carbon tetrachloride at the site. The CCC/USDA studies have identified carbon tetrachloride in the soils (primarily unconsolidated glacial tills) at concentrations that exceed the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regional screening level (RSL) values for this compound in residential soils (610 μg/kg) but are below the corresponding RSL for industrial soils (3,000 μg/kg). Concentrations of carbon tetrachloride greater than the EPA maximum contaminant level (MCL; 5.0 μg/L) for this contaminant in drinking water were also identified in the shallow groundwater (Argonne 2012). On the basis of these findings, remedial actions are considered necessary to mitigate the present and potential future impacts of the contamination. In cooperation with the Missouri Department of Natural Resources (MDNR), the CCC/USDA has initiated a field-scale pilot test to evaluate an in situ technology for treatment of the carbon tetrachloride contamination. In this approach, a chemical amendment consisting primarily of slow-release organic matter and zero-valent iron is employed to induce oxygen-depleted, chemically reducing conditions in the subsurface. These conditions foster the in situ chemical reduction (ISCR) of carbon tetrachloride and its degradation products (chloroform, methylene chloride, and chloromethane) via both inorganic and biologically mediated processes. The chemical amendment being used, EHC™, was developed by the Adventus Group, Freeport, Illinois, and is now manufactured and distributed by FMC Environmental Solutions, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. With the approval of the MDNR (2012), the ISCR technology is being tested in two target areas

  18. Association analysis using USDA diverse rice (Oryza sativa L.) germplasm collections to identify loci influencing grain quality traits

    Science.gov (United States)

    he USDA rice (Oryza sativa L.) core subset (RCS) was assembled to represent the genetic diversity of the entire USDA-ARS National Small Grains Collection and consists of 1,794 accessions from 114 countries. The USDA rice mini-core (MC) is a subset of 217 accessions from the RCS and was selected to ...

  19. Energy prices and agricultural commodity prices: Testing correlation using copulas method

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Koirala, Krishna H.; Mishra, Ashok K.; D'Antoni, Jeremy M.; Mehlhorn, Joey E.

    2015-01-01

    The linear relationships between energy prices and prices for agricultural commodities such as corn and soybeans may have been affected, over the last several years, by policy legislations in the farm sector, the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, and the Renewable Fuel Standard Program for 2014. Using high-frequency data and newer methodology, this study investigates dependence between agricultural commodity futures prices and energy futures prices. Results reveal that agricultural commodity and energy future prices are highly correlated and exhibit positive and significant relationship. Findings from this study highlight that an increase in energy price increases the price of agricultural commodities. - Highlights: • Energy policy mandates production of 15 billion gallons of corn ethanol by 2015. • Energy-intensive agriculture has a link between energy sector and crop production costs. • We investigate correlation between energy prices and agricultural commodity prices. • Agricultural commodity and energy future prices are highly correlated. • Increase in energy price increases the price of agricultural commodity

  20. Commodity risk management

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hilary Till

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available This article discusses the practical issues involved in applying a disciplined risk management methodology to commodity futures trading. Accordingly, the paper shows how to apply methodologies derived from both conventional asset management and hedge fund management to futures trading. The article also discusses some of the risk management issues that are unique to leveraged futures trading.

  1. A Preference-Free Formula to Value Commodity Derivatives

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Rodriguez, J.C.

    2007-01-01

    This paper studies a new model of commodity prices in which the stochastic convenience yield is an affine function of past commodity returns. While preserving market completeness, the model exhibits price nonstationarity and mean reversion under the martingale measure, and, as a consequence, it is

  2. COMMODITY CURRENCIES: UM FENÔMENO REAL NO BRASIL?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rodrigo Branco

    Full Text Available RESUMO Este trabalho tem por objetivo investigar o possível enquadramento que a moeda brasileira, o real, possa ter no modelo de commodity currencies. As evidências encontradas mostram uma correlação significativa da trajetória percorrida pelo real na última década com o esquema de commodity currencies, em que a taxa de câmbio do país tende a acompanhar a evolução dos preços internacionais das commodities, grupo de produtos básicos advindos principalmente dos setores agrícola e mineral.

  3. Commodity Market Inefficiencies and Inflationary Pressures - India’s Economic Policy Dilemma

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pankaj Kumar GUPTA

    2012-11-01

    Full Text Available With the current pace of growth, India would emerge as a major player in the international market in terms of commodity consumption, production and trade. Going by trade volume and also the possibly as an identifiable influence on the price making process on the essential commodities, the futures and spot markets have shown major variations. Increased volatility in asset prices has been a major reason behind the integration of domestic financial markets with the international financial sector accentuating the demand for the trading in the derivative market. Though organized commodity trading has been in from the nineteenth century in India, the commodity derivative markets in the new form with nationwide electronic trading and access have opened the gates for speculators, hedgers and other market participants to capitalize on the development. The robust growth of the commodity markets can be observed in terms of number of commodities trade volumes and growing number of both the market participants and the commodity exchanges. Liquidity booms reflected by loose monetary policy are responsible for major surge in commodity prices globally in addition to direct tangible impacts of oil prices especially in developing countries with heavy oil imports like India. Futures markets are created to fulfill genuine desires economic functions of hedging and price discovery. But, enormous futures trading observed on the commodity exchanges have raised a host of issues like inflation guided by the fuelling principle implying the direct relationship between volatility and inflation. Huge price volatility in futures segment on the commodity exchanges has therefore raised concerns relating to the market efficiencies, infrastructure and knowledge and also their consequential impact on cash markets. The demand and supply side of the commodity price mechanism is traditionally governed by numerous factors including the climatic conditions, availability of critical

  4. USDA Research in Support of Deployed Military Troops

    Science.gov (United States)

    The US Department of Agriculture has a long history of collaborating with the US military to conduct research in support of war efforts. The predecessor laboratory of the current USDA-ARS Center for Medical, Agricultural and Veterinary Entomology (CMAVE) located in Gainesville, Florida has a history...

  5. Phytosanitary irradiation of Diatraea saccharalis, D. grandiosella, and Eoreuma loftini (Lepidoptera: Crambinae)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Phytosanitary irradiation (PI) is increasingly being used to disinfest horticultural commodities of invasive quarantine pests. Most disinfestation is done with generic treatments, where one dose is scheduled for a group of pests and/or commodities. The current generic treatment that USDA-APHIS uses...

  6. Alcohol as international commodity; Alcool como 'commodity' internacional

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Negrao, Luiz Celso Parisi [Ministerio do Desenvolvimento, Industria e Comercio Exterior, Brasilia, DF (Brazil). Secretaria de Tecnologia Industrial]. E-mail: luiz.negrao@desenvolvimento.gov.br; Urban, Maria Lucia de Paula

    2004-12-15

    The ethanol is able to reduce the gas emissions, mainly in CO2 balance which gives a strong contribution for this fact. Using the alcohol rather than fossil fuels is a natural choice as a important renewable energy source. Also, to have the alcohol as international environmental commodity is the goal of all interested in this matter, since the entry into force the Kyoto protocol, with the Russian approval.

  7. A study on the systematization of commodity classification

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tae, Jae Woong; Shin, Dong Hoon

    2012-01-01

    International community is trying to prevent the spread of WMD (Weapons of Mass Destruction), especially nuclear weapons. These efforts result in the declaration of UNSC Resolution 1540 in 2004, which made export controls the international norms for all nations in the world. Korea enacted Foreign Trade Act in 1989 to adhere to the export control standards worldwide. Export control system in Korea consists of commodity classification system and export license system. The commodity classification system is used to identify strategic commodity. The Export License system is used to verify that exports have met the conditions required by the international export control system. NSG guidelines, the NSG handbook and Public Notice on Trade of Strategic Items are used to classify items and technology However, some items or technology in NSG guidelines should be especially designed or prepared (EDP). It is difficult to determine which items or technology is strategic commodity because EDP criteria are qualitative. NSG or participant states don't provide clear criteria to classify items and technology but recommend establishing standards autonomously. Hence the result of deliberation on the same items and technology may be different by reviewer's experience, knowledge and governmental policy. It causes confusion of reviewers and export companies In this research, commodity classification systematization by EDP criteria's clarification was performed to increase consistency and efficiency

  8. USDA updates nutrient values for fast food pizza

    Science.gov (United States)

    Consumption of quick service pizza has increased as Americans are spending more on food away from home. Pizza is consistently a primary Key Food in the USDA National Food and Nutrient Analysis Program (NFNAP) because it is a contributor of more than 14 nutrients of public health significance to the...

  9. Modelling the rand and commodity prices: A Granger causality and cointegration analysis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xolani Ndlovu

    2014-11-01

    Full Text Available This paper examines the ‘commodity currency’ hypothesis of the Rand, that is, the postulate that the currency moves in line with commodity prices, and analyses the associated causality using nominal data between 1996 and 2010. We address both the short run and long run relationship between commodity prices and exchange rates. We find that while the levels of the series of both assets are difference stationary, they are not cointegrated. Further, we find the two variables are negatively related, with strong and significant causality running from commodity prices to the exchange rate and not vice versa, implying exogeneity in the determination of commodity prices with respect to the nominal exchange rate. The strength of the relationship is significantly weaker than other OECD commodity currencies. We surmise that the relationship is dynamic over time owing to the portfolio-rebalance argument and the Commodity Terms of Trade (CTT effect and, in the absence of an error correction mechanism, this disconnect may be prolonged. For commodity and currency market participants, this implies that while futures and forward commodity prices may be useful leading indicators of future currency movements, the price risk management strategies may need to be recalibrated over time.

  10. Multiple pathways of commodity crop expansion in tropical forest landscapes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Meyfroidt, Patrick; Carlson, Kimberly M.; Fagan, Matthew E.; Gutiérrez-Vélez, Victor H.; Macedo, Marcia N.; Curran, Lisa M.; DeFries, Ruth S.; Dyer, George A.; Gibbs, Holly K.; Lambin, Eric F.; Morton, Douglas C.; Robiglio, Valentina

    2014-07-01

    Commodity crop expansion, for both global and domestic urban markets, follows multiple land change pathways entailing direct and indirect deforestation, and results in various social and environmental impacts. Here we compare six published case studies of rapid commodity crop expansion within forested tropical regions. Across cases, between 1.7% and 89.5% of new commodity cropland was sourced from forestlands. Four main factors controlled pathways of commodity crop expansion: (i) the availability of suitable forestland, which is determined by forest area, agroecological or accessibility constraints, and land use policies, (ii) economic and technical characteristics of agricultural systems, (iii) differences in constraints and strategies between small-scale and large-scale actors, and (iv) variable costs and benefits of forest clearing. When remaining forests were unsuitable for agriculture and/or policies restricted forest encroachment, a larger share of commodity crop expansion occurred by conversion of existing agricultural lands, and land use displacement was smaller. Expansion strategies of large-scale actors emerge from context-specific balances between the search for suitable lands; transaction costs or conflicts associated with expanding into forests or other state-owned lands versus smallholder lands; net benefits of forest clearing; and greater access to infrastructure in already-cleared lands. We propose five hypotheses to be tested in further studies: (i) land availability mediates expansion pathways and the likelihood that land use is displaced to distant, rather than to local places; (ii) use of already-cleared lands is favored when commodity crops require access to infrastructure; (iii) in proportion to total agricultural expansion, large-scale actors generate more clearing of mature forests than smallholders; (iv) property rights and land tenure security influence the actors participating in commodity crop expansion, the form of land use displacement

  11. Multiple pathways of commodity crop expansion in tropical forest landscapes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Meyfroidt, Patrick; Lambin, Eric F; Carlson, Kimberly M; Fagan, Matthew E; DeFries, Ruth S; Gutiérrez-Vélez, Victor H; Macedo, Marcia N; Curran, Lisa M; Dyer, George A; Gibbs, Holly K; Morton, Douglas C; Robiglio, Valentina

    2014-01-01

    Commodity crop expansion, for both global and domestic urban markets, follows multiple land change pathways entailing direct and indirect deforestation, and results in various social and environmental impacts. Here we compare six published case studies of rapid commodity crop expansion within forested tropical regions. Across cases, between 1.7% and 89.5% of new commodity cropland was sourced from forestlands. Four main factors controlled pathways of commodity crop expansion: (i) the availability of suitable forestland, which is determined by forest area, agroecological or accessibility constraints, and land use policies, (ii) economic and technical characteristics of agricultural systems, (iii) differences in constraints and strategies between small-scale and large-scale actors, and (iv) variable costs and benefits of forest clearing. When remaining forests were unsuitable for agriculture and/or policies restricted forest encroachment, a larger share of commodity crop expansion occurred by conversion of existing agricultural lands, and land use displacement was smaller. Expansion strategies of large-scale actors emerge from context-specific balances between the search for suitable lands; transaction costs or conflicts associated with expanding into forests or other state-owned lands versus smallholder lands; net benefits of forest clearing; and greater access to infrastructure in already-cleared lands. We propose five hypotheses to be tested in further studies: (i) land availability mediates expansion pathways and the likelihood that land use is displaced to distant, rather than to local places; (ii) use of already-cleared lands is favored when commodity crops require access to infrastructure; (iii) in proportion to total agricultural expansion, large-scale actors generate more clearing of mature forests than smallholders; (iv) property rights and land tenure security influence the actors participating in commodity crop expansion, the form of land use displacement

  12. 78 FR 38286 - Notice of Change to the CCC Sugar Purchase and Exchange To Include Certificates of Quota...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-06-26

    ... DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE Commodity Credit Corporation Notice of Change to the CCC Sugar Purchase... Credit Corporation. ACTION: Notice. SUMMARY: The Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) announces the intent... for sugar was projected at 19 percent in the June 2013 USDA World Agricultural Supply and Demand...

  13. Statistical microeconomics and commodity prices: theory and empirical results.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baaquie, Belal E

    2016-01-13

    A review is made of the statistical generalization of microeconomics by Baaquie (Baaquie 2013 Phys. A 392, 4400-4416. (doi:10.1016/j.physa.2013.05.008)), where the market price of every traded commodity, at each instant of time, is considered to be an independent random variable. The dynamics of commodity market prices is given by the unequal time correlation function and is modelled by the Feynman path integral based on an action functional. The correlation functions of the model are defined using the path integral. The existence of the action functional for commodity prices that was postulated to exist in Baaquie (Baaquie 2013 Phys. A 392, 4400-4416. (doi:10.1016/j.physa.2013.05.008)) has been empirically ascertained in Baaquie et al. (Baaquie et al. 2015 Phys. A 428, 19-37. (doi:10.1016/j.physa.2015.02.030)). The model's action functionals for different commodities has been empirically determined and calibrated using the unequal time correlation functions of the market commodity prices using a perturbation expansion (Baaquie et al. 2015 Phys. A 428, 19-37. (doi:10.1016/j.physa.2015.02.030)). Nine commodities drawn from the energy, metal and grain sectors are empirically studied and their auto-correlation for up to 300 days is described by the model to an accuracy of R(2)>0.90-using only six parameters. © 2015 The Author(s).

  14. The USDA Cranberry Entomology Lab: Highlights from 2011-2017

    Science.gov (United States)

    Biological, chemical, and cultural control methods have been investigated as part of the cranberry crop protection program pursued in the USDA Cranberry Entomology Laboratory. Surveys of native entomopathogenic nematodes in Wisconsin have produced a new bio-insecticide agent (Oscheius onirici subsp....

  15. Quarterly Web Interfaced Commodity Reporting

    Data.gov (United States)

    US Agency for International Development — QWICR is a secure, online Title II commodity reporting system accessible to USAID Missions, PVO Cooperating Sponsors and Food for Peace Officers. QWICR provides PVO...

  16. Outlook '98 - Commodity markets

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Simard, T.

    1998-01-01

    Canadian oil and natural gas producers'' participation in commodity and foreign exchange markets to alter the pricing characteristics of their commodity portfolios was reviewed. It was concluded that through the various risk management structures available from financial and physical market participants, Canadian oil and gas producers retain the ongoing ability to design, pro-actively, their desired exposure to oil and gas prices. Various industry-wide re-examination of risk management programs have taken place during the past two years. Based on these studies, the industry anticipates material volatility in West Texas Intermediate (WTI) oil and Alberta natural gas prices throughout 1998. Furthermore, there is considerable uncertainty surrounding the price differentials between WTI crude and Canadian oil streams, and between Alberta gas prices and other North American regional gas markets. Against this background of uncertainty, it is reasonable to predict that companies will use risk management strategies in an effort to outperform industry average prices, thereby ensuring that pro-active risk management activity will continue throughout 1998

  17. Research and development portfolio of the sustainability science team national sustainable operations USDA Forest Service

    Science.gov (United States)

    Trista Patterson; David Nicholls; Jonathan Long

    2015-01-01

    The Sustainability Science Team (SST) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service Sustainable Operations Initiative is a 18-member virtual research and development team, located across five regions and four research stations of the USDA Forest Service. The team provides research, publication, systems analysis, and decision support to the Sustainable...

  18. 5 CFR 1315.13 - Commodity Credit Corporation payments.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... 5 Administrative Personnel 3 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Commodity Credit Corporation payments... PAYMENT § 1315.13 Commodity Credit Corporation payments. As provided in § 1315.1(d), the provisions of... Credit Corporation (CCC) pursuant to Section 4(h) of the Act of June 29, 1948 (15 U.S.C. 714b(h)) (“CCC...

  19. Using commodity-indexed financing to fund OPEC/Alaska's development projects

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Essayyad, Musa

    1992-01-01

    An impediment to the process of economic diversification in OPEC and Alaska is the lack of favourable access to local and international capital markets to finance development projects, particularly mineral resource development. This paper highlights the importance of commodity-indexed bonds, including oil- and gold- indexed bonds, as a financing alternative to supplement the supply shortage of loanable funds from conventional, local and international commercial banks. The indexation concept is discussed, features of different bonds issued to date are contrasted and the benefits and risks for borrowers and investors are highlighted. An analysis is made of the experience of OPEC and Alaska in using commodity-indexed bonds and the feasibility of Alaska and some OPEC countries entering into commodity-linked-financed joint ventures is examined. Future prospects for commodity-linked bonds are explored. Not withstanding the fact that the immediate market timing is unfavourable, the long-term benefits of commodity-indexed securities are recognized. (U.K.)

  20. Legal status and organizational structure of commodities excange in Slovakia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nada Petričević

    2011-07-01

    Full Text Available Commodities exchange is an important element of market economy of a country. Being an organized commodities and capital market, it goes beyond the trade in a trade fair and particular trade in real commodities. It includes trading in exchangeable goods by standard label. As foundation of commodities exchange is expected in Croatia, the paper will explicate its status and operation in Slovakia, an EU member state that is similar to our country. The paper will focus on the legal status and organizational structure of consumer goods market in Bratislava. Although it has existed for just over 15 years, it is important to note that it actually goes back to the pre-Second World War Czechoslovakia. Also, to provide better understanding of its functioning, regulations defining the foundation and functioning of the commodities market will also be presented as well as the profile, method and types of operations, together with its positive effects.

  1. 77 FR 25319 - Commodity Options

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-04-27

    ..., merchants, SDs, commodity funds, futures industry organizations, academics and think tanks, a U.S... particular (i.e., optionality in a contract settling by physical delivery that is used to meet varying demand...

  2. Food and Feed Commodity Vocabulary

    Science.gov (United States)

    Food and Feed Vocabulary was developed to consolidate all the major OPP Commodity Vocabularies into one standardized vocabulary. The EPA-preferred term is the only term that can be used in setting tolerances.

  3. Consumer assessment of beef tenderloin steaks from various USDA quality grades at 3 degrees of doneness.

    Science.gov (United States)

    O'Quinn, Travis G; Brooks, J Chance; Miller, Markus F

    2015-02-01

    A consumer study was conducted to determine palatability ratings of beef tenderloin steaks from USDA Choice, USDA Select, and USDA Select with marbling scores from Slight 50 to 100 (USDA High Select) cooked to various degrees of doneness. Steaks were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 degree of doneness categories: very-rare, medium-rare, or well-done. Consumers (N = 315) were screened for preference of degree of doneness and fed 4 samples of their preferred doneness (a warm-up and one from each USDA quality grade treatment in a random order). Consumers evaluated steaks on an 8-point verbally anchored hedonic scale for tenderness, juiciness, flavor, and overall like as well as rated steaks as acceptable or unacceptable for all palatability traits. Quality grade had no effect (P > 0.05) on consumer ratings for tenderness, juiciness, flavor, and overall like scores, with all traits averaging above a 7 ("like very much") on the 8-point scale. In addition, no differences (P > 0.05) were found in the percentage of samples rated as acceptable for all palatability traits, with more than 94% of samples rated acceptable for each trait in all quality grades evaluated. Steaks cooked to well-done had lower (P Choice and Select quality grades. © 2015 Institute of Food Technologists®

  4. Adherence to the USDA Food Guide, DASH Eating Plan, and Mediterranean dietary pattern reduces risk of colorectal adenoma.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dixon, L Beth; Subar, Amy F; Peters, Ulrike; Weissfeld, Joel L; Bresalier, Robert S; Risch, Adam; Schatzkin, Arthur; Hayes, Richard B

    2007-11-01

    The 2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans include quantitative recommendations for 2 eating patterns, the USDA Food Guide and the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) Eating Plan, to promote optimal health and reduce disease risk. A Mediterranean dietary pattern has also been promoted for health benefits. Our objective was to determine whether adherence to the USDA Food Guide recommendations, the DASH Eating Plan, or a Mediterranean dietary pattern is associated with reduced risk of distal colorectal adenoma. In the Prostate, Lung, Colorectal, and Ovarian Cancer Screening Trial, men and women aged 55-74 y were screened for colorectal cancer by sigmoidoscopy at 10 centers in the U.S. After adjusting for potential confounders, men who most complied with the USDA Food Guide recommendations had a 26% reduced risk of colorectal adenoma compared with men who least complied with the recommendations (OR USDA score >or= 5 vs. dietary pattern. Women who most complied with the USDA Food Guide recommendations had an 18% reduced risk for colorectal adenoma, but subgroup analyses revealed protective associations only for current smokers (OR USDA score >or= 5 vs. or= 5 vs. dietary recommendations or a Mediterranean dietary pattern is associated with reduced risk of colorectal adenoma, especially in men.

  5. Institutional, individual, and socio-cultural domains of partnerships: a typology of USDA Forest Service recreation partners

    Science.gov (United States)

    Erin Seekamp; Lee K. Cerveny; Allie. McCreary

    2011-01-01

    Federal land management agencies, such as the USDA Forest Service, have expanded the role of recreation partners reflecting constrained growth in appropriations and broader societal trends towards civic environmental governance. Partnerships with individual volunteers, service groups, commercial outfitters, and other government agencies provide the USDA Forest Service...

  6. Pulsed electric field (PEF)research at USDA, ARS, ERRC

    Science.gov (United States)

    This article summarizes the effects of pulsed electric fields on the microbiological safety and quality aspects of various liquid food matrices, obtained at USDA, ARS, Eastern Regional Research Center under CRIS Project No. 1935-41420-013-00D, Processing Intervention Technologies for Enhancing the S...

  7. Novel USDA Mosquito Control Techniques for the US Military

    Science.gov (United States)

    Novel techniques that we developed at the USDA to protect deployed military troops from the threat of vector-borne diseases are described. Some of the methods developed included (1) novel military personal protection methods, (2) barrier treatments of artificial materials and natural vegetation, and...

  8. 7 CFR 1599.9 - Damage to or loss of commodities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ..., DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE McGOVERN-DOLE INTERNATIONAL FOOD FOR EDUCATION AND CHILD NUTRITION PROGRAM § 1599.9... commodities, the participant shall arrange for the recovery of that portion of the donated commodities...

  9. Emerging crops in the USDA arid lands germplasm collection

    Science.gov (United States)

    The USDA National Plant Germplasm System maintains collections of several emerging crops for arid lands at the National Arid Land Plant Genetic Resources Unit in Parlier, CA (NALPGRU). The guayule, jojoba, and prickly pear collections are most active in terms of current research and crop development...

  10. Climate programs update: USDA Southwest Regional Climate Hub update

    Science.gov (United States)

    PROGRAM OVERVIEW: The overarching goal of the USDA SW Climate Hub is to assist farmers, ranchers and foresters in addressing the effects of climate change including prolonged drought, increased insect outbreaks and severe wildfires. In the first year of operations, the SW Climate Hub (est. Februa...

  11. USDA Mosquito Control Product Research for the US Military

    Science.gov (United States)

    New techniques that were developed at the USDA to protect deployed military troops from the threat of vector-borne diseases and are also applicable for use by civilian mosquito control program use are described. Techniques to be illustrated include: (1) novel military personal protection methods, (2...

  12. 77 FR 49774 - Notice of Request for Extension of a Currently Approved Information Collection; USDA Registration...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-08-17

    ...Authentication Service (eAuth), located at http://www.eauth.egov.usda.gov . The USDA eAuth service provides the... Electronic Access Code. OMB Number: 0503-0014. Expiration Date of Approval: August 31, 2013. Type of Request... eAuth as a management and technical process that addresses user authentication and authorization...

  13. The Influence of Agricultural Commodity on F&B Company’s Performance in Indonesia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rofikoh Rokhim

    2013-04-01

    Full Text Available This research examines the influence of agricultural commodity price movements on stock price and gross profit of food and beverage companies in Indonesia, as well as the effect of volatility prices of agricultural commodities. Using time series data of food and beverages (F&B companies that are listed at the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX, this research calculating the event studies to find the abnormal returns. The results showed that the movement of agricultural commodity prices has a positive effect on stock prices of F&B companies, with the dominant influence of commodity prices of corn and sugar. Agricultural commodity prices also affect positively on gross profit F&B companies, with the dominant influence of commodity prices of corn and palm oil. The increase in prices of agricultural commodities simultaneously affect the value of a positive cumulative abnormal return for stocks of F&B companies. The results also showed that the decline of agricultural commodities simultaneously affect the value of negative cumulative abnormal return for stocks of F&B companies.

  14. World oil and agricultural commodity prices: Evidence from nonlinear causality

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nazlioglu, Saban

    2011-01-01

    The increasing co-movements between the world oil and agricultural commodity prices have renewed interest in determining price transmission from oil prices to those of agricultural commodities. This study extends the literature on the oil-agricultural commodity prices nexus, which particularly concentrates on nonlinear causal relationships between the world oil and three key agricultural commodity prices (corn, soybeans, and wheat). To this end, the linear causality approach of Toda-Yamamoto and the nonparametric causality method of Diks-Panchenko are applied to the weekly data spanning from 1994 to 2010. The linear causality analysis indicates that the oil prices and the agricultural commodity prices do not influence each other, which supports evidence on the neutrality hypothesis. In contrast, the nonlinear causality analysis shows that: (i) there are nonlinear feedbacks between the oil and the agricultural prices, and (ii) there is a persistent unidirectional nonlinear causality running from the oil prices to the corn and to the soybeans prices. The findings from the nonlinear causality analysis therefore provide clues for better understanding the recent dynamics of the agricultural commodity prices and some policy implications for policy makers, farmers, and global investors. This study also suggests the directions for future studies. - Research highlights: → This study determines the price transmission mechanisms between the world oil and three key agricultural commodity prices (corn, soybeans, and wheat). → The linear and nonlinear cointegration and causality methods are carried out. → The linear causality analysis supports evidence on the neutrality hypothesis. → The nonlinear causality analysis shows that there is a persistent unidirectional causality from the oil prices to the corn and to the soybeans prices.

  15. Information Security: USDA Needs to Implement Its Departmentwide Information Security Plan

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    2000-01-01

    USDA has taken positive steps to begin improving its information security by developing its August 1999 Action Plan with recommendations to strengthen department-wide information security and hiring...

  16. Boom or bust : developing countries' rough ride on the commodity price rollercoaster

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Brown, O.; Gibson, J.

    2006-10-01

    Current high commodity prices are driven by strong demand from the emerging economies of China and India in addition to high consumption in the United States. Many developing countries are experiencing massive windfall revenues from high commodity prices. However, commodity prices are highly volatile in the short term, and can vary as much as 50 per cent in a single year. While developed country producers are supported by subsidies and social safety nets, developing countries and smallholder producers feel the extent of commodity price volatility more directly. Many developing countries are becoming locked into the production and export of primary commodities whose volatile prices are declining over the long term, and over which they have very little control. Price volatility makes sound fiscal planning difficult for both countries and producers. Price booms and busts also drive social inequalities, livelihood inequalities, and corruption. Price swings can cause conflict over valuable land and resources, and does not create incentives for sound environmental stewardship. This paper described the impacts of commodity price volatility in developing countries with the aim of promoting discussion about what can be done to help stabilize revenues for countries as well as producers. Price trends and their importance were reviewed, and the theoretical benefits of liberalized commodity markets were examined. Previous attempts to stabilize commodity prices were reviewed. It was concluded that the best long-term solution to the commodity price problem is economic diversification. Recommendations for promoting economic diversification were provided. 43 refs., 1 tab., 2 figs

  17. Is women's labor a commodity?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Anderson, Elizabeth S

    1990-01-01

    ...A commercial surrogate mother is anyone who is paid money to bear a child for other people and terminate her parental rights, so that the others may raise the child as exclusively their own. The growth of commercial surrogacy has raised with new urgency a class of concerns regarding the proper scope of the market. Some critics have objected to commercial surrogacy on the ground that it improperly treats children and women's reproductive capacities as commodities. The prospect of reducing children to consumer durables and women to baby factories surely inspires revulsion. But are there good reasons behind the revulsion? And is this an accurate description of what commercial surrogacy implies? This article offers a theory about what things are properly regarded as commodities which supports the claim that commercial surrogacy constitutes an unconscionable commodification of children and of women's reproductive capacities.

  18. Regulations in the commodity trading sector: should the commodity trading industry in Switzerland be more regulated and, if so, how ?

    OpenAIRE

    Volchkov, Nikola; Lewis, Brian

    2017-01-01

    Commodity trading is a sector which is essential to our development and prosperity as well as economic growth. It is relatively unknown and perceived differently depending on the viewpoint of the observer. Many think of the exploitation of resources in resource rich countries, others only of the transport of goods from producers to consumers and others focus on “speculation” and its association with financial markets which can create risk. Given the importance of commodity trading across the ...

  19. HESTIA Commodities Exchange Pallet and Sounding Rocket Test Stand

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chaparro, Javier

    2013-01-01

    During my Spring 2016 internship, my two major contributions were the design of the Commodities Exchange Pallet and the design of a test stand for a 100 pounds-thrust sounding rocket. The Commodities Exchange Pallet is a prototype developed for the Human Exploration Spacecraft Testbed for Integration and Advancement (HESTIA) program. Under the HESTIA initiative the Commodities Exchange Pallet was developed as a method for demonstrating multi-system integration thru the transportation of In-Situ Resource Utilization produced oxygen and water to a human habitat. Ultimately, this prototype's performance will allow for future evaluation of integration, which may lead to the development of a flight capable pallet for future deep-space exploration missions. For HESTIA, my main task was to design the Commodities Exchange Pallet system to be used for completing an integration demonstration. Under the guidance of my mentor, I designed, both, the structural frame and fluid delivery system for the commodities pallet. The fluid delivery system includes a liquid-oxygen to gaseous-oxygen system, a water delivery system, and a carbon-dioxide compressors system. The structural frame is designed to meet safety and transportation requirements, as well as the ability to interface with the ER division's Portable Utility Pallet. The commodities pallet structure also includes independent instrumentation oxygen/water panels for operation and system monitoring. My major accomplishments for the commodities exchange pallet were the completion of the fluid delivery systems and the structural frame designs. In addition, parts selection was completed in order to expedite construction of the prototype, scheduled to begin in May of 2016. Once the commodities pallet is assembled and tested it is expected to complete a fully integrated transfer demonstration with the ISRU unit and the Environmental Control and Life Support System test chamber in September of 2016. In addition to the development of

  20. Budget Constraints Affect Male Rats' Choices between Differently Priced Commodities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    van Wingerden, Marijn; Marx, Christine; Kalenscher, Tobias

    2015-01-01

    Demand theory can be applied to analyse how a human or animal consumer changes her selection of commodities within a certain budget in response to changes in price of those commodities. This change in consumption assessed over a range of prices is defined as demand elasticity. Previously, income-compensated and income-uncompensated price changes have been investigated using human and animal consumers, as demand theory predicts different elasticities for both conditions. However, in these studies, demand elasticity was only evaluated over the entirety of choices made from a budget. As compensating budgets changes the number of attainable commodities relative to uncompensated conditions, and thus the number of choices, it remained unclear whether budget compensation has a trivial effect on demand elasticity by simply sampling from a different total number of choices or has a direct effect on consumers' sequential choice structure. If the budget context independently changes choices between commodities over and above price effects, this should become apparent when demand elasticity is assessed over choice sets of any reasonable size that are matched in choice opportunities between budget conditions. To gain more detailed insight in the sequential choice dynamics underlying differences in demand elasticity between budget conditions, we trained N=8 rat consumers to spend a daily budget by making a number of nosepokes to obtain two liquid commodities under different price regimes, in sessions with and without budget compensation. We confirmed that demand elasticity for both commodities differed between compensated and uncompensated budget conditions, also when the number of choices considered was matched, and showed that these elasticity differences emerge early in the sessions. These differences in demand elasticity were driven by a higher choice rate and an increased reselection bias for the preferred commodity in compensated compared to uncompensated budget conditions

  1. Budget Constraints Affect Male Rats’ Choices between Differently Priced Commodities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kalenscher, Tobias

    2015-01-01

    Demand theory can be applied to analyse how a human or animal consumer changes her selection of commodities within a certain budget in response to changes in price of those commodities. This change in consumption assessed over a range of prices is defined as demand elasticity. Previously, income-compensated and income-uncompensated price changes have been investigated using human and animal consumers, as demand theory predicts different elasticities for both conditions. However, in these studies, demand elasticity was only evaluated over the entirety of choices made from a budget. As compensating budgets changes the number of attainable commodities relative to uncompensated conditions, and thus the number of choices, it remained unclear whether budget compensation has a trivial effect on demand elasticity by simply sampling from a different total number of choices or has a direct effect on consumers’ sequential choice structure. If the budget context independently changes choices between commodities over and above price effects, this should become apparent when demand elasticity is assessed over choice sets of any reasonable size that are matched in choice opportunities between budget conditions. To gain more detailed insight in the sequential choice dynamics underlying differences in demand elasticity between budget conditions, we trained N=8 rat consumers to spend a daily budget by making a number of nosepokes to obtain two liquid commodities under different price regimes, in sessions with and without budget compensation. We confirmed that demand elasticity for both commodities differed between compensated and uncompensated budget conditions, also when the number of choices considered was matched, and showed that these elasticity differences emerge early in the sessions. These differences in demand elasticity were driven by a higher choice rate and an increased reselection bias for the preferred commodity in compensated compared to uncompensated budget

  2. SUBJECTIVITY UNDER CONSUMERISM: THE TOTALIZATION OF THE SUBJECT AS A COMMODITY

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marlon Xavier

    2016-08-01

    Full Text Available Abstract This theoretical work discusses consumerism's processes of subjectivation and their psychological consequences. Its regime is studied through its social imaginary and its totalitarian character: the discourse of advertising, as a global hegemon, absorbs all forms of discourse and signification, thereby actualizing capitalism's telos - the colonization of the Lebenswelt under a great imperative: everything must become a commodity, especially the subject. A process of totalization of subjectivity occurs under a commodification logic centered on the representation: every image must be transformed into commodity-signs. Thus the consumption imaginary appears as a totalizing ideology, functioning as archaic représentations collectives (Durkheim and simulating a religious imaginary. It mass-produces subjectivity through participation mystique (Lévy-Bruhl with its commodity-signs (and their fetish and the whole imaginary. Its subject is defined as a bricolage of consumable commodity-signs, being therefore eternally fluid, performative, and ethereal. Thus it produces an anthropological mutation, the commodity-subject: a disposable, empty, thoroughly commodified self.

  3. Impact assessment of commodity standards

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Ruben, Ruerd

    2017-01-01

    Voluntary commodity standards are widely used to enhance the performance of tropical agro-food chains and to support the welfare and sustainability of smallholder farmers. Different methods and approaches are used to assess the effectiveness and impact of these certification schemes at

  4. Crushing Candy: The Free-to-Play Game in Its Connective Commodity Form

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    David B. Nieborg

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available The goal of this article is to add a complementary perspective to the study of social network sites by surveying how the political economy of social media platforms relates to the structure of free-to-play games in their commodity form. Drawing on the theory of multisided markets and critical political economy, this article surveys the political economy of game apps and investigates how it is symbiotically related to the technological and economic logic underlying connective platforms operated by Google, Apple, Facebook, and Amazon. These social media platforms operate app stores that sustain the transformation of games as fixed, physically distributed products that follow a transaction logic, into digitally distributed, freely accessible, or “free-to-play” apps. Through a case study of the popular casual game Candy Crush Saga it is contended that the connective properties of social media platforms affect the form and format of game apps as cultural commodities. Candy Crush Saga developer King Digital Entertainment has been able to attract hundreds of millions of players and build a business model that combines the commodification of virtual items, connectivity, user attention, user data, and play. It is argued that the free-to-play commodity form comprises three commodity types: the product commodity, the “prosumer commodity,” and the player commodity. Furthermore, Candy Crush Saga ’s commodity form is structured by a platformed modality of cultural production and circulation and therefore embedded in the political economy of its host platform.

  5. Aging management and life assessment of buried commodities in nuclear power plants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Park, J. H.; Jung, I. S.; Jo, H. S.; Kim, M. G.; Kim, S. T.; Lee, S. S.

    2000-01-01

    General field survey, inspection and life assessment were performed to establish effective aging management program of buried commodities in nuclear power plant. Basic informations on material characteristics, aging degradation experiences and maintenance history were gathered. Considering their degradation effects on power operation or safety, buried commodities were screened for the aging management priority. Various inspection techniques were applied in field survey and inspection, and their results were incorporated in the life assessment of buried commodities. In the aspect of aging degradation, general status of buried commodities were considered still sound while some revealed local degradation

  6. Progress report and technical evaluation of the ISCR pilot test conducted at the former CCC/USDA grain storage facility in Centralia, Kansas.

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    LaFreniere, L. M.; Environmental Science Division

    2009-01-14

    In October, 2007, the Commodity Credit Corporation of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (CCC/USDA) presented the document Interim Measure Conceptual Design (Argonne 2007a) to the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, Bureau of Environmental Remediation (KDHE/BER), for a proposed non-emergency Interim Measure (IM) at the site of the former CCC/USDA grain storage facility in Centralia, Kansas (Figure 1.1). The IM was recommended to mitigate existing levels of carbon tetrachloride contamination identified in the vadose zone soils beneath the former facility and in the groundwater beneath and in the vicinity of the former facility, as well as to moderate or decrease the potential future concentrations of carbon tetrachloride in the groundwater. The Interim Measure Conceptual Design (Argonne 2007a) was developed in accordance with the KDHE/BER Policy No.BERRS-029, Policy and Scope of Work: Interim Measures (KDHE 1996). The hydrogeologic, geochemical, and contaminant distribution characteristics of the Centralia site, as identified by the CCC/USDA, factored into the development of the nonemergency IM proposal. These characteristics were summarized in the Interim Measure Conceptual Design (Argonne 2007a) and were discussed in detail in previous Argonne reports (Argonne 2002a, 2003, 2004, 2005a,b,c, 2006a,b, 2007b). The identified remedial goals of the proposed IM were as follows: (1) To reduce the existing concentrations of carbon tetrachloride in groundwater in three 'hot spot' areas identified at the site (at SB01, SB05, and SB12-MW02; Figure 1.2) to levels acceptable to the KDHE. (2) To reduce carbon tetrachloride concentrations in the soils near the location of former soil boring SB12 and existing monitoring well MW02 (Figure 1.2) to levels below the KDHE Tier 2 Risk-Based Screening Level (RBSL) of 200 {micro}g/kg for this contaminant. To address these goals, the potential application of an in situ chemical reduction (ISCR) treatment technology

  7. ASSESSING THE GOVERNANCE FOR COMMODITY PRICE STABILIZATION - A RETROSPECTIVE LOOK

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pop Larisa Nicoleta

    2015-07-01

    Full Text Available The volatility of commodity prices has become once again a matter of profound and controversial debates for both political and academic spheres worldwide in the framework of the global economy severely distressed by the recent economic turbulences. Although commodity markets were already notorious for their price instability, the events the world economy experienced in the years 2000s offered new connotations to this phenomenon. In the first decade of this millennium, the commodity markets have struggled with high volatility, with prices reaching historical peaks just to crash dramatically some months later and very soon to restart their rise. The significant increase in volatility generated many debates about its triggering factors, the implications in terms of risk exposure of economic actors, but also the need for reconfiguring regulatory policy frameworks. The quest for the most appropriate means to deal with commodity price turbulences has known different stages over the years. Decision makers worldwide have sought alternatives, formulated and tested various mechanisms whose central aim was to mitigate price fluctuations. Governments formulate and implement consistent regulatory policies whose international coordination is a ‘sine qua non’ condition for stabilizing these markets. However, the turbulences on commodity markets often generate policy responses that sometimes exacerbate rather than mitigate the price instability. The purpose of this paper is to assess the subject of governance regarding commodity price stabilization, offering a retrospective look at the mechanisms implemented over the years, with a central focus on the International Commodity Agreements – instruments through which in the previous decades the producer and consumer governments worldwide pursued price stabilization for some key commodities like sugar, coffee, cocoa, tin and natural rubber. After analyzing the effectiveness of the International Agreements and

  8. Industrial commodity statistics yearbook 2001. Production statistics (1992-2001)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2003-01-01

    This is the thirty-fifth in a series of annual compilations of statistics on world industry designed to meet both the general demand for information of this kind and the special requirements of the United Nations and related international bodies. Beginning with the 1992 edition, the title of the publication was changed to industrial Commodity Statistics Yearbook as the result of a decision made by the United Nations Statistical Commission at its twenty-seventh session to discontinue, effective 1994, publication of the Industrial Statistics Yearbook, volume I, General Industrial Statistics by the Statistics Division of the United Nations. The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) has become responsible for the collection and dissemination of general industrial statistics while the Statistics Division of the United Nations continues to be responsible for industrial commodity production statistics. The previous title, Industrial Statistics Yearbook, volume II, Commodity Production Statistics, was introduced in the 1982 edition. The first seven editions in this series were published under the title The Growth of World industry and the next eight editions under the title Yearbook of Industrial Statistics. This edition of the Yearbook contains annual quantity data on production of industrial commodities by country, geographical region, economic grouping and for the world. A standard list of about 530 commodities (about 590 statistical series) has been adopted for the publication. The statistics refer to the ten-year period 1992-2001 for about 200 countries and areas

  9. Industrial commodity statistics yearbook 2002. Production statistics (1993-2002)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2004-01-01

    This is the thirty-sixth in a series of annual compilations of statistics on world industry designed to meet both the general demand for information of this kind and the special requirements of the United Nations and related international bodies. Beginning with the 1992 edition, the title of the publication was changed to industrial Commodity Statistics Yearbook as the result of a decision made by the United Nations Statistical Commission at its twenty-seventh session to discontinue, effective 1994, publication of the Industrial Statistics Yearbook, volume I, General Industrial Statistics by the Statistics Division of the United Nations. The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) has become responsible for the collection and dissemination of general industrial statistics while the Statistics Division of the United Nations continues to be responsible for industrial commodity production statistics. The previous title, Industrial Statistics Yearbook, volume II, Commodity Production Statistics, was introduced in the 1982 edition. The first seven editions in this series were published under the title 'The Growth of World industry' and the next eight editions under the title 'Yearbook of Industrial Statistics'. This edition of the Yearbook contains annual quantity data on production of industrial commodities by country, geographical region, economic grouping and for the world. A standard list of about 530 commodities (about 590 statistical series) has been adopted for the publication. The statistics refer to the ten-year period 1993-2002 for about 200 countries and areas

  10. Industrial commodity statistics yearbook 2000. Production statistics (1991-2000)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2002-01-01

    This is the thirty-third in a series of annual compilations of statistics on world industry designed to meet both the general demand for information of this kind and the special requirements of the United Nations and related international bodies. Beginning with the 1992 edition, the title of the publication was changed to industrial Commodity Statistics Yearbook as the result of a decision made by the United Nations Statistical Commission at its twenty-seventh session to discontinue, effective 1994, publication of the Industrial Statistics Yearbook, volume I, General Industrial Statistics by the Statistics Division of the United Nations. The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) has become responsible for the collection and dissemination of general industrial statistics while the Statistics Division of the United Nations continues to be responsible for industrial commodity production statistics. The previous title, Industrial Statistics Yearbook, volume II, Commodity Production Statistics, was introduced in the 1982 edition. The first seven editions in this series were published under the title The Growth of World industry and the next eight editions under the title Yearbook of Industrial Statistics. This edition of the Yearbook contains annual quantity data on production of industrial commodities by country, geographical region, economic grouping and for the world. A standard list of about 530 commodities (about 590 statistical series) has been adopted for the publication. Most of the statistics refer to the ten-year period 1991-2000 for about 200 countries and areas

  11. USDA Northeast climate hub greenhouse gas mitigation workshop technical report

    Science.gov (United States)

    In April 2015, USDA Secretary Vilsack announced the Greenhouse Gas Building Blocks for Climate Smart Agriculture and Forestry in an effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, increase carbon sequestration, and expand renewable energy production in the agricultural and forestry sectors. This initiati...

  12. Stationarity changes in long-run energy commodity prices

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zaklan, Aleksandar; Abrell, Jan; Neumann, Anne

    2016-01-01

    Situated at the intersection of the literatures on speculative storage and non-renewable commodity scarcity, this paper considers whether changes in persistence have occurred in long-run U.S. prices of the energy commodities crude oil, natural gas and bituminous coal. We allow for a structural break when testing for a break in persistence to avoid a change in the stochastic properties of prices being confounded by an unaccounted-for deterministic shift in the price series. We find that coal prices are trend stationary throughout their evolution and that oil prices change from stationarity to non-stationarity in the decade between the late 1960s to late 1970s. The result on gas prices is ambiguous. Our results demonstrate the importance of accounting for a possible structural shift when testing for breaks in persistence, while being robust to the exact date of the structural break. Based on our analysis we caution against viewing long-run energy commodity prices as being non-stationary and conclude in favor of modeling commodity market fundamentals as stationary, meaning that speculative storage will tend to have a dampening effect on prices. We also cannot reject that long-run prices of coal and, with some hesitation, gas follow a Hotelling-type rule. In contrast, we reject the Hotelling rule for oil prices since the late 1960s/early 1970s. - Highlights: • This paper contributes to the literatures on speculative storage and scarcity. • We test if long-run U.S. coal, oil and gas prices became non-stationary. • We pre-test for structural breaks when testing for changes in persistence. • Coal prices are found to be trend stationary, oil prices become non-stationary. • We caution against modeling commodity market fundamentals as non-stationary.

  13. A two-commodity perishable inventory system | Sivakumar | ORiON

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    We present a two-commodity perishable stochastic inventory system under continuous review at a service facility with a finite waiting room. The maximum storage capacity for the i-th item is fixed as Si (i = 1,2). We assume that a demand for the i-th commodity is of unit size. The arrival instants of customers to the service ...

  14. A Study on Market Efficiency of Selected Commodity Derivatives Traded on NCDEX During 2011

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sajipriya, N.

    2012-10-01

    The study aims at testing the weak form of Efficient Market Hypothesis in the context of an emerging commodity market - National Commodity Derivatives Exchange (NCDEX), which is considered as the prime commodity derivatives market in India. The study considered daily spot and futures prices of five selected commodities traded on NCDEX over 12 month period (the futures contracts originating and expiring during the period January 2011 to December 2011) The five commodities chosen are Pepper, Crude palm Oil, steel silver and Chana as they account for almost two-thirds of the value of agricultural commodity derivatives traded on NCDEX. The results of Run test indicate that both spot and futures prices are weak form efficient

  15. A Partnership for Public Health: USDA Branded Food Products Database

    Science.gov (United States)

    The importance of comprehensive food composition databases is more critical than ever in helping to address global food security. The USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference is the “gold standard” for food composition databases. The presentation will include new developments in stren...

  16. Powdery mildew reaction of hop cultivars and USDA germplasm, 2015

    Science.gov (United States)

    This research was conducted to identify possible sources of resistance to the disease powdery mildew in publicly-available hop germplasm and cultivars. Germplasm with the highest levels of downy mildew resistance in the USDA collection and various cultivars of interest were screened for their reac...

  17. Cross-correlations between RMB exchange rate and international commodity markets

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lu, Xinsheng; Li, Jianfeng; Zhou, Ying; Qian, Yubo

    2017-11-01

    This paper employs multifractal detrended analysis (MF-DFA) and multifractal detrended cross-correlation analysis (MF-DCCA) to study cross-correlation behaviors between China's RMB exchange rate market and four international commodity markets, using a comprehensive set of data covering the period from 22 July 2005 to 15 March 2016. Our empirical results from MF-DFA indicate that the RMB exchange rate is the most inefficient among the 4 selected markets. The results from quantitative analysis have testified the existence of cross-correlations and the result from MF-DCCA have further confirmed a strong multifractal behavior between RMB exchange rate and international commodity markets. We also demonstrate that the recent financial crisis has significant impact on the cross-correlated behavior. Through the rolling window analysis, we find that the RMB exchange rates and international commodity prices are anti-persistent cross-correlated. The main sources of multifractality in the cross-correlations are long-range correlations between RMB exchange rate and the aggregate commodity, energy and metals index.

  18. Price formation and transmission along the food commodity chain

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ivana Blažková

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available The article is focused on analysis of price transmission along the wheat commodity chain in the Czech Republic, with the distinction on wheat products with low value added (wheat flour, respectively high value added (wheat rolls. The degree of vertical price transmission is measured to identify potential market failures, because asymmetric price transmission can be the result of existence of market power within the food commodity chain. The data basis is made up from monthly prices on partial markets of the analyzed commodity chain published by Czech Statistical Office and Ministry of Agriculture of the Czech Republic. The monitored time period is from January 2000 till October 2009. The analysis is based on calculation of the price transmission elasticity coefficient (evaluation of price transmission along the chain and the intensity of dependency of positive and negative inter-market price differences (evaluation whether positive or negative price changes are better transmitted among particular vertical markets. Time lag is tested as well. The assessment of price transmission along the wheat commodity chain confirmed the existence of market power especially on the retail stage and low impact of price changes of farm prices on final consumer food prices.

  19. A content analysis of USDA Forest Service recreation partnerships

    Science.gov (United States)

    Steve Selin

    1995-01-01

    The USDA Forest Service has been implementing a partnership initiative for 6 years as part of the National Recreation Strategy. Several internal efforts have been undertaken to evaluate the progress made in this initiative as well as to make adjustments in the initiative for the future. These evaluation efforts are extended to present a content analysis of recreation...

  20. Optimal Nonlinear Pricing, Bundling Commodities and Contingent Services

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Podesta, Marion; Poudou, Jean-Christophe

    2008-01-01

    In this paper, we propose to analyze optimal nonlinear pricing when a firm offers in a bundle a commodity and a contingent service. The paper studies a mechanism design where all private information can be captured in a single scalar variable in a monopoly context. We show that to propose the package for commodity and service is less costly for the consumer, the firm has lower consumers' rent than the situation where it sells their good and contingent service under an independent pricing strategy. In fact, the possibility to use price discrimination via the supply of package is dominated by the fact that it is costly for the consumer to sign two contracts. Bundling energy and a contingent service is a profitable strategy for a energetician monopoly practising optimal nonlinear tariff. We show that the rates of the energy and the contingent service depend to the optional character of the contingent service and depend to the degree of complementarity between commodities and services. (authors)

  1. Sorting out commodity and macroeconomic risk in expected stock returns

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Boons, M.F.

    2014-01-01

    The dissertation consists of three essays in asset pricing. Chapter I is motivated by the recent surge in institutional investment in commodity futures markets. The chapter studies how commodity risk is priced in stock and futures markets and asks whether this risk premium is time-varying with these

  2. Radiation processing of food and agricultural commodities

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sharma, Arun

    2014-01-01

    Reducing post-harvest food losses is becoming increasingly important for sustaining food supplies. Appropriate post-harvest processing, handling, storage and distribution practices are as important as the efforts to increase productivity for improving food security, food safety and international trade in agricultural commodities. Preservation of food by ionizing radiation involves controlled application of energy of ionizing radiation such as gamma rays, X-rays, and accelerated electrons to agricultural commodities, food products and ingredients, for improving their storage life, hygiene and safety. The process employs either gamma rays emitted by radioisotopes such as cobalt-60 or high-energy electrons or X-rays generated from machine sources

  3. Analysis of physical flows in primary commodity trade. A case study in China

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ma, Tao; Li, Bo; Fang, Changming; Zhao, Bin; Luo, Yiqi; Chen, Jiakuan

    2006-01-01

    How globalization and international trade affect sustainable development and environment has attracted worldwide attention. Associated with the import and export of primary commodities, ecologically important materials have been exchanged among regions and countries. China, having the largest population in the world and the highest economic growth rate in last decades, may have an important influence on global sustainable development through the trade of primary commodities. Using the data from Almanac of China's Foreign Economic Relations and Trade, we analyzed material flows in the trade of primary commodity in China from 1950 to 2001. Our analysis shows that: (1) China has turned from a net exporter of primary commodities to a net importer; (2) minerals and fuels have been the major imports of primary commodities since 1992, just as well as foods and minerals did in 1980s; (3) most of the net imported primary commodities come from Oceania, Africa and Latin America. (author)

  4. A comparison of wood preservatives in posts in southern Mississippi : results from a half-decade of testing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mike H. Freeman; Douglas Crawford; Patricia Lebow; James A. Brient

    2005-01-01

    Wood preservatives extend the useful service life of all wooden commodities used above ground and in ground contact, Over SO years ago, the USDA-Forest Products Lab established tests in a high decay and high termite hazard zone in southern Mississippi. During the last five decades, periodic reports have been issued by researchers located at the USDA-FPL, in Madison, WI...

  5. Stockouts of HIV commodities in public health facilities in Kinshasa: Barriers to end HIV.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tinne Gils

    Full Text Available Stockouts of HIV commodities increase the risk of treatment interruption, antiretroviral resistance, treatment failure, morbidity and mortality. The study objective was to assess the magnitude and duration of stockouts of HIV medicines and diagnostic tests in public facilities in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo. This was a cross-sectional survey involving visits to facilities and warehouses in April and May 2015. All zonal warehouses, all public facilities with more than 200 patients on antiretroviral treatment (ART (high-burden facilities and a purposive sample of facilities with 200 or fewer patients (low-burden facilities in Kinshasa were selected. We focused on three adult ART formulations, cotrimoxazole tablets, and HIV diagnostic tests. Availability of items was determined by physical check, while stockout duration until the day of the survey visit was verified with stock cards. In case of ART stockouts, we asked the pharmacist in charge what the facility coping strategy was for patients needing those medicines. The study included 28 high-burden facilities and 64 low-burden facilities, together serving around 22000 ART patients. During the study period, a national shortage of the newly introduced first-line regimen Tenofovir-Lamivudine-Efavirenz resulted in stockouts of this regimen in 56% of high-burden and 43% of low-burden facilities, lasting a median of 36 (interquartile range 29-90 and 44 days (interquartile range 24-90 until the day of the survey visit, respectively. Each of the other investigated commodities were found out of stock in at least two low-burden and two high-burden facilities. In 30/41 (73% of stockout cases, the commodity was absent at the facility but present at the upstream warehouse. In 30/57 (54% of ART stockout cases, patients did not receive any medicines. In some cases, patients were switched to different ART formulations or regimens. Stockouts of HIV commodities were common in the visited facilities

  6. Regional climate services: A regional partnership between NOAA and USDA

    Science.gov (United States)

    Climate services in the Midwest and Northern Plains regions have been enhanced by a recent addition of the USDA Climate Hubs to NOAA’s existing network of partners. This new partnership stems from the intrinsic variability of intra and inter-annual climatic conditions, which makes decision-making fo...

  7. 75 FR 68597 - Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-11-08

    ... commitments, and is one means by which USDA seeks to insure fairness and soundness in commodity marketing. U.S... of a reportable commodity to be sold to a foreign buyer; (2) the country of destination; and (3) the marketing year of shipment. The authority to collect this information is found at 7 CFR Part 20 and the...

  8. Biological and Cultural Control of Olive Fruit Fly in California---Utilization of Parasitoids from USDA-APHIS-PPQ, Guatemala

    Science.gov (United States)

    The parasitoid Psytallia cf. concolor (Szépligeti) was reared on sterile Mediterranean fruit fly larvae at the USDA-APHIS-PPQ, Petapa Quarantine Laboratory in Guatemala and shipped to the USDA-ARS, Parlier, for wide-spread release and biological control of olive fruit fly in California. As many as 3...

  9. LDC commodity risk analysis and recommendations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2002-01-01

    Under the current operation of the new competitive electricity market in Ontario, local distribution companies (LDCs) are required to pay the monthly invoice of the Independent Market Operator (IMO) before they collect from end-users for the consumption period covered by the invoice, with no clear guarantee that the recovery will occur. This situation creates a major cash flow problem and financial risk for LDCs and threatens the integrity and stability of the electricity market. This paper described 3 features of Ontario's competitive electricity market that create financial and commodity risk. The first problem is that there is no limit on how high prices can rise. Increases in wholesale commodity prices can result in a situation where the amount of the IMO's invoice is greater than the LDC's ability to pay at the time of receipt. Secondly, the LDC bears a 100 per cent payment obligation to the IMO administrator of the wholesale market. The third problem is that LDCs bear payment default risk from all consumers in the Ontario market, including electricity retailers. This paper presents some specific policy solutions that can protect the market from this threat. It was suggested that in order to protect the integrity of Ontario's electricity market during high prices, a policy must be drafted to address the commodity price financing risk (CPFR) issue. The policy must also define what happens if prices increase past the LDCs financing obligation limit. tabs., figs

  10. 2002 commodity flow survey : state summaries

    Science.gov (United States)

    2005-07-01

    This report summarizes the 2002 Commodity Flow Survey (CFS) : state reports released in March 2005 by the Bureau of Transportation : Statistics (BTS) of the Research and Innovative Technology Administration : of the USDOT and the Census Bureau of the...

  11. Global stocks of selected mineral-based commodities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wilburn, David R.; Bleiwas, Donald I.; Karl, Nick A.

    2016-12-05

    IntroductionThe U.S. Geological Survey, National Minerals Information Center, analyzes mineral and metal supply chains by identifying and describing major components of mineral and material flows from ore extraction, through intermediate forms, to a final product. This report focuses on an important component of the world’s supply chain: the amounts and global distribution of major consumer, producer, and exchange stocks of selected mineral commodities. In this report, the term “stock” is used instead of “inventory” and refers to accumulations of mined ore, intermediate products, and refined mineral-based commodities that are in a form that meets the agreed-upon specifications of a buyer or processor of intermediate products. These may include certain ores such as bauxite, concentrates, smelter products, and refined metals. Materials sometimes referred to as inventory for accounting purposes, such as ore contained in a deposit or in a leach pile, or materials that need to be further processed before they can be shipped to a consumer, are not considered. Stocks may be held (owned) by consumers, governments, investors, producers, and traders. They may serve as (1) a means to achieve economic, social, and strategic goals through government policies; (2) a secure source of supply to meet demand and to mitigate potential shortages in the supply chain; (3) a hedge to mitigate price volatility; and (4) vehicles for speculative investment.The paucity and uneven reliability of data for stocks of ores and concentrates and for material held by producers, consumers, and merchants hinder the accurate estimating of the size and distribution of this portion of the supply chain for certain commodities. This paper reviews the more visible stocks held in commodity exchange warehouses distributed throughout the world.

  12. Construction Method of Display Proposal for Commodities in Sales Promotion by Genetic Algorithm

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yumoto, Masaki

    In a sales promotion task, wholesaler prepares and presents the display proposal for commodities in order to negotiate with retailer's buyers what commodities they should sell. For automating the sales promotion tasks, the proposal has to be constructed according to the target retailer's buyer. However, it is difficult to construct the proposal suitable for the target retail store because of too much combination of commodities. This paper proposes a construction method by Genetic algorithm (GA). The proposed method represents initial display proposals for commodities with genes, improve ones with the evaluation value by GA, and rearrange one with the highest evaluation value according to the classification of commodity. Through practical experiment, we can confirm that display proposal by the proposed method is similar with the one constructed by a wholesaler.

  13. The Commodity Form of Safety Information

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rodrigo Finkelstein

    2015-10-01

    Full Text Available The production of safety information is deemed a vital resource to protect human lives at the work site. The injury rate, lost days, incapacity rate, and fatality rate, are key indicators to prop up labour risk awareness and identify job hazards. However, safety information gets highly distorted because it does not only measure risk but serves as a means of exchange. It determines the amount of money to be swapped between Workers’ Compensation Boards and their client corporations. Moreover, as a depository of exchange value, safety information tends to exert pressure over social reality rather than just being a passive reflection of it. This paper discloses the commodity form of safety information. Based on a political economy of information framework, it identifies, describes, and analyses the safety information commodity in its active role of organizing safety and labour health.

  14. Examining USDA Forest Service recreation partnerships: institutional and relational interactions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Erin Seekamp; Lee K. Cerveny

    2010-01-01

    Since the 1980s, the USDA Forest Service budget has experienced limited growth. Downsizing and outsourcing characterize the agency's response to constrained appropriations. The agency increasingly works with partners to meet targets that otherwise could not be achieved. Partnerships may take many structural forms (e.g., memorandums of understanding, joint venture...

  15. Commodity-based Approach for Evaluating the Value of Freight Moving on Texas’ Roadway Network

    Science.gov (United States)

    2017-12-10

    The researchers took a commodity-based approach to evaluate the value of a list of selected commodities moved on the Texas freight network. This approach takes advantage of commodity-specific data sources and modeling processes. It provides a unique ...

  16. Commodity hardware and software summary

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wolbers, S.

    1997-04-01

    A review is given of the talks and papers presented in the Commodity Hardware and Software Session at the CHEP97 conference. An examination of the trends leading to the consideration of PC's for HEP is given, and a status of the work that is being done at various HEP labs and Universities is given

  17. Estimating the Competitive Storage Model with Trending Commodity Prices

    OpenAIRE

    Gouel , Christophe; LEGRAND , Nicolas

    2017-01-01

    We present a method to estimate jointly the parameters of a standard commodity storage model and the parameters characterizing the trend in commodity prices. This procedure allows the influence of a possible trend to be removed without restricting the model specification, and allows model and trend selection based on statistical criteria. The trend is modeled deterministically using linear or cubic spline functions of time. The results show that storage models with trend are always preferred ...

  18. Analysis of commodity prices with the particle filter

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Aiube, Fernando Antonio Lucena; Baidya, Tara Keshar Nanda; Tito, Edison Americo Huarsaya

    2008-01-01

    The behavior of commodities prices is fundamental to real-asset investment decisions, hedging, and pricing financial derivatives. Schwartz and Smith [Schwartz, E.S., Smith, J.E. (2000). Short term-variations and long-term dynamics in commodity prices. Management Science, 46, 893-911.] proposed a two-factor model for describing the stochastic processes of commodity prices, in which the two factors are short-term variations and equilibrium prices. These are both unobserved state variables that are estimated using the Kalman filter. The estimation is based on the observation of future prices for different maturities. The authors have carried out this process without incorporating jumps in the short-term variation of prices. Here we aim to demonstrate that the inclusion of jumps better explains the behavior of oil prices, and in fact creates difficulties in the estimation of state variables. This is because the variables become non-Gaussian so the Kalman filter is not recommended. Another methodology, called the particle filter, is more suitable in this case, and we describe its application in this article

  19. COMPETITIVENESS OF LEADING COMMODITIES TO SUPPORT DEVELOPING REGION OF AGROTOURISM

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Murwatiningsih Murwatiningsih

    2013-10-01

    Full Text Available AbstractThe aim of the research is to seek the competitiveness of the leading commodity in Semarang city which supports the development of centre commodity in agrotourism area. The method of analysis is leading sector, scoring analysis and capacity asessment through FGD. The result of the research reveals that leading commodities are Durian, Longan, Water Apple, and Rambutan. It is found that subdistrict Gunungpati and Mangunsari are ready to be the centre of horticulture commodity because its strategic location. It is located nearby Jatibarang reservoir (potential to be a tourism village, its cultivation is relatively successful, accessable transportation, and good management. Hence, it can be the pilot project area.Key words: competitiveness, centre, commodity, horticultureJEL Classification: O20, Q10AbstrakKesejahteraan petani tidak meningkat karena daya saingnya rendah dan pengelolannya tidak optimal. Tujuan penelitian, untuk melihat daya saing komoditas unggulan Kota Semarang untuk mendukung pengembangan sentra komoditas di kawasan agrowisata. Metode analisis yaitu sektor basis, analisis scoring serta capacity assessment melalui FGD. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan komoditas yang diunggulkan di Gunungpati adalah durian, klengkeng, jambu air dan rambutan. Kelurahan Gunungpati dan Mangunsari siap dijadikan sentra komoditas hortikultura di Kecamatan Gunungpati karena letaknya strategis- dekat dengan waduk Jatibarang (dapat menjadi desa wisata, budidaya relatif lebih berhasil, transportasi dan akseptibilitas lebih mudah, pengelolaannya bagus sehingga sudah menjadi daerah percontohan.Kata Kunci: daya saing, sentra, komoditas, hortikulturJEL Classification: O20, Q10

  20. Human dimensions in ecosystem management: a USDA Forest Service perspective

    Science.gov (United States)

    Deborah S. Carr

    1995-01-01

    For many decades, the natural resource profession has approached the management of public lands as exclusively a natural science endeavor requiring purely technical solutions. With the adoption of an ecosystem management philosophy, the USDA Forest Service has acknowledged the centrality of people in land management policy and decision-making. This paper explores the...

  1. Trends and volatility in sub Saharan Africa’s key primary commodity exports

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Matthew Ocran

    2013-02-01

    Full Text Available Using a GARCH model the paper sought to test the hypothesis that price volatility of key Sub Saharan Africa primary commodity exports, have not changed over the past four decades. Whilst crude oil, aluminium, cocoa and six others have not experienced significant change in price volatility over the period, nine other major commodities recorded changes. Efforts need to be made to extensively diversify the portfolio of agricultural commodity exports by including new products of which price volatilities in the past decades have been reduced. This is crucial for countries that depend on up to three primary commodities for the bulk of their foreign exchange earnings. Other measures such as value addition can also help in reducing impacts of unfavourable price movements.

  2. Market interdependence among commodity prices based on information transmission on the Internet

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ji, Qiang; Guo, Jian-Feng

    2015-05-01

    Human behaviour on the Internet has become a synchro-projection of real society. In this paper, we introduce the public concern derived from query volumes on the Web to empirically analyse the influence of information on commodity markets (e.g., crude oil, heating oil, corn and gold) using multivariate GARCH models based on dynamic conditional correlations. The analysis found that the changes of public concern on the Internet can well depict the changes of market prices, as the former has significant Granger causality effects on market prices. The findings indicate that the information of external shocks to commodity markets could be transmitted quickly, and commodity markets easily absorb the public concern of the information-sensitive traders. Finally, the conditional correlation among commodity prices varies dramatically over time.

  3. 76 FR 37797 - Application to Export Electric Energy; Freepoint Commodities, LLC

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-06-28

    ... DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY [OE Docket No. EA-380] Application to Export Electric Energy; Freepoint... application. SUMMARY: Freepoint Commodities, LLC has requested authority to transmit electric energy from the... Commodities requesting authority to transmit electric energy from the United States to Canada for ten years as...

  4. Agricultural and oil commodities: price transmission and market integration between US and Italy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Franco Rosa

    2014-08-01

    Full Text Available Purpose of this article it to get some evidences of market interaction between United States and Italy using the time series analysis of spot prices spanning from January 1999 to May 2012 for crude oil and three ag-commodities: wheat, corn and soybean. These crops have been selected for their relevance in ag-commodity exchanges between US and Italy markets. The integration between US and Italy agricultural markets is hypothesized for the consistent volume of crop traded between these two countries while the price transmission is related to the leading price signals of the CBT (Chicago Board of Trade. The integration between oil and ag-commodity markets is suggested both by the large use of energy intensive inputs, (fertilizer, seed, machinery in production of these ag-commodities, and their use in biofuel production. The results suggest: a for US market the evidence of market integration between crude oil and US ag-commodities; b for Italy the integration with US ag-commodity markets and less evidence of integration with the oil market. These results are valuable information both for the agents and policy makers contributing to improve the information accuracy to predict the price movements used by marketing operators for their strategies and policy makers to set up policies to re-establish conditions of market efficiency and allocate these ag-commodities in alternative market channels.

  5. The crucial relationship among energy commodity prices: Evidence from the Spanish electricity market

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Moutinho, Victor; Vieira, Joel; Carrizo Moreira, Antonio

    2011-01-01

    The main purpose of this article is twofold to analyze: (a) the long-term relation among the commodities prices and between spot electricity market price and commodity prices, and (b) the short-term dynamics among commodity prices and between electricity prices and commodity prices. Data between 2002 and 2005 from the Spanish electricity market was used. Econometric methods were used in the analysis of the commodity spot price, namely the vector autoregression model, the vector error correction model and the granger causality test. The co-integration approach was used to analyze the long-term relationship between the common stochastic trends of four fossil fuel prices. One of the findings in the long-term relation is that the prices of fuel and the prices of Brent are intertwined, though the prices of Brent ten to 'move' to reestablish the price equilibrium. Another finding is that the price of electricity is explained by the evolution of the natural gas series. - Highlights: → We model energy commodity prices in the Spanish electricity market. → We examine the short and long-term relationships among commodities prices. → We examine short and long-term relationships using co-integration techniques. → We found that in the long run the prices of fuel and Brent are intertwined. → The evolution of price of electricity is explained by the evolution of price of gas.

  6. Assessing human health risk in the USDA forest service

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hamel, D.R. [Department of Agriculture-Forest Service, Washington, DC (United States)

    1990-12-31

    This paper identifies the kinds of risk assessments being done by or for the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service. Summaries of data sources currently in use and the pesticide risk assessments completed by the agency or its contractors are discussed. An overview is provided of the agency`s standard operating procedures for the conduct of toxicological, ecological, environmental fate, and human health risk assessments.

  7. 76 FR 40677 - Farm Service Agency

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-07-11

    ... following methods: Mail: Judy Fry, Agricultural Marketing Specialist, Commodity Operations Division, Farm..., large print, audiotape, etc.) should contact USDA's TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and TDD...

  8. 77 FR 70902 - Fenpropathrin; Pesticide Tolerances

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-11-28

    ... Agriculture/National Agricultural Statistics Service (USDA/NASS), proprietary market surveys, and the National... the introductory text, alphabetically add the following commodities and footnote 1 to the table to...

  9. 2007 commodity flow survey : state summaries

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-12-01

    This report summarizes and highlights freight shipments for each of the 50 States and the District of Columbia based on the final release of CFS data in December 2009. It provides tables for each States value and weight of shipments, major commodity ...

  10. Commodities Trading: An Essential Economic Tool.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Welch, Mary A., Ed.

    1989-01-01

    This issue focuses on commodities trading as an essential economic tool. Activities include critical thinking about marketing decisions and discussion on how futures markets and options are used as important economic tools. Discussion questions and a special student project are included. (EH)

  11. Commodities and Switzerland: Development Policy Challenges and Policy Options

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Werner Thut

    2013-09-01

    Full Text Available EDITOR’S NOTEThis paper, written in December 2012, is a contribution to the ‘Policy Debate’ section of the International Development Policy. In this section, academics, policy makers and practitioners engage in a dialogue on global development challenges. Papers are copy-edited but not peer-reviewed. Instead, an initial thematic contribution is followed by critical comments and reactions from different stakeholders. This paper by Werner Thut is followed by reactions and analysis from a non-profit policy institute (Alexandra Gillies, Revenue Watch Institute, New York, ‘Crafting a Strategic Response to the Commodity-Development Conundrum’, a Southern scholar (Prof. Humberto Campodonico, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Lima ‘Going Beyond Transparency and Good Governance’ | ‘Más allá de la transparencia y una buena gobernanza’ and a representative of the trading sector (Stéphane Graber, Secretary General of Geneva Trading & Shipping Association – ‘Reassessing the Merchants’ Role in a Globalized Economy’.PAPER’S ABSTRACTSwitzerland is one of the world’s largest commodity trading hub. The author, senior policy adviser at the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC, reviews experiences and policy options related to commodity trading from a development policy perspective. While this sector has become of strategic importance to Switzerland’s economy, it also entails a number of risks. On the other hand, Swiss development cooperation efforts focus on several resource-rich countries, whose mineral and agricultural commodities are traded via Switzerland. How can Switzerland assist these countries to reap the benefits of their natural resource wealth? This paper looks at development policy aspects of commodity trading in relation to Swiss foreign and domestic policy. It examines ongoing policy debates in Switzerland and discusses development policy options.

  12. Dynamics of a durable commodity market involving trade at disequilibrium

    Science.gov (United States)

    Panchuk, A.; Puu, T.

    2018-05-01

    The present work considers a simple model of a durable commodity market involving two agents who trade stocks of two different types. Stock commodities, in contrast to flow commodities, remain on the market from period to period and, consequently, there is neither unique demand function nor unique supply function exists. We also set up exact conditions for trade at disequilibrium, the issue being usually neglected, though a fact of reality. The induced iterative system has infinite number of fixed points and path dependent dynamics. We show that a typical orbit is either attracted to one of the fixed points or eventually sticks at a no-trade point. For the latter the stock distribution always remains the same while the price displays periodic or chaotic oscillations.

  13. Determinants of prices increase of agricultural commodities in a global context1

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Borychowski Michał

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available The main objective of this article is to present the determinants of increase in agricultural commodity prices after 2006. The other specific aim is to show the factors affecting agricultural raw materials and food prices in the global context. This article is a review paper of the determinants of recent commodity and food prices spikes. However, it provides an outlook on these determinants that were the most important for the increases in the last decade. The last part of the article (conclusions to some extent is a synthesis of considerations and includes the authors’ opinions concerning determinants and an attempt to identify which ones were the most important in the growth of agricultural commodity prices. These increases in agricultural commodity prices resulted from many factors and it is very difficult to separate the individual impact of each of them, because they occurred in parallel. However, it is possible to indicate several main reasons for these price increases, which are: adverse changes in supply-demand relations in agricultural markets, increases in oil prices (and increases of the volatility of those prices, development of biofuel production from agricultural commodities (the first generation biofuels, dollar depreciation, an increase in operations of a speculative nature on commodity markets and improper economic policy that created an environment for the growth of prices of agricultural products.

  14. Evaluating citrus germplasm for huanglongbing (HLB) resistance: USDA-ARS Inoculation Program

    Science.gov (United States)

    The Asian citrus psyllid (ACP), Diaphorina citri, is an important pest because it vectors bacteria responsible for a serious disease of citrus known as huanglongbing (citrus greening disease). USDA-ARS researchers recently established a program for screening citrus germplasm for resistance to the di...

  15. History and Accomplishments of USDA-ARS Avian Disease and Oncology Laboratory

    Science.gov (United States)

    The USDA-Agricultural Research Service Avian Disease and Oncology Laboratory (ADOL) in East Lansing, Michigan, formerly known as Regional Poultry Research Laboratory, was dedicated on August 8, 1939. Its establishment was the result of joint efforts by the Agricultural Experiment Stations of the Nor...

  16. 22 CFR 201.64 - Application of the price rules to commodities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    .... 201.64 Section 201.64 Foreign Relations AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT RULES AND PROCEDURES... purchase price of a commodity exceeds the price in comparable export sales or in comparable domestic sales... the determination of any prevailing market price of any commodity or any prevailing price or maximum...

  17. EnviroAtlas - Acres of USDA Farm Service Agency Conservation Reserve Program land by 12-Digit HUC for the Conterminous United States.

    Data.gov (United States)

    U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — This EnviroAtlas dataset shows the acres of land enrolled in the US Department of Agriculture (USDA)'s Conservation Reserve Program (CRP). The CRP is administered by...

  18. Towards a Gendered Agro-Commodity Approach

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Primrose Nakazibwe

    2015-08-01

    Full Text Available Commodity or value chains are the dominant means to channel agro-food products from cultivators to consumers. Direct open markets are either non-existent or insignificant . These chains are also the main mechanisms for integrating underprivileged groups into the world economy. Why do global value chains generate sorrow for many and joy for a few, and why are these outcomes heavily gender biased? To look for answers this article critically reviews the post-2000 and earlier gender literature by proponents and opponents of the mainstream value chain approach. The purpose is to provide a methodological contribution on the integration of gender into the commodity chain approach. Most studies have fo cused on the economic effects of chain dynamics on women in agricultural product and labor markets. Some have extended this reasoning with social and cultural effects. Despite these advances, analytical gaps still exist as most existing research has concentrated on the agricultural nodes of modern, high value chains and lacks a gendered conceptual foundation. Scarce attention has been given to traditional staple crops, non-agricultural nodes, and feed back effects of gender relations on the chain. Our results indicate that an appropriate GCC approach should also consider the gendered impacts of the interaction between the governance structure and the institutiona l embeddedness, as well as the consequences of intra-household division of resources and labor in all stages of the chain. These two conceptual complements will be needed to explain the opportunities and constraints to improve gender equity in traditional and modern agro-commodity chains.

  19. 75 FR 51917 - Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act: Increase in License Fees

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-08-24

    ... frozen fruits and vegetables, benefiting the whole marketing chain from farmer to consumer. USDA's... payment, removes unscrupulous individuals from the trade when needed, and provides expert advice on trust...

  20. DESIGNING GREEN SUPPORT: INCENTIVE COMPATIBILITY AND THE COMMODITY PROGRAMS

    OpenAIRE

    Runge, C. Ford

    1994-01-01

    The purpose of this brief analysis is to consider the potential points of contact between a program of "green support" and the existing commodity programs in U.S. agriculture. These points of contact may take the form of conflict, complementarity, or neutrality. We shall assume initially that green support is "added" to the programs as they exist in 1994. Five main commodity program areas are considered: A. Deficiency payments resulting from the loan rate/target price structure B. Acreage red...

  1. USDA food and nutrient databases provide the infrastructure for food and nutrition research, policy, and practice.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ahuja, Jaspreet K C; Moshfegh, Alanna J; Holden, Joanne M; Harris, Ellen

    2013-02-01

    The USDA food and nutrient databases provide the basic infrastructure for food and nutrition research, nutrition monitoring, policy, and dietary practice. They have had a long history that goes back to 1892 and are unique, as they are the only databases available in the public domain that perform these functions. There are 4 major food and nutrient databases released by the Beltsville Human Nutrition Research Center (BHNRC), part of the USDA's Agricultural Research Service. These include the USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference, the Dietary Supplement Ingredient Database, the Food and Nutrient Database for Dietary Studies, and the USDA Food Patterns Equivalents Database. The users of the databases are diverse and include federal agencies, the food industry, health professionals, restaurants, software application developers, academia and research organizations, international organizations, and foreign governments, among others. Many of these users have partnered with BHNRC to leverage funds and/or scientific expertise to work toward common goals. The use of the databases has increased tremendously in the past few years, especially the breadth of uses. These new uses of the data are bound to increase with the increased availability of technology and public health emphasis on diet-related measures such as sodium and energy reduction. Hence, continued improvement of the databases is important, so that they can better address these challenges and provide reliable and accurate data.

  2. [Research progress on standards of commodity classes of Chinese materia medica and discussion on several key problems].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Guang; Zeng, Yan; Guo, Lan-Ping; Huang, Lu-Qi; Jin, Yan; Zheng, Yu-Guang; Wang, Yong-Yan

    2014-05-01

    Standards of commodity classes of Chinese materia medica is an important way to solve the "Lemons Problem" of traditional Chinese medicine market. Standards of commodity classes are also helpful to rebuild market mechanisms for "high price for good quality". The previous edition of commodity classes standards of Chinese materia medica was made 30 years ago. It is no longer adapted to the market demand. This article researched progress on standards of commodity classes of Chinese materia medica. It considered that biological activity is a better choice than chemical constituents for standards of commodity classes of Chinese materia medica. It is also considered that the key point to set standards of commodity classes is finding the influencing factors between "good quality" and "bad quality". The article also discussed the range of commodity classes of Chinese materia medica, and how to coordinate standards of pharmacopoeia and commodity classes. According to different demands, diversiform standards can be used in commodity classes of Chinese materia medica, but efficacy is considered the most important index of commodity standard. Decoction pieces can be included in standards of commodity classes of Chinese materia medica. The authors also formulated the standards of commodity classes of Notoginseng Radix as an example, and hope this study can make a positive and promotion effect on traditional Chinese medicine market related research.

  3. Associating mapping of stigma characteristics using the USDA rice core collection

    Science.gov (United States)

    A mini-core from the USDA rice core collection was phenotyped for nine traits of stigma and spikelet and genotyped with 109 DNA markers. Marker-trait association mapping was used to identify the regions associated with the nine traits. Resulting associations were adjusted using false discovery rate ...

  4. PRICE GENERATING PROCESS AND VOLATILITY IN NIGERIAN AGRICULTURAL COMMODITIES MARKET

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Osaihiomwan Ojogho

    2015-10-01

    Full Text Available The literature on agricultural commodity price volatility in Nigeria has constantly reflected that an excessive price movement is harmful for both producers and consumers, particularly for those who are not able to cope with that new source of economic uncertainty. It has also raised an extensive debate on the main determinants behind the large agricultural commodity price swings observed in the last years without recourse for the price generating process. To narrow this gap, the study examined the price generating process and volatility in the Nigerian agricultural commodities market using secondary data for price series on meat, cereals, sugar, dairy and aggregate food for the period of January 1990 to February 2014. The data were analysed using the linear Gaussian State-Space (SS model. The results of the descriptive statistics showed that the coefficients of variation for cereals (39.88%, food (32.65% and dairy price (43.08% were respectively higher during the overall time period (January 1990 to February 2014 than during the first (January 1990 to January 2002 and second (February 2002 to February 2014 sub-time periods. The results of the inferential statistics showed that authoregressive moving average (ARMA model is the most selected Nigeria agricultural commodity price generating model for the time periods, that a unit increase in the past price state of cereals, dairy, sugar, meat and aggregate food would increase the future price of sugar, meat and aggregate food by N0.14, N0.28 and N0.15 respectively but decrease future price of cereals and dairy by about N1.00 and N0.21 respectively, and that the one-step ahead predicted value for the first out-ofsample period for cereals, meat, dairy and sugar price were 6317.86, 10.24 and 2.06 respectively. The Nigerian agricultural commodity prices have experienced high variability over the period, and such volatility, price-generating process and the determinants of the Nigerian food commodities

  5. 75 FR 11472 - Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act: Increase in License Fees

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-03-11

    ... marketing chain from farmer to consumer. USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) administers and... from the trade when needed, and provides expert advice on trust protection. The PACA Amendments of 1995...

  6. Papaya Development Model As A Competitive Local Superior Commodity

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Reny Sukmawani

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available The aim of this research is to study the comparative advantage and papaya competitive and to design its development model by using the approach of local base agriculture development. This research uses survey method. The resulting research shows that papaya is a base commodity that has comparative advantage and competitive. The development papaya in the district of Sukabumi is quite good bases on eight superior creations. But in order to be the main sector in economic development and has a competition, the development of papaya must concern to its influence factors. In supporting papaya development as a competitive local superior commodity, it needs to be done some efforts are as follows: (1 increase a skillful worker; (2 improve business management; (3 increase papaya productivity by using technology and study papaya planted technology in specific local superior commodity; (4 develop the involvement of the business relation; (5 provide market information and information technology network; and (6 improve infrastructures.

  7. Incorporating agroforestry approaches into commodity value chains.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Millard, Edward

    2011-08-01

    The productivity of tropical agricultural commodities is affected by the health of the ecosystem. Shade tolerant crops such as coffee and cocoa benefit from environmental services provided by forested landscapes, enabling landscape design that meets biodiversity conservation and economic needs. What can motivate farmers to apply and maintain such landscape approaches? Rather than rely on a proliferation of externally funded projects new opportunities are emerging through the international market that buys these commodities. As part of their growing commitment to sustainable supply chains, major companies are supporting agroforestry approaches and requiring producers and traders to demonstrate that the source of their commodities complies with a set of principles that conserves forested landscapes and improves local livelihoods. The paper presents examples of international companies that are moving in this direction, analyzes why and how they are doing it and discusses the impact that has been measured in coffee and cocoa communities in Latin America and Africa. It particularly considers the role of standards and certification systems as a driver of this commitment to promote profitable operations, environmental conservation and social responsibility throughout the coffee and cocoa value chains. Such approaches are already being taken to scale and are no longer operating only in small niches of the market but the paper also considers the limitations to growth in this market-based approach.

  8. Incorporating Agroforestry Approaches into Commodity Value Chains

    Science.gov (United States)

    Millard, Edward

    2011-08-01

    The productivity of tropical agricultural commodities is affected by the health of the ecosystem. Shade tolerant crops such as coffee and cocoa benefit from environmental services provided by forested landscapes, enabling landscape design that meets biodiversity conservation and economic needs. What can motivate farmers to apply and maintain such landscape approaches? Rather than rely on a proliferation of externally funded projects new opportunities are emerging through the international market that buys these commodities. As part of their growing commitment to sustainable supply chains, major companies are supporting agroforestry approaches and requiring producers and traders to demonstrate that the source of their commodities complies with a set of principles that conserves forested landscapes and improves local livelihoods. The paper presents examples of international companies that are moving in this direction, analyzes why and how they are doing it and discusses the impact that has been measured in coffee and cocoa communities in Latin America and Africa. It particularly considers the role of standards and certification systems as a driver of this commitment to promote profitable operations, environmental conservation and social responsibility throughout the coffee and cocoa value chains. Such approaches are already being taken to scale and are no longer operating only in small niches of the market but the paper also considers the limitations to growth in this market-based approach.

  9. Regime shift in fertilizer commodities indicates more turbulence ahead for food security.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    James J Elser

    Full Text Available Recent human population increase has been enabled by a massive expansion of global agricultural production. A key component of this "Green Revolution" has been application of inorganic fertilizers to produce and maintain high crop yields. However, the long-term sustainability of these practices is unclear given the eutrophying effects of fertilizer runoff as well as the reliance of fertilizer production on finite non-renewable resources such as mined phosphate- and potassium-bearing rocks. Indeed, recent volatility in food and agricultural commodity prices, especially phosphate fertilizer, has raised concerns about emerging constraints on fertilizer production with consequences for its affordability in the developing world. We examined 30 years of monthly prices of fertilizer commodities (phosphate rock, urea, and potassium for comparison with three food commodities (maize, wheat, and rice and three non-agricultural commodities (gold, nickel, and petroleum. Here we show that all commodity prices, except gold, had significant change points between 2007-2009, but the fertilizer commodities, and especially phosphate rock, showed multiple symptoms of nonlinear critical transitions. In contrast to fertilizers and to rice, maize and wheat prices did not show significant signs of nonlinear dynamics. From these results we infer a recent emergence of a scarcity price in global fertilizer markets, a result signaling a new high price regime for these essential agricultural inputs. Such a regime will challenge on-going efforts to establish global food security but may also prompt fertilizer use practices and nutrient recovery strategies that reduce eutrophication.

  10. A Marketing Approach to Commodity Futures Exchanges : A Case Study of the Dutch Hog Industry

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Meulenberg, M.T.G.; Pennings, J.M.E.

    2002-01-01

    This paper proposes a marketing strategic approach to commodity futures exchanges to optimise the (hedging) services offered. First, the environment of commodity futures exchanges is examined. Second, the threats and opportunities of commodity futures exchanges are analysed. Our analysis

  11. USDA forest service southern region – It’s all about GRITS

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barbara S. Crane; Kevin M. Potter

    2017-01-01

    Genetic resource management programs across the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service (USDA FS) play a key role in supporting successful land management activities. The programs are responsible for developing and providing plant material for revegetation, seed management guidelines, emergency fire recovery assistance, genetic conservation strategies, climate...

  12. A strong argument for using non-commodities to generate electricity

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Santiago, Katarina Tatiana Marques; Campello de Souza, Fernando Menezes; Carvalho Bezerra, Diogo de

    2014-01-01

    An optimal control approach towards generating electricity is used to analyze the trade-off between using of primary sources which are regarded as commodities, such as fossil fuels, biomass and water to generate electricity, and exploiting these sources for their other economic uses (for example, in the petrochemical industry, in the production of fuels, in agriculture, in steelmaking, and so forth). In order to do so, a dynamic model is presented which establishes relationships between economic growth, the fossil fuel, water and biomass sectors, and energy policies, based on the application of the Pontryagin Maximum Principle. Among other results, the analysis establishes that, under the optimal path, the price of commodities for non-energy uses should be twice the price of the energy assets. This indicates that sources which are not commodities such as solar energy, wind energy, and geothermal energy, should be used to generate electricity. - Highlights: • We used an optimal control approach to analyze the trade-off between the multiple uses of energy resource. • We used a dynamic model which establishes relationships between economic growth, the fossil fuel, water and biomass sectors. • The analysis establishes that the price of commodities for non-energy uses should be twice the price of the energy assets

  13. USDA Forest Service goals and programs for monitoring neotropical migratory birds

    Science.gov (United States)

    Patricia Manley

    1993-01-01

    The USDA Forest Service (USFS) developed goals, objectives, and guidelines for monitoring neotropical migratory birds (NTMB) on National Forest System lands in response to the Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Program Partners in Flight. A USFS task group developed a hierarchical monitoring framework designed to define priorities for type of monitoring data....

  14. Value chain management for commodities: a case study from the chemical industry

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Kannegiesser, M.; Günther, H.O.; Beek, van P.; Grunow, M.; Habla, C.

    2009-01-01

    We present a planning model for chemical commodities related to an industry case. Commodities are standard chemicals characterized by sales and supply volatility in volume and value. Increasing and volatile prices of crude oil-dependent raw materials require coordination of sales and supply

  15. 16 CFR 500.16 - Measurement of container type commodities, how expressed.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... commodities shall be expressed as follows: (1) For bag type commodities, in terms of count followed by linear... a dimension of 2 feet or more will be expressed in feet with any remainder in terms of inches or...) When the unit bag is gussetted, the dimensions will be expressed as width, depth and length in terms of...

  16. Is there co-movement of agricultural commodities futures prices and crude oil?

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Natanelov, Valeri, E-mail: valeri.natanelov@ugent.be [Department of Agricultural Economics, Ghent University, Coupure links 653, 9000 Ghent (Belgium); Alam, Mohammad J. [Department of Agricultural Economics, Ghent University, Coupure links 653, 9000 Ghent (Belgium); Department of Agribusiness and Marketing, Bangladesh Agricultural University (Bangladesh); McKenzie, Andrew M. [Department of Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness, University of Arkansas, AR (United States); Van Huylenbroeck, Guido [Department of Agricultural Economics, Ghent University, Coupure links 653, 9000 Ghent (Belgium)

    2011-09-15

    Even though significant attempts have appeared in literature, the current perception of co-movement of commodity prices appear inadequate and static. In particular we focus on price movements between crude oil futures and a series of agricultural commodities and gold futures. A comparative framework is applied to identify changes in relationships through time and various cointegration methodologies and causality tests are employed. Our results indicate that co-movement is a dynamic concept and that some economic and policy development may change the relationship between commodities. Furthermore we show that biofuel policy buffers the co-movement of crude oil and corn futures until the crude oil prices surpass a certain threshold. - Highlights: > We show that co-movement of commodity futures is a temporal concept. > A variation in parallel movement between 2 large periods occurs. > Biofuel policy buffers parallel movement of corn and crude oil futures

  17. Is there co-movement of agricultural commodities futures prices and crude oil?

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Natanelov, Valeri; Alam, Mohammad J.; McKenzie, Andrew M.; Van Huylenbroeck, Guido

    2011-01-01

    Even though significant attempts have appeared in literature, the current perception of co-movement of commodity prices appear inadequate and static. In particular we focus on price movements between crude oil futures and a series of agricultural commodities and gold futures. A comparative framework is applied to identify changes in relationships through time and various cointegration methodologies and causality tests are employed. Our results indicate that co-movement is a dynamic concept and that some economic and policy development may change the relationship between commodities. Furthermore we show that biofuel policy buffers the co-movement of crude oil and corn futures until the crude oil prices surpass a certain threshold. - Highlights: → We show that co-movement of commodity futures is a temporal concept. → A variation in parallel movement between 2 large periods occurs. → Biofuel policy buffers parallel movement of corn and crude oil futures

  18. [Qualitative characteristics and classification study on commodity specification and grade standard of Panax notoginseng].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Da-Hui; Xu, Na; Guo, Lan-Ping; Jin, Yan; Cui, Xiu-Ming; Yang, Ye; Zhu, Xin-Yan; Zhan, Zhi-Lai; Huang, Lu-Qi

    2016-03-01

    Through the markets investigations and literature surveying, this paper investigates and analyzes the qualitative characteristics and commodity condition of Panax notoginseng. And the samples collected from market and origin were analyzed in order to revise the commodity specification and grade standard of P. notoginseng combined with production practice. In this paper, the authors divide the P. notoginseng into 4 commodity specification which are root (including Cunqi and Dongqi ), Rhizome and rootlet according to different parts and harvest time. And the root were divided into 8 grade which are 20, 30, 40, 60, 80, 120, countless and substandard. The density and internal components between the different commodity specification and grade of P. notoginseng were also compared. As well as the effect of different producing area, cultivation years and harvesting time on the commodity specification and grade of P. notoginseng were researched. On this basis, we revise and improve the commodity specification and grade standard of P. notoginseng. Moreover, we suggest the quality control indexes of P. notoginseng should be developed according to the different medicinal part and commodity specification in CHP. In order to guide the standardized production of traditional Chinese medicine and ensure the quality of medicinal materials, the cultivation years and density of each medicinal materials should also be indicated in CHP. Copyright© by the Chinese Pharmaceutical Association.

  19. The normal mycoflora of commodities from Thailand. 2. Beans, rice, small grains and other commodities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pitt, J I; Hocking, A D; Bhudhasamai, K; Miscamble, B F; Wheeler, K A; Tanboon-Ek, P

    1994-09-01

    Part of a comprehensive study of fungi occurring in commodities in Thailand, this paper reports results from 276 samples of mung beans, rice, sorghum and soybeans as well as other minor crops. Samples for major commodities were taken from farmers' stocks, middlemen and retail outlets, while those for minor crops were mostly from retail. Each sample was divided into two portions, one being examined in Bangkok and the second at North Ryde. Mycological examinations were carried out by direct plating after surface disinfection in chlorine. Media used were dichloran rose bengal chloramphenicol agar, dichloran 18% glycerol agar, Aspergillus flavus and parasiticus agar and dichloran chloramphenicol peptone agar. Fungi were identified to species level and percentage infection of samples calculated. The dominant fungus found in mung beans was Fusarium semitectum, which was present in 40% of samples and at a high level (18% of all seeds) overall. Aspergillus flavus was also found in 40% of samples, but only in 2% of seeds overall. Lasiodiplodia theobromae was the only other fungus exceeding 1% total infection. The major fungi found in soybeans were A. flavus (67% of samples; 6% overall) and Cladosporium cladosporioides (49% of samples; 9% overall). Storage fungi were more common in soybeans than the other commodities, indicating longer or adverse storage. Paddy rice contained high levels of a wide variety of field fungi, notably Fusarium semitectum, Bipolaris oryzae, and Curvularia, Phoma and Colletotrichum species. However, probably due to the heat generated by milling, milled rice contained very few fungi, which were mostly of storage origin. Only 3% of particles examined contained internal fungi. Infection in sorghum was typical of oilseeds, dominated by Aspergillus flavus, which was present in 86% of samples, with an overall infection rate of 12%. Beans other than soybeans were infected by a wide range of field fungi, but at low levels, with less than half of seeds

  20. Energy and Food Commodity Prices Linkage: An Examination with Mixed-Frequency Data

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Trujillo Barrera, A.A.; Pennings, J.M.E.

    2013-01-01

    Abstract Is the relationship between energy and agricultural commodities an important factor in the increasing price variability of food commodities? Findings from the literature appear to be mixed and highly influenced by the data frequency used in those analysis. A recurrent task in time series

  1. 75 FR 54594 - Effectiveness of Licensing Procedures for Agricultural Commodities to Cuba

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-09-08

    ...] Effectiveness of Licensing Procedures for Agricultural Commodities to Cuba AGENCY: Bureau of Industry and... Administration Regulations for the export of agricultural commodities to Cuba. BIS will include a description of...), to Cuba. Requirements and procedures associated with such authorization are set forth in section 740...

  2. Commodity futures and market efficiency

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Krištoufek, Ladislav; Vošvrda, Miloslav

    2014-01-01

    Roč. 42, č. 1 (2014), s. 50-57 ISSN 0140-9883 R&D Projects: GA ČR GA402/09/0965 Grant - others:GA ČR(CZ) GAP402/11/0948 Program:GA Institutional support: RVO:67985556 Keywords : commodities * efficiency * entropy * long-term memory * fractal dimension Subject RIV: AH - Economics Impact factor: 2.708, year: 2014 http://library.utia.cas.cz/separaty/2013/E/kristoufek-0420811.pdf

  3. CLUSTER OF INDONESIA KABUPATEN-KOTA POTENTIAL IN DEVELOPING FOOD CROP AND HORTICULTURE COMMODITIES

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Imam Wahyudi

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available Identification of potential areas in an agricultural sector is needed in order to meet the national food needs, among others, by carrying out mapping the potential areas through clustering the Kabupaten-Kota in Indonesia, especially on imported agricultural commodities of food crops and horticultures. The use of cluster analysis with top-down clustering method (K-means produces the best cluster. Of 268 regencies-cities, there are 7 clusters, namely Cluster 1 consisting of 154 regencies, Cluster 2 consisting of 2 regencies, Cluster 3 consisting of only1 regency, Cluster 4 consisting of 8 regencies, Cluster 5 consisting of 24 regencies, Cluster 6 consisting of 75 regencies, and Cluster 7 consisting of 4 regencies. Each cluster has its own dominant commodity characteristics.  The results of typology klassen on constructed clusters show that food crop and horticulture commodities have grown well and fast. Out of 13 commodities, there are 7 major commodities: Cluster 1: rice and corns; Clusters 2, 3 and 7: cassava; Cluster 4: corns, cassavas and chilly; Cluster 5: apples; Cluster 6: corns, shallots, and garlic. Six other commodities do not grow well, namely sorghum, potatoes, soybeans, peanuts, oranges, and grapes. The potential lack of an area is due to the plants’ low productivity, which is mainly because of plant pests, highly operational cost, climates and natural disasters. Keywords: imports, food crops, horticulture, cluster, and leading sector.

  4. 75 FR 65586 - Agricultural Commodity Definition

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-26

    ... juice, wine and beer are ``food'' for purposes of the definition of ``agricultural commodity... beets, beet pulp (used as animal feed), raw sugar, molasses and refined sugar; honey; beer and wine... proposed herein. \\44\\ 44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq. B. Cost Benefit Analysis Section 15(a) of the CEA requires the...

  5. The influence of biofuels, economic and financial factors on daily returns of commodity futures prices

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Algieri, Bernardina

    2014-01-01

    Biofuels production has experienced rapid growth worldwide as one of the several strategies to promote green energy economies. Indeed, climate change mitigation and energy security have been frequent rationales behind biofuel policies, but biofuels production could generate negative impacts, such as additional demand for feedstocks, and therefore for land on which to grow them, with a consequent increase in food commodity prices. In this context, this paper examines the effect of biofuels and other economic and financial factors on daily returns of a group of commodity futures prices using Generalized Autoregressive Conditional Heteroskedasticity (GARCH) family models in univariate and multivariate settings. The results show that a complex of drivers are relevant in explaining commodity futures returns; more precisely, the Standard and Poor's (S and P) 500 positively affects commodity markets, while the US/Euro exchange rate brings about a decline in commodity returns. It turns out, in addition, that energy market returns are significant in explaining commodity returns on a daily basis, while monetary liquidity is not. This would imply that biofuel policy should be carefully monitored in order to avoid excessive first-generation subsidization, which would trigger a fuel vs. food conflict. - Highlights: • The effects of biofuels and other economic and financial factors on daily returns of commodity futures prices are examined. • A GARCH methodology in univariate and multivariate settings is adopted. • The results show that a complex of drivers is relevant in explaining commodity futures returns. • Energy market returns play a significant role in pushing commodity returns. • The increase in monetary liquidity does not contribute to changes in futures returns on a daily basis

  6. 77 FR 55183 - Effectiveness of Licensing Procedures for Agricultural Commodities to Cuba

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-09-07

    ...] Effectiveness of Licensing Procedures for Agricultural Commodities to Cuba AGENCY: Bureau of Industry and... Administration Regulations for the export of agricultural commodities to Cuba. BIS will include a description of...), to Cuba. Requirements and procedures associated with such authorization are set forth in Sec. 740.18...

  7. Market Structure and Price Transmission of Eggs Commodity

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Abdul Aziz Ahmad

    2016-10-01

    Full Text Available Purposes of this research are to determine some characteristics of distribution channel, market structure, and price maker transmission in purebred chicken egg commodity in Banyumas District, Central Java Province. Primary data applied on this research is from all channel distribution levels; from producers to final consumers. Meanwhile secondary data is collected from government official sources, such as BPS-Statistic of Banyumas Disrict, Banyumas Department of Industry, Trading and Cooperation, and previous researches which has been made by researcher team. Sample determining is directed by proportional random sampling methods. Some measurements are applied to this research, including to; Herfindahl Index (HI, Concentration Ratio (CF, and Minimum Efficiency Scale (MES to investigate market structure; and Asymmetric Price Transmission (APT to determine price transmission mechanism model. This research finds that (1 the distribution channel of egg commodity is spitted to different channel, the first channel: egg producer – retail traders – final consumers, and second channel: egg producers – whole seller – retail traders – final consumers; (2 market structure which is created to this farming specific commodity is perfect market; (3 price transmission mechanism analysis statistically shows that there is almost no existence of dominant power in price formation.

  8. Towards microalgal triglycerides in the commodity markets

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Benvenuti, Giulia; Ruiz, Jesús; Lamers, Packo P.; Bosma, Rouke; Wijffels, René H.; Barbosa, Maria J.

    2017-01-01

    Background: Microalgal triglycerides (TAGs) hold great promise as sustainable feedstock for commodity industries. However, to determine research priorities and support business decisions, solid techno-economic studies are essential. Here, we present a techno-economic analysis of two-step TAG

  9. Increase of food commodities prices and their relationship with biofuels

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ortiz-Alvarez, Marianela; Piloto-Rodríguez, Ramón

    2017-01-01

    Biofuels are without any doubt, an alternative to the actual energy matrix. In this work, through the analysis of the main influencing factors in the increase of food commodities prices, is demonstrated that this phenomena is not exclusive due to biofuels production. Comparing the food commodities prices with biofuels production and petroleum prices respectively, a stronger correlation between food and petroleum prices was observed, demonstrating the strong influence of the conventional energy market on agricultural products. (author)

  10. Program review of the USDA Center for Medical, Agricultural and Veterinary Entomology

    Science.gov (United States)

    The USDA-ARS Center for Medical, Agricultural and Veterinary Entomology (CMAVE) has a history that starts in 1932 in Orlando to develop methods to control mosquitoes, including malaria vectors under conditions simulating those of the south Pacific jungles, and other insects affecting man and animals...

  11. 78 FR 16189 - Transportation of Agricultural Commodities

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-03-14

    ... DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration 49 CFR Parts 382, 383, 390, 391, 395, 396 [Docket No. FMCSA-2012-0378] RIN 2126-AB58 Transportation of Agricultural...: FMCSA promulgates the regulatory exemptions for the ``transportation of agricultural commodities and...

  12. 7 CFR 1401.4 - Commodity certificates.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... this section of loan collateral by a person to whom a loan secured by such collateral is made): or... loan collateral—(1) General. Except as otherwise provided in this paragraph and in paragraphs (f) and... commodities pledged as collateral for CCC loans made to such person, at any time on or before the expiration...

  13. Ramona, Kansas, Corrective Action Monitoring Report for 2015

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    LaFreniere, Lorraine M. [Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)

    2016-04-01

    This report describes groundwater monitoring in 2015 for the property at Ramona, Kansas, on which a grain storage facility was formerly operated by the Commodity Credit Corporation of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (CCC/USDA). The monitoring was implemented on behalf of the CCC/USDA by Argonne National Laboratory and was conducted as specified in the Long-Term Groundwater Monitoring Plan (Argonne 2012) approved by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE 2012).

  14. Commodity Tracker: Mobile Application for Food Security Monitoring in Haiti

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chiu, M. T.; Huang, X.; Baird, J.; Gourley, J. R.; Morelli, R.; de Lanerolle, T. R.; Haiti Food Security Monitoring Mobile App Team

    2011-12-01

    Megan Chiu, Jason Baird, Xu Huang, Trishan de Lanerolle, Ralph Morelli, Jonathan Gourley Trinity College, Computer Science Department and Environmental Science Program, 300 Summit Street, Hartford, CT 06106 megan.chiu@trincoll.edu, Jason.baird@trincoll.edu, xu.huang@trincoll.edu, trishan.delanerolle@trincoll.edu, ralph.morelli@trincoll.edu, jonathan.gourley@trincoll.edu Price data for Haiti commodities such as rice and potatoes have been traditionally recorded by hand on paper forms for many years. The information is then entered onto computer manually, thus making the process a long and arduous one. With the development of the Haiti Commodity Tracker mobile app, we are able to make this commodity price data recording process more efficient. Officials may use this information for making inferences about the difference in commodity prices and for food distribution during critical time after natural disasters. This information can also be utilized by governments and aid agencies on their food assistance programs. Agronomists record the item prices from several sample sites in a marketplace and compare those results from other markets across the region. Due to limited connectivity in rural areas, data is first saved to the phone's database and then retransmitted to a central server via SMS messaging. The mobile app is currently being field tested by an international NGO providing agricultural aid and support in rural Haiti.

  15. A Crosswalk of Mineral Commodity End Uses and North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) codes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barry, James J.; Matos, Grecia R.; Menzie, W. David

    2015-09-14

    This crosswalk is based on the premise that there is a connection between the way mineral commodities are used and how this use is reflected in the economy. Raw mineral commodities are the basic materials from which goods, finished products, or intermediate materials are manufactured or made. Mineral commodities are vital to the development of the U.S. economy and they impact nearly every industrial segment of the economy, representing 12.2 percent of the U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) in 2010 (U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, 2014). In an effort to better understand the distribution of mineral commodities in the economy, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) attempts to link the end uses of mineral commodities to the corresponding North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) codes.

  16. On the link between oil and commodity prices: a panel VAR approach

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bremond, Vincent; Hache, Emmanuel; Joets, Marc

    2013-12-01

    The aim of this paper is to study the relationships between the price of oil and a large dataset of commodity prices, relying on panel data settings. Using second generation panel co-integration tests, our findings show that the WTI and commodity prices are not linked in the long term. Nevertheless, considering our results in causality tests, we show that short-run relations exist, mainly from the price of crude oil to commodity prices. We thus implement a panel VAR estimation with an impulse response function analysis. Two main conclusions emerge: (i) fast co-movements are highlighted, while (ii) market efficiency is emphasized. (authors)

  17. 7 CFR 1421.304 - Payment amount.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... AGRICULTURE LOANS, PURCHASES, AND OTHER OPERATIONS GRAINS AND SIMILARLY HANDLED COMMODITIES-MARKETING... from the USDA or FSA web site in the Internet. The form must be submitted to the county by the close of...

  18. 7 CFR 1405.9 - Commodity assessments.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... Commodity assessments. (a) CCC will deduct from the proceeds of a marketing assistance loan an amount equal... collected in one of the following ways, as requested by the State, but not both: (i) When the proceeds of... the State. (2) CCC will deduct from the proceeds of a marketing assistance loan an amount equal to the...

  19. IMPACTS OF AFRICA'S TOTAL AND COMMODITY-BASED TRADE WITH CHINA AND OECD COUNTRIES

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nihal Bayraktar

    2017-02-01

    Full Text Available This paper studies the changes in the pattern of Africa’s trade with China and OECD countries, and the impacts of these changes on sub-Saharan Africa’s economic growth. In the study, the country-level total exports and imports, as well as the commodity-based exports and imports are considered for 42 sub-Saharan African countries between 1980 and 2014. The results show that as the share of China in sub-Saharan Africa’s trade has significantly increased, a declining trend is observed for OECD countries, traditional trading partners. Despite changing trade links, the investigation of the commodity-based exports and imports indicate that the types of imported and exported commodities have not changed much for Africa. However, a strong link is observed between economic growth in SSA and its changing trade links from the OECD countries towards China at the total level as well as at the commodity level. The study concludes that there is an increase in the international competition for Africa’s commodities, and resulting in improvements in the terms of trade has led to higher income growth in the region.

  20. Vitamin D3 Content of Fortified Yogurt and Milk as Determined for the USDA National Food and Nutrient Analysis Program (NFNAP)

    Science.gov (United States)

    In response to recent interest in vitamin D composition of foods, USDA-NDL is updating and expanding data in the National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference. In 2007, the USDA sampled vitamin D3 fortified yogurt and milk from 12 and 24 supermarkets, respectively, selected from a nationwide sta...

  1. 75 FR 70811 - Commodity Assessments; Loans, Purchases, and Other Operations

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-11-19

    ... (Braille, large print, audiotape, etc.) should contact the USDA Target Center at 202-720-2600 (voice and... assessments. When authorized by State law, CCC deducts the assessment from the proceeds of a Marketing... save producers, their marketing associations, and the States about $15,000 per year. Notice and Comment...

  2. Single-Commodity Vehicle Routing Problem with Pickup and Delivery Service

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Goran Martinovic

    2008-01-01

    Full Text Available We present a novel variation of the vehicle routing problem (VRP. Single commodity cargo with pickup and delivery service is considered. Customers are labeled as either cargo sink or cargo source, depending on their pickup or delivery demand. This problem is called a single commodity vehicle routing problem with pickup and delivery service (1-VRPPD. 1-VRPPD deals with multiple vehicles and is the same as the single-commodity traveling salesman problem (1-PDTSP when the number of vehicles is equal to 1. Since 1-VRPPD specializes VRP, it is hard in the strong sense. Iterative modified simulated annealing (IMSA is presented along with greedy random-based initial solution algorithm. IMSA provides a good approximation to the global optimum in a large search space. Experiment is done for the instances with different number of customers and their demands. With respect to average values of IMSA execution times, proposed method is appropriate for practical applications.

  3. The Influence Of Highway Transportation Infrastructure Condition Toward Commodity Production Generation for The Resilience Needs at Regional Internal Zone

    Science.gov (United States)

    Akbardin, Juang; Parikesit, Danang; Riyanto, Bambang; Mulyono, Agus Taufik

    2018-02-01

    The poultry commodity consumption and requirement is one of the main commodities that must be fulfilled in a region to maintain the availability of meat from poultry. Poultry commodity production is one of the production sectors that have a clean environment resistance. An increasing of poultry commodity generation production requires a smooth distribution to arrive at the processing. The livestock location as a commodity production is placed at a considerable far distance from residential and market locations. Zones that have poultry commodity production have an excess potential to supply other zones that are lacking in production to the consumption of these commodities. The condition of highway transportation infrastructure that is very diverse with the damage level availability in a zone has an influence in the supply and demand of poultry commodity requirement in the regional internal of Central Java province. In order to know the effect of highway transportation infrastructure condition toward the poultry commodity movement, demography factor and availability of freight vehicles will be reviewed to estimate the amount of poultry commodity movement generation production. Thus the poultry commodity consumption requirement that located in the internal - regional zone of central java province can be adequated from the zone. So it can be minimized the negative impacts that affect the environment at the zone in terms of comparison of the movement attraction and generation production at poultry commodity in Central Java.

  4. Aromatherapy Oils: Commodities, Materials, Essences

    OpenAIRE

    Barcan, Ruth

    2014-01-01

    This article examines the essential oils that are the central tools of aromatherapy and uses them as a case study for different approaches to material culture. It considers the conceptual and political implications of thinking of essential oils as, in turn, commodities, materials and essences. I argue that both cultural studies and aromatherapy have something to learn from each other. Classic materialist approaches might do well to focus more attention on the material properties and effects o...

  5. Mould deterioration of agricultural commodities during transit: problems faced by developing countries.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bhat, R V

    1988-12-01

    Huge quantities of agricultural commodities are being either imported or exported by the developing countries. The commodities have to be transported from the fields of cultivation to the centres of consumption, considerable time being taken for the movement not only because of long distances but also because of various socio-economic, environmental and biological reasons. These commodities are likely to be damaged by mould growth and subsequent aflatoxin accumulation. If the contamination occurs during transit, often no insurance cover for the risk is available. Because of different methods of sampling followed in the exporting and importing countries it is often difficult to define the exact responsibility of the development of aflatoxin as having taken place during transit. The statistics of the export of aflatoxin high-risk commodities like red pepper (chillies), cotton seed and groundnut extractions clearly, for the last decade, demonstrate the extent of loss suffered by the exporting countries because of aflatoxins. The problem of mould damage and mycotoxin contamination can be minimised by improving facilities for storage at ports and transit points as well as on ships.

  6. Biological and Cultural Control of Olive Fruit Fly in California---Utilization of Parasitoids from USDA-APHIS-PPQ, Guatemala and Cultural Control Methods

    Science.gov (United States)

    The parasitoid Psytallia humilis = P. cf. concolor (Szépligeti) was reared on sterile Mediterranean fruit fly, Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann), larvae at the USDA, APHIS, PPQ, Moscamed biological control laboratory in San Miguel Petapa, Guatemala and shipped to the USDA, ARS, Parlier, for biological ...

  7. 31 CFR 103.17 - Reports by futures commission merchants and introducing brokers in commodities of suspicious...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... merchants and introducing brokers in commodities of suspicious transactions. 103.17 Section 103.17 Money and... merchants and introducing brokers in commodities of suspicious transactions. (a) General—(1) Every futures commission merchant (“FCM”) and introducing broker in commodities (“IB-C”) within the United States shall...

  8. United Nations Commission on Commodities for Women's and ...

    International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

    ... commodities in order to achieve the health-related Millennium Development ... Special journal issue highlights IDRC-supported findings on women's paid work ... to address climate change-related challenges in India, including heat stress, ...

  9. Current Status of Mycotoxin Contamination of Food Commodities in Zimbabwe

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nancy Nleya

    2018-05-01

    Full Text Available Agricultural products, especially cereal grains, serve as staple foods in sub-Saharan Africa. However, climatic conditions in this region can lead to contamination of these commodities by moulds, with subsequent production of mycotoxins posing health risks to both humans and animals. There is limited documentation on the occurrence of mycotoxins in sub-Saharan African countries, leading to the exposure of their populations to a wide variety of mycotoxins through consumption of contaminated foods. This review aims at highlighting the current status of mycotoxin contamination of food products in Zimbabwe and recommended strategies of reducing this problem. Zimbabwe is one of the African countries with very little information with regards to mycotoxin contamination of its food commodities, both on the market and at household levels. Even though evidence of multitoxin occurrence in some food commodities such as maize and other staple foods exist, available published research focuses only on Aspergillus and Fusarium mycotoxins, namely aflatoxins, deoxynivalenol (DON, trichothecenes, fumonisins, and zearalenone (ZEA. Occurrence of mycotoxins in the food chain has been mainly associated with poor agricultural practices. Analysis of mycotoxins has been done mainly using chromatographic and immunological methods. Zimbabwe has adopted European standards, but the legislation is quite flexible, with testing for mycotoxin contamination in food commodities being done voluntarily or upon request. Therefore, the country needs to tighten its legislation as well as adopt stricter standards that will improve the food safety and security of the masses.

  10. Current Status of Mycotoxin Contamination of Food Commodities in Zimbabwe.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nleya, Nancy; Adetunji, Modupeade Christianah; Mwanza, Mulunda

    2018-05-03

    Agricultural products, especially cereal grains, serve as staple foods in sub-Saharan Africa. However, climatic conditions in this region can lead to contamination of these commodities by moulds, with subsequent production of mycotoxins posing health risks to both humans and animals. There is limited documentation on the occurrence of mycotoxins in sub-Saharan African countries, leading to the exposure of their populations to a wide variety of mycotoxins through consumption of contaminated foods. This review aims at highlighting the current status of mycotoxin contamination of food products in Zimbabwe and recommended strategies of reducing this problem. Zimbabwe is one of the African countries with very little information with regards to mycotoxin contamination of its food commodities, both on the market and at household levels. Even though evidence of multitoxin occurrence in some food commodities such as maize and other staple foods exist, available published research focuses only on Aspergillus and Fusarium mycotoxins, namely aflatoxins, deoxynivalenol (DON), trichothecenes, fumonisins, and zearalenone (ZEA). Occurrence of mycotoxins in the food chain has been mainly associated with poor agricultural practices. Analysis of mycotoxins has been done mainly using chromatographic and immunological methods. Zimbabwe has adopted European standards, but the legislation is quite flexible, with testing for mycotoxin contamination in food commodities being done voluntarily or upon request. Therefore, the country needs to tighten its legislation as well as adopt stricter standards that will improve the food safety and security of the masses.

  11. Dietary intake of children participating in the USDA Summer Food Service Program

    Science.gov (United States)

    The USDA summer food service program (SFSP) provides free lunches during the summer. This study examined the foods selected and consumed by participating children. Three hundred and two children were observed in 14 schools during a 4-week period in June, 2011; 50% were male; 75% were in elementary s...

  12. Computerized commodity management system in Thailand and Brazil.

    Science.gov (United States)

    1984-01-01

    Thailand's National Family Planning Program is testing a computerized contraceptive commodity reporting management in 4 provinces with 104 National Family Planning Program (NFPP) reporting entities. Staff in the Brazilian Association of Family Planning Entities (ABEPF) and CPAIMC, a major family planning service agency, have been trained in the use of a computerized commodity distribution management system and are ready to initiate test use. The systems were designed in response to specific commodity management needs of the concerned organizations. Neither distribution program functions as a contraceptive social marketing (CSM) program, but each system reviewed has aspects that are relevant to CSM commodity management needs. Both the Thai and Brazilian systems were designed to be as automatic and user friendly as possible. Both have 3 main databases and perform similar management and reporting functions. Differing program configurations and basic data forms reflect the specific purposes of each system. Databases for the logistics monitoring system in Thailand arethe reporting entity (or ID) file; the current month's data file; and the master balance file. The data source is the basic reporting form that also serves as a Request and Issue Voucher for commodities. Editing functions in the program check to see that the current "beginning balance" equals the previous month's ending balance. Indexing functions in the system allow direct access to the records of any reporting entity via the ID number, as well as the sequential processing of records by ID number. 6 reports can be generated: status report by issuing entity; status report by dispensing entity; aggregate status report; out of compliance products report; out of compliance outlets report; and suggested shipment to regional warehouse report. Databases for the distribution management system in Brazil are: the name-ID (client institution) file; the product file; and the data file. The data source is an order form

  13. Assessing the effects of USDA conservation programs on ecosystem services provided by wetlands

    Science.gov (United States)

    The Conservation Effects Assessment Project (CEAP) is led by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) in an effort to quantify the environmental effects of conservation programs and practices on privately owned agricultural landscapes across the United States. CEAP’s approach includes application ...

  14. History of cotton fiber bioscience research at USDA-ARS Southern Regional Research Center

    Science.gov (United States)

    Improving fiber quality has been an important breeding goal for cotton breeders. Better understanding of fiber development helps cotton scientists to devise a strategy for crop improvement either through marker-assisted selection or via manipulation of fiber genes. USDA-ARS Southern Regional Researc...

  15. 7 CFR Exhibit B to Subpart A of... - Memorandum of Understanding and Blanket Commodity Lien Waiver

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... commodity with respect to which the loan or purchase is made. The word “subordinated” means that, in the... makes loans to farmers on the security of agricultural commodities that are eligible for price support under loan and purchase programs conducted by the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC). FmHA or its...

  16. 7 CFR 226.5 - Donation of commodities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 4 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Donation of commodities. 226.5 Section 226.5 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) FOOD AND NUTRITION SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE CHILD NUTRITION PROGRAMS CHILD AND ADULT CARE FOOD PROGRAM Assistance to States § 226.5 Donation...

  17. 16 CFR 500.13 - Measurement of commodities by area measure only, how expressed.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... commodities by area measure only, how expressed. For commodities measured in terms of area measure only declaration of net quantity in terms of square yards, square feet, and square inches shall be expressed in the... only, how expressed. 500.13 Section 500.13 Commercial Practices FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION RULES...

  18. Does Excluding Cross-commodity Interactions Matter? Beef and Lamb in Australia

    OpenAIRE

    Dent, Siobahn K.; Piggott, Roley R.; O'Donnell, Christopher J.; Griffith, Garry R.

    2003-01-01

    Australian broadacre agriculture is typified by strong cross-commodity relationships, where sheep and cattle grazing enterprises compete for pasture and both compete with wheat and other crops for land. Further, some commodities produced by multi-product farms are also used in the production of final products that are substitutes in demand, such as beef and lamb. Economic analyses of the beef market, for example, should also include consideration of the market for the related product, lamb. I...

  19. Methyl Bromide Commodity Fumigation Buffer Zone Lookup Tables

    Science.gov (United States)

    Product labels for methyl bromide used in commodity and structural fumigation include requirements for buffer zones around treated areas. The information on this page will allow you to find the appropriate buffer zone for your planned application.

  20. Market risk in commodity markets: a VaR approach

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Giot, P.

    2003-01-01

    We put forward Value-at-Risk models relevant for commodity traders who have long and short trading positions in commodity markets. In a 5-year out-of-sample study on aluminium, copper, nickel, Brent crude oil and WTI crude oil daily cash prices and cocoa nearby futures contracts, we assess the performance of the RiskMetrics, skewed Student APARCH and skewed student ARCH models. While the skewed Student APARCH model performs best in all cases, the skewed Student ARCH model delivers good results and its estimation does not require non-linear optimization procedures. As such this new model could be relatively easily integrated in a spreadsheet-like environment and used by market practitioners. (author)

  1. Market risk in commodity markets. A VaR approach

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Giot, Pierre [Department of Business Administration and CEREFIM at University of Namur, Rempart de la Vierge, 8, 5000 Namur (Belgium); Laurent, Sebastien [Center for Operations Research and Econometrics (CORE) at Universite Catholique de Louvain, Louvain (Belgium)

    2003-09-01

    We put forward Value-at-Risk models relevant for commodity traders who have long and short trading positions in commodity markets. In a 5-year out-of-sample study on aluminium, copper, nickel, Brent crude oil and WTI crude oil daily cash prices and cocoa nearby futures contracts, we assess the performance of the RiskMetrics, skewed Student APARCH and skewed student ARCH models. While the skewed Student APARCH model performs best in all cases, the skewed Student ARCH model delivers good results and its estimation does not require non-linear optimization procedures. As such this new model could be relatively easily integrated in a spreadsheet-like environment and used by market practitioners.

  2. Market risk in commodity markets. A VaR approach

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Giot, Pierre; Laurent, Sebastien

    2003-01-01

    We put forward Value-at-Risk models relevant for commodity traders who have long and short trading positions in commodity markets. In a 5-year out-of-sample study on aluminium, copper, nickel, Brent crude oil and WTI crude oil daily cash prices and cocoa nearby futures contracts, we assess the performance of the RiskMetrics, skewed Student APARCH and skewed student ARCH models. While the skewed Student APARCH model performs best in all cases, the skewed Student ARCH model delivers good results and its estimation does not require non-linear optimization procedures. As such this new model could be relatively easily integrated in a spreadsheet-like environment and used by market practitioners

  3. Manufacturing process design for multi commodities in agriculture

    Science.gov (United States)

    Prasetyawan, Yudha; Santosa, Andrian Henry

    2017-06-01

    High-potential commodities within particular agricultural sectors should be accompanied by maximum benefit value that can be attained by both local farmers and business players. In several cases, the business players are small-medium enterprises (SMEs) which have limited resources to perform added value process of the local commodities into the potential products. The weaknesses of SMEs such as the manual production process with low productivity, limited capacity to maintain prices, and unattractive packaging due to conventional production. Agricultural commodity is commonly created into several products such as flour, chips, crackers, oil, juice, and other products. This research was initiated by collecting data by interview method particularly to obtain the perspectives of SMEs as the business players. Subsequently, the information was processed based on the Quality Function Deployment (QFD) to determine House of Quality from the first to fourth level. A proposed design as the result of QFD was produced and evaluated with Technology Assessment Model (TAM) and continued with a revised design. Finally, the revised design was analyzed with financial perspective to obtain the cost structure of investment, operational, maintenance, and workers. The machine that performs manufacturing process, as the result of revised design, was prototyped and tested to determined initial production process. The designed manufacturing process offers IDR 337,897, 651 of Net Present Value (NPV) in comparison with the existing process value of IDR 9,491,522 based on similar production input.

  4. Distributed Multi-Commodity Network Flow Algorithm for Energy Optimal Routing in Wireless Sensor Networks.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    J. Trdlicka

    2010-12-01

    Full Text Available This work proposes a distributed algorithm for energy optimal routing in a wireless sensor network. The routing problem is described as a mathematical problem by the minimum-cost multi-commodity network flow problem. Due to the separability of the problem, we use the duality theorem to derive the distributed algorithm. The algorithm computes the energy optimal routing in the network without any central node or knowledge of the whole network structure. Each node only needs to know the flow which is supposed to send or receive and the costs and capacities of the neighboring links. An evaluation of the presented algorithm on benchmarks for the energy optimal data flow routing in sensor networks with up to 100 nodes is presented.

  5. Building America Case Study: Rehabilitation of USDA Multifamily Homes, Georgia (Climate Zones 2-4)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    2016-04-01

    Rea Ventures Group, LLC, (Rea Ventures) partnered with Southface Energy Institute (Southface) on the rehabilitation of 418 low-income rental multifamily apartments located at 14 different properties in Georgia (Climate Zones 2-4). These 22-year old, individually-metered units were arranged in rowhouse or townhouse style units. Rehabilitation plans were developed using a process prescribed by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development program, who partially funded the building upgrades. The USDA is responsible for building, upgrading, and subsidizing housing in rural areas nationwide. In 2012, over $100 million was allocated in grants and loans. Due to the unique financing mechanism as well as long-term ownership requirements, property owners are especially motivated to invest in upgrades that will increase durability and tenant retention. These buildings represent a large stock of rural affordable housing that have the potential for significant energy and cost savings for property owners and tenants. Southface analyzed the energy upgrade potential of one stereotypical property in the Rea Ventures portfolio. This study will provide insight into the most cost-effective, implementable energy efficiency and durability upgrades for this age multifamily housing, having an enormous impact not only on the portfolio of Rea Ventures but on the vast USDA and larger Federal portfolio. Additionally, Southface will identify gaps in the current capital needs assessment process, examine available audit and simulation tools and protocols, and evaluate additional auditor training or certification needs.

  6. 7 CFR 170.13 - What are the operating guidelines for the USDA Farmers Market?

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... farmers or vendors. (g) Farm/Business Visits. Market management may visit farm/business locations to...) AGRICULTURAL MARKETING SERVICE (Standards, Inspections, Marketing Practices), DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE (CONTINUED) MISCELLANEOUS MARKETING PRACTICES UNDER THE AGRICULTURAL MARKETING ACT OF 1946 USDA FARMERS...

  7. The Character of Price Transmission Within Milk Commodity Chain in the Czech Republic

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Barbora Dudová

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available The article is focused on price transmission within milk commodity chain in the Czech Republic. The article distinct on milk products with low value added – cow milk/paper box milk and products with higher value added – cow milk/butter. Price transmission is measured by the coefficient of elasticity of the price transmission (EPT; price transfer is examined in demand as well as supply direction. Next part of the analysis measures price differences (by coefficient determination – R2 in supply direction. Last step in this analysis is the impact of time delay at the price transmission process (measured by R2. The price transmission is asymmetric in the supply direction on both parts of commodity chain (EPT = 0.29 and 0.62, in the demand direction is more symmetric (EPT = 0.31 and 1.02. The assumption of better transfer of positive price changes was confirmed. At the commodity chain of milk/dairy products the time delay is not so much important. With both tested commodity chains there was found higher power of downstream markets, proving demand driven behaviour of these commodity chains, and there was detected oligopsony market structure as well. The data represent monthly prices on both chosen vertical levels in the period of 1/2000–8/2013.

  8. Natural Resources Management: The Effect of the Commodity Boom on Indonesia’s Industrial Development and Welfare

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Maria Monica Wihardja

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available The end of the commodity boom in 2012 once again exposed Indonesia to the vulnerability of the commodity price shocks. This article reviews how Indonesia managed its natural resources in 2001–12 and when the commodity boom ends. What are the lessons learned? Indonesia’s experience is similar to that of other countries rich in natural resources, including the crowding-out of non-commodity sectors, protectionist trade regimes, fiscal inefficiency, slow skill accumulation, rising inequality and environmental damages. In the aftermath of the global financial crisis of 2008–09, the early trade -policy response at the end of the commodity boom is inward-looking and protective of domestic markets and industries and aims to increase the added value of commodities by downstreaming. This trend is clearly reflected in the 2014 Trade Law, the 2014 Industry Law and the mineral export ban, which was introduced in 2009 through the 2009 Law on Mining of Coal and Minerals and took effect in 2014. Indonesia should learn from other countries in managing its resource revenues, such as through a commodity fund designed to fit its domestic specificity. Reindustrializing, increasing agricultural productivity beyond palm oil and tapping the country’s potential in the services sector including tourism and creative industries are also necessary to promote diversification in production and trade. Resource management policy should also include stronger environmental regulations.

  9. 78 FR 25416 - Information Collection Request: Web-Based Supply Chain Management Commodity Offer Forms

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-05-01

    ... Request: Web-Based Supply Chain Management Commodity Offer Forms AGENCY: Farm Service Agency and Commodity..., and yearly bases. Special invitations, however, are issued throughout the month. Web-Based Supply Chain Management (WBSCM) allows respondents to submit information electronically. DATES: Comments on...

  10. Efficient Solutions for Existing Homes Case Study: Rehabilitations of USDA Multifamily Homes

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    None

    2016-04-01

    Rea Ventures Group, LLC, partnered with Southface Energy Institute (Southface), a member of the U.S. Department of Energy's Partnership for Home Innovation Building America research team, to develop a prescriptive approach for rehabilitating a portfolio of rural multifamily rental properties in Georgia, which was funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

  11. Financialization, Crisis and Commodity Correlation Dynamics

    OpenAIRE

    Annastiina Silvennoinen; Susan Thorp

    2010-01-01

    We study bi-variate conditional volatility and correlation dynamics for individual commodity futures and financial assets from May 1990-July 2009 using DSTCC-GARCH (Silvennoinen and Terasvirta 2009). These models allow correlation to vary smoothly between extreme states via transition functions driven by indicators of market conditions. Expected stock volatility and money manager open interest in futures markets are relevant transition variables. Results point to increasing integration betwee...

  12. 75 FR 8038 - Fruit and Vegetable Industry Advisory Committee

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-02-23

    ... Agricultural Commodities Act program, marketing agreements, food safety, local farmer/education initiatives... DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE Agricultural Marketing Service [Doc. No. AMS-FV-10-0017; FV-09-378] Fruit and Vegetable Industry Advisory Committee AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, USDA. ACTION...

  13. Interim measure conceptual design for remediation at the former CCC/USDA grain storage facility at Centralia, Kansas : pilot test and remedy implementation.

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    LaFreniere, L. M.; Environmental Science Division

    2007-11-09

    This document presents an Interim Measure Work Plan/Design for the short-term, field-scale pilot testing and subsequent implementation of a non-emergency Interim Measure (IM) at the site of the former grain storage facility operated by the Commodity Credit Corporation of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (CCC/USDA) in Centralia, Kansas. The IM is recommended to mitigate both (1) localized carbon tetrachloride contamination in the vadose zone soils beneath the former facility and (2) present (and potentially future) carbon tetrachloride contamination identified in the shallow groundwater beneath and in the immediate vicinity of the former CCC/USDA facility. Investigations conducted on behalf of the CCC/USDA by Argonne National Laboratory have demonstrated that groundwater at the Centralia site is contaminated with carbon tetrachloride at levels that exceed the Kansas Tier 2 Risk-Based Screening Level (RBSL) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's maximum contaminant level of 5.0 {micro}g/L for this compound. Groundwater sampling and analyses conducted by Argonne under a monitoring program approved by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) indicated that the carbon tetrachloride levels at several locations in the groundwater plume have increased since twice yearly monitoring of the site began in September 2005. The identified groundwater contamination currently poses no unacceptable health risks, in view of the absence of potential human receptors in the vicinity of the former CCC/USDA facility. Carbon tetrachloride contamination has also been identified at Centralia in subsurface soils at concentrations on the order of the Kansas Tier 2 RBSL of 200 {micro}g/kg in soil for the soil-to-groundwater protection pathway. Soils contaminated at this level might pose some risk as a potential source of carbon tetrachloride contamination to groundwater. To mitigate the existing contaminant levels and decrease the potential future concentrations of

  14. International commodity prices and civil war outbreak: new evidence for Sub-Saharan Africa and beyond

    OpenAIRE

    Ciccone, Antonio

    2018-01-01

    A new dataset by Bazzi and Blattman (2014) allows examining the effects of international commodity prices on the risk of civil war outbreak with more comprehensive data. I find that international commodity price downturns sparked civil wars in Sub-Saharan Africa. Another finding with the new dataset is that commodity price downturns also sparked civil wars beyond Sub-Saharan Africa since 1980. Effects are sizable relative to the baseline risk of civil war outbreak. My conclusions contrast wit...

  15. 7 CFR 170.14 - What circumstances will prevent participation in the USDA Farmers Market?

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... (Continued) AGRICULTURAL MARKETING SERVICE (Standards, Inspections, Marketing Practices), DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE (CONTINUED) MISCELLANEOUS MARKETING PRACTICES UNDER THE AGRICULTURAL MARKETING ACT OF 1946 USDA...) Efforts will be made to accommodate all who apply to participate in the market. However, market management...

  16. General Equilibrium Model with a Convex Cone as the Set of Commodity Bundles

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Schalk, S.

    1996-01-01

    In this paper, we present a model for an exchange economy which is an extension of the classical model as introduced by Arrow and Debreu.In the classical model, there is a nite number of commodi- ties and a nite number of consumers.The commodities are treated separately, and so a commodity bundle is

  17. Dynamic of consumer groups and response of commodity markets by principal component analysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nobi, Ashadun; Alam, Shafiqul; Lee, Jae Woo

    2017-09-01

    This study investigates financial states and group dynamics by applying principal component analysis to the cross-correlation coefficients of the daily returns of commodity futures. The eigenvalues of the cross-correlation matrix in the 6-month timeframe displays similar values during 2010-2011, but decline following 2012. A sharp drop in eigenvalue implies the significant change of the market state. Three commodity sectors, energy, metals and agriculture, are projected into two dimensional spaces consisting of two principal components (PC). We observe that they form three distinct clusters in relation to various sectors. However, commodities with distinct features have intermingled with one another and scattered during severe crises, such as the European sovereign debt crises. We observe the notable change of the position of two dimensional spaces of groups during financial crises. By considering the first principal component (PC1) within the 6-month moving timeframe, we observe that commodities of the same group change states in a similar pattern, and the change of states of one group can be used as a warning for other group.

  18. Determine the optimal carrier selection for a logistics network based on multi-commodity reliability criterion

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lin, Yi-Kuei; Yeh, Cheng-Ta

    2013-05-01

    From the perspective of supply chain management, the selected carrier plays an important role in freight delivery. This article proposes a new criterion of multi-commodity reliability and optimises the carrier selection based on such a criterion for logistics networks with routes and nodes, over which multiple commodities are delivered. Carrier selection concerns the selection of exactly one carrier to deliver freight on each route. The capacity of each carrier has several available values associated with a probability distribution, since some of a carrier's capacity may be reserved for various orders. Therefore, the logistics network, given any carrier selection, is a multi-commodity multi-state logistics network. Multi-commodity reliability is defined as a probability that the logistics network can satisfy a customer's demand for various commodities, and is a performance indicator for freight delivery. To solve this problem, this study proposes an optimisation algorithm that integrates genetic algorithm, minimal paths and Recursive Sum of Disjoint Products. A practical example in which multi-sized LCD monitors are delivered from China to Germany is considered to illustrate the solution procedure.

  19. A Conceptual Overview to Understand Commodities, Linkages and Industrial Development in Africa

    OpenAIRE

    Kaplinsky, Raphael; Morris, Mike; Kaplan, Dave

    2011-01-01

    Sub-Sahara African commodity exporting economies have benefitted greatly from the commodities boom of the past decade. The conventional wisdom argues that resource extraction is corrosive of industrial development due to a combination of the macroeconomic consequences of resource exploitation and the assumed enclave nature of mineral and energy extraction. The paper challenges this pessimistic ‘resource curse’ argument, arguing that there are unexploited opportunities for promoting industrial...

  20. Commodity Team Motivation and Performance

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Englyst, Linda; Jørgensen, Frances; Johansen, John

    2007-01-01

    This article explores factors influencing the motivation and performance of commodity teams in a global sourcing context. Several challenges are related to the classical dilemma of matrix organization, but with particular implications in this specific context of purchasing. We report on a reward...... system which was intended to support collective team effort, yet enhanced conflicts of interest in the matrix structure, discuss leadership, goal alignment and career tracks, and debate when and whether a team structure is appropriate in the pursuit of corporate purchasing synergies. The article is based...

  1. Federal Republic of Germany: Commodities report 2003

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2004-01-01

    The Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR) has compiled the facts and figures in a commodities report for 25 years. This report summarises Germany's mineral and energy commodities trading, consumption and supply situation. After fears of shortages in the early 70s, this 25-year-period was mainly characterised by the feeling that mineral resources would always be available on the international markets in adequate quantities. And although there has been no change in the situation even up to the present day, the world markets for mineral resources are currently undergoing a structural change: the old rule of thumb that 20% of humanity in Europe, the USA and Japan consumed more than 80% of resource production is no longer valid. With India, the People's Republic of China, not to mention other heavily populated emerging countries, over half of the world's population is now involved in the demand for minerals. This means that the growth in world economic demand for natural resources is at the beginning of a new growth curve. (orig.)

  2. PROSPECTS OF THE KLEBAN-BYK RESERVOIR USE AS A SPECIAL COMMODITY FISH FARM

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Khrystenko D.S.

    2013-09-01

    Full Text Available The current state of fish fauna was analized for the Kleban-Byk reservoir (village Konstantinovka of Donetsk region under the influence of fishery activity of a special commodity fish farms. Reservoir aboriginal fish fauna consists of species with low fishery value. The native fish fauna can not provide the high productivity of reservoir with a rational use of feed resources. However, linear and weight growth of alien fish species confirms the high trophic status of the reservoir and its potential for aquaculture under regime of special commodity fish farm. We also established the absence of negative effects of continuous fishery activities of special commodity fish farms on the life conditions of native fish fauna representatives.

  3. Modelos de tiempo continuo para commodities agrícolas En Colombia*

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Javier Arbeláez López

    2007-12-01

    Full Text Available Algunos llamados “expertos” hacen recomendaciones para aplicar modelos devaloración de derivados sobre acciones a derivados sobre commodities. Esta prácticadebería considerarse sólo como un primer paso, exploratorio en la búsqueda delvalor realmente “justo” del derivado.En general, los precios de las commodities se comportan de una manera bastantediferente de los precios de las acciones. Esto se muestra, con este artículo, a travésde ejemplos del mercado agropecuario colombiano. 

  4. The Financial Industry's Challenge of Developing Commodity Derivatives

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Pennings, J.M.E.; Meulenberg, M.T.G.

    1999-01-01

    With a constant new stream of financial services coming to the market, each often more exotic and complicated than the last, the financial services industry, which includes commodity derivatives exchanges, brokerage houses and banks providing price risk reduction services (the so-called hedging

  5. The Role of Incompleteness in Commodity Futures Markets

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Takashi eKanamura

    2015-10-01

    Full Text Available This paper proposes a convenience yield-based pricing for commodity futures, which embeds incompleteness of commodity futures markets in convenience yields. By using the pricing method, we conduct empirical analyses of the prices of WTI crude oil, heating oil, and natural gas futures traded on the NYMEX in order to assess the incompleteness of energy futures markets. We show that the fluctuation from the incompleteness is partly driven by the fluctuation from convenience yields. In addition, it is shown that the incompleteness of natural gas futures market is more highlighted than the incompleteness of WTI crude oil and heating oil futures markets. We apply the implied market price of risk from the NYMEX data to pricing an Asian call option written on WTI crude oil futures. Finally, we try to apply the market incompleteness analysis to the post-crisis periods after 2009.

  6. Non-food radiation technology applications of food commodities

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mastro, N.L. Del

    2004-01-01

    At present food irradiation is considered an effective, broad-spectrum, residue-free, mature technology. Expertise in irradiation processing exists in a network of centers around the world, some of them in developing countries like Brazil and Argentina South American region. The use of renewable resources coming from crops products is becoming attractive also for non-food applications. In this sense, a complete new approach of higher aggregated value of some commodities like soy and maize, for example, is as renewable resources to create functional polymers, mainly for innovative biodegradable packaging solutions. There is a need of innovative approaches to produce edible/biodegradable materials from natural polymeric macromolecules with adequate properties. Incipient researches pointed to the successful use of irradiation processing to obtain or modify different types of biodegradable/edible plastic materials. This new radiation technology application is particularly important for countries that are leading producers of soybean and other commodities. (Author)

  7. Non-food radiation technology applications of food commodities

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Mastro, N.L. Del . [Center of Radiation Technology, Energy and Nuclear Research Institute (IPEN-CNEN/SP), Travessa R, 400 Cidade Universitaria, 05508-900 Sao Paulo (Brazil)

    2004-07-01

    At present food irradiation is considered an effective, broad-spectrum, residue-free, mature technology. Expertise in irradiation processing exists in a network of centers around the world, some of them in developing countries like Brazil and Argentina South American region. The use of renewable resources coming from crops products is becoming attractive also for non-food applications. In this sense, a complete new approach of higher aggregated value of some commodities like soy and maize, for example, is as renewable resources to create functional polymers, mainly for innovative biodegradable packaging solutions. There is a need of innovative approaches to produce edible/biodegradable materials from natural polymeric macromolecules with adequate properties. Incipient researches pointed to the successful use of irradiation processing to obtain or modify different types of biodegradable/edible plastic materials. This new radiation technology application is particularly important for countries that are leading producers of soybean and other commodities. (Author)

  8. 78 FR 34313 - Funding Opportunity Title: Risk Management Education Partnerships Program

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-06-07

    ... accordance with USDA procedures or recognized good farming practices applicable specific crop and regions... College Students who are preparing careers in agriculture; Record Keeping practices; Farm Benchmarking for production and financial management; Commodity Contracting and Hedging methods; Marketing Strategies to...

  9. 75 FR 18472 - Cooperative Conservation Partnership Initiative

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-12

    ... Initiative AGENCY: Commodity Credit Corporation and Natural Resources Conservation Service, Department of... Energy Act of 2008 (2008 Act) establishes the Cooperative Conservation Partnership Initiative (CCPI) by... of Agriculture (USDA). The CCPI is a voluntary conservation initiative that enables the use of...

  10. Volatility behavior of oil, industrial commodity and stock markets in a regime-switching environment

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Choi, Kyongwook; Hammoudeh, Shawkat

    2010-01-01

    This study supplements previous regime-switching studies on WTI crude oil and finds two possible volatility regimes for the strategic commodity prices of Brent oil, WTI oil, copper, gold and silver, and the S and P 500 index, but with varying high-to-low volatility ratios. The dynamic conditional correlations (DCCs) indicate increasing correlations among all the commodities since the 2003 Iraq war but decreasing correlations with the S and P 500 index. The commodities also show different volatility persistence responses to financial and geopolitical crises, while the S and P 500 index responds to both financial and geopolitical crises. Implications are discussed.

  11. Voluntary medical male circumcision: logistics, commodities, and waste management requirements for scale-up of services.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Edgil, Dianna; Stankard, Petra; Forsythe, Steven; Rech, Dino; Chrouser, Kristin; Adamu, Tigistu; Sakallah, Sameer; Thomas, Anne Goldzier; Albertini, Jennifer; Stanton, David; Dickson, Kim Eva; Njeuhmeli, Emmanuel

    2011-11-01

    The global HIV prevention community is implementing voluntary medical male circumcision (VMMC) programs across eastern and southern Africa, with a goal of reaching 80% coverage in adult males by 2015. Successful implementation will depend on the accessibility of commodities essential for VMMC programming and the appropriate allocation of resources to support the VMMC supply chain. For this, the United States President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, in collaboration with the World Health Organization and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, has developed a standard list of commodities for VMMC programs. This list of commodities was used to inform program planning for a 1-y program to circumcise 152,000 adult men in Swaziland. During this process, additional key commodities were identified, expanding the standard list to include commodities for waste management, HIV counseling and testing, and the treatment of sexually transmitted infections. The approximate costs for the procurement of commodities, management of a supply chain, and waste disposal, were determined for the VMMC program in Swaziland using current market prices of goods and services. Previous costing studies of VMMC programs did not capture supply chain costs, nor the full range of commodities needed for VMMC program implementation or waste management. Our calculations indicate that depending upon the volume of services provided, supply chain and waste management, including commodities and associated labor, contribute between US$58.92 and US$73.57 to the cost of performing one adult male circumcision in Swaziland. Experience with the VMMC program in Swaziland indicates that supply chain and waste management add approximately US$60 per circumcision, nearly doubling the total per procedure cost estimated previously; these additional costs are used to inform the estimate of per procedure costs modeled by Njeuhmeli et al. in "Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision: Modeling the Impact and Cost of

  12. Primary commodity export and economic growth in sub sahara africa: evidence from panel data analysis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Matthew Ocran

    2011-08-01

    Full Text Available The paper sought to examine the impact of instability in primary commodity export earnings and the level of commodity dependence on economic growth in Sub Saharan Africa (SSA.  Fixed effects panel data estimator was used in the empirical estimation. The findings of the study suggest that there is a negative relationship between instability in export earnings and economic growth. The results also indicate that the level of commodity dependence matter in determining economic growth in the region. The results of the paper have economic development policy implications for SSA economies and these are not farfetched. First, it appears the difficult growth experience of SSA is not solely due to instability in export receipts. The question of continued dependence on a narrow range of primary commodities is also matter of great importance.

  13. Final master work plan : environmental investigations at former CCC/USDA facilities in Kansas, 2002 revision.

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Burton, J. C.; Environmental Research

    2003-01-23

    The Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has entered into an interagency agreement with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) under which Argonne National Laboratory provides technical assistance for hazardous waste site characterization and remediation for the CCC/USDA. Carbon tetrachloride is the contaminant of primary concern at sites in Kansas where former CCC/USDA grain storage facilities were located. Argonne applies its QuickSite(reg sign) Expedited Site Characterization (ESC) approach to these former facilities. The QuickSite environmental site characterization methodology is Argonne's proprietary implementation of the ESC process (ASTM 1998). Argonne has used this approach at several former CCC/USDA facilities in Kansas, including Agenda, Agra, Everest, and Frankfort. The Argonne ESC approach revolves around a multidisciplinary, team-oriented approach to problem solving. The basic features and steps of the QuickSite methodology are as follows: (1) A team of scientists with diverse expertise and strong field experience is required to make the process work. The Argonne team is composed of geologists, geochemists, geophysicists, hydrogeologists, chemists, biologists, engineers, computer scientists, health and safety personnel, and regulatory staff, as well as technical support staff. Most of the staff scientists are at the Ph.D. level; each has on average, more than 15 years of experience. The technical team works together throughout the process. In other words, the team that plans the program also implements the program in the field and writes the reports. More experienced scientists do not remain in the office while individuals with lesser degrees or experience carry out the field work. (2) The technical team reviews, evaluates, and interprets existing data for the site and the contaminants there to determine which data sets are technically valid and can be used in initially designing the field program. A basic

  14. Commodity movement tracking (CMT) : bridging operations and commercial transactions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lewyta, M.

    2004-01-01

    Enbridge Pipelines Inc. (EPI) operates a network of interconnected pipelines that facilitate the transport of liquid fuels across North America, with operations centralized in Edmonton, Alberta. This paper addressed the issue of accurately tracking the location of commodities transported on EPI pipelines for billing and payment purposes. The role of integrated information systems in meeting the need for high quality information by customers and by EPI was also addressed. The paper presented the Commodity Movement Tracking (CMT) system that is central to achieving the desired accuracy of commercial and financial transactions. CMT tracks inventories and links products to commercial transactions across the pipeline. Batches are tracked from initial receipt to final delivery, incorporating CMT's operational checks and balances, reconciliation steps, process monitoring, and supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems data that contribute to inputs equaling outputs. Daily schedules are recorded into the CMT system as events, based on volumetric information derived from the SCADA system. Receipt and delivery events will be electronically recorded into CMT from field flow computers in the near future. CMT modeling considers changes within the line configuration, static pipe diameter changes, as well as packing and draining of the line fill resulting from pressure changes. This paper described the major functional activities of the overall business process, such as nominations, scheduling, commodity movement tracking, leak detection, electronic ticketing, SCADA, and oil accounting. 10 figs.

  15. Will Commodity Properties Affect Seller's Creditworthy: Evidence in C2C E-commerce Market in China

    Science.gov (United States)

    Peng, Hui; Ling, Min

    This paper finds out that the credit rating level shows significant difference among different sub-commodity markets in E-commerce, which provides room for sellers to get higher credit rating by entering businesses with higher average credit level before fraud. In order to study the influence of commodity properties on credit rating, this paper analyzes how commodity properties affect average crediting rating through the degree of information asymmetry, returns and costs of fraud, credibility perception and fraud tolerance. Empirical study shows that Delivery, average trading volume, average price and complaint possibility have decisive impacts on credit performance; brand market share, the degree of standardization and the degree of imitation also have a relatively less significant effect on credit rating. Finally, this paper suggests that important commodity properties should be introduced to modify reputation system, for preventing credit rating arbitrage behavior where sellers move into low-rating commodity after being assigned high credit rating.

  16. The New Commodity: Technicity and Poetic Form

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Brian Kim Stefans

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available One of the key strands of early thinking by the Language Poets, notably Charles Bernstein, Bruce Andrews and Steve McCaffery, was that the poem—particularly the mainstream, American lyric in thrall to the Imagist tradition—should be understood as partaking in the commodity system, either in its capacity of presenting the world itself as consumable or as a commodity itself. Strategies to retool the poem included an exaggerated de-naturalization of language (akin to Brecht’s Verfremdung Effekt, the permanent deferral of epiphany as “pay off” (i.e., writing as ongoing phenomenological investigation, and, most extremely, the poem as engaged in a “general” as opposed to a “closed” economy—as pure expenditure, linguistic waste, in George Bataille’s sense. These practices, however, while they might have, in theory, “de-commodified” the poem (the evidence weighs against it, but it’s quite impossible to prove, have nonetheless confirmed the centrality of the early notion by William Carlos Williams that a poem is a “machine,” an autonomous producer of meanings, and to that extent an object. The French philosopher Gilbert Simondon argues in his theory of technicity that something human lies at the heart of the technical object and that its technical essence, like any player in the Darwinian evolution, has its own evolutionary journey through time. In Bernard Stiegler’s succinct formulation, “[a]s a ‘process of exteriorization,’ technics is the pursuit of life by means other than life.” This confluence of ideas suggests a possibility: that the technical elements of poems—what might have formerly been understood as stylistic tics, characteristic methods, visual and prosodic features—are themselves engaged in a quest for “life,” and that poems are in fact always already objects, existing outside of the system of commodities if only by virtue of obtaining an ontological status both: (1 irreducible to an over

  17. Accelerating the Non-equispaced Fast Fourier Transform on Commodity Graphics Hardware

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Sørensen, Thomas Sangild; Schaeffter, Tobias; Noe, Karsten Østergaard

    2008-01-01

    We present a fast parallel algorithm to compute the Non-equispaced fast Fourier transform on commodity graphics hardware (the GPU). We focus particularly on a novel implementation of the convolution step in the transform, which was previously its most time consuming part. We describe the performa......We present a fast parallel algorithm to compute the Non-equispaced fast Fourier transform on commodity graphics hardware (the GPU). We focus particularly on a novel implementation of the convolution step in the transform, which was previously its most time consuming part. We describe...

  18. 22 CFR 211.6 - Processing, repackaging, and labeling commodities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ..., with the following information in the language of the country in which the commodities are to be... peace; and (3) Not to be sold or exchanged (where applicable). Emblems or other identification of...

  19. USDA Climate Hubs - delivering usable information and tools to farmers, ranchers and forest land managers - Communication insights from the Regions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Johnson, R.; Steele, R.

    2016-12-01

    The USDA Climate Hubs were established in 2014 to develop and deliver science-based, region-specific information and technologies, with USDA agencies and partners, to agricultural and natural resource managers to enable climate-informed decision-making. In the two and half years of existence, our regional leads have gained insights into communicating with the agricultural and forestry communities throughout the different regions of the country. Perspectives differ somewhat among regions and sectors. This talk will share those various insights.

  20. DYNAMICS AND NEW CHALLENGES IN THE GLOBAL COMMODITY MARKET

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    MARIA CARTAS

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available Global economy and particularly the world production of goods depends to a large extent on the supply of raw materials, of resource inputs extracted from the environment as well as an easy access to them. Commodities play an important part in the growth of global production and in the world trade in goods and services. The access to raw materials is vital for sustaining the productive capacity of the economy and also for satisfying domestic demand for industrial goods. On the other side, increasing demand for commodities and the need for assuring a sustainable supply pose great challenges on the world economy. The issue of raw materials supply represents a high - priority theme in the political agenda of the European Union. The Raw Materials Initiative launched in 2008 by the European Commission is based on three main pillars: - to ensure the access to raw materials on world market at undistorted conditions; - to foster sustainable supply of raw materials from European sources; - to reduce the EU's consumption of primary raw materials. (EC, 2008. To this end, EC has started to take action in order to ensure access to resources and avoid supply shortages. A great deal of attention is being paid to the study of recent developments in the global and particular commodity markets, taking into consideration fundamental aspects as supply concentration, governance of producing countries, the pressure of demand and its impact on prices, material's substitutability, stressing the role of resource consumption efficiency, recycling and substitution of vital raw materials and thus providing policy makers and industry with reliable information on how to efficiently manage resource inputs. This paper is dealing with the main developments which occurred during the past decade or so in the global commodity market, a major driver of the world economy, with particular reference to selected key -markets - as: aluminium, copper, nickel; cotton; corn, meat - swine

  1. 76 FR 28641 - Commodity Pool Operators: Relief From Compliance With Certain Disclosure, Reporting and...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-05-18

    ..., Division of Clearing and Intermediary Oversight, or Barbara S. Gold, Associate Director, Division of... Commission explained the origin and use of the term ``Commodity ETF''. \\6\\ Id. at 54795-96. Thus, the... permit the CPO of a Commodity ETF to claim relief from the specific Disclosure Document delivery and...

  2. Research on the Pricing of Bundling Information Commodity%信息产品的捆绑定价问题研究

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    毛彦妮; 王刊良; 王龙伟

    2003-01-01

    This article studies the characteristics of low marginal cost of information commodity and points out that bundling information commodity is surprisingly profitable. After an analysis of the three factors affecting the sales income of bundling information commodity, that is, marginal cost, distribution of consumer' s valuation of bundling commodity and bundling size, a marketing strategy for bundling information commodity is proposed.

  3. An Overview of Hydrologic Studies at Center for Forested Wetlands Research, USDA Forest Service

    Science.gov (United States)

    Devendra M. Amatya; Carl C. Trettin; R. Wayne Skaggs; Timothy J. Callahan; Ge Sun; Masato Miwa; John E. Parsons

    2004-01-01

    Managing forested wetland landscapes for water quality improvement and productivity requires a detailed understanding of functional linkages between ecohydrological processes and management practices. Studies are being conducted at Center for Forested Wetlands Research (CFWR), USDA Forest Service to understand the fundamental hydrologic and biogeochemical processes...

  4. Distribution of Iodine and Selenium in Selected Food Commodities

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Strapáč I.

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available The aim of this study was to investigate the distribution of the contents of iodine and selenium in selected food commodities. Fresh food commodities were mineralized and analysed for their iodine and selenium content by Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry using the calibration curve as the method for determining the contents of the elements. The average fruit and vegetables concentrations of iodine were very low. The cow’s milk, other dairy products, eggs, poultry, fresh water fish, beef, liver, and mushrooms are frequently regarded as the most important natural source of dietary iodine from common foods. The higher concentrations of selenium were recorded in the kidney, liver, pork, beef, poultry, fresh water fish, hen’s eggs, cow’s milk, other dairy products, wheat flour, fats, coffee, peppers, mushrooms and potatoes.

  5. 7 CFR 1425.17 - Eligible commodity and pooling.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... to generally accepted accounting principles. (l) A CMA shall not apply marketing losses from a..., DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE LOANS, PURCHASES, AND OTHER OPERATIONS COOPERATIVE MARKETING ASSOCIATIONS § 1425.17... marketing proceeds from the commodity in accordance with § 1425.18; and (5) Members agreed to accept a...

  6. 41 CFR 51-6.4 - Military resale commodities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... 41 Public Contracts and Property Management 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 true Military resale commodities. 51-6.4 Section 51-6.4 Public Contracts and Property Management Other Provisions Relating to... stores, Armed Forces exchanges and like activities of other Government departments and agencies) shall...

  7. Conceptualizing Culture as Commodity: The Problem of Television.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Meehan, Eileen R.

    1986-01-01

    Claims that most television research ignores the connections between its symbolic and economic influences. Argues for an integrated approach that views television as both a commodity and an artifact. Describes five analytical categories that researchers could use to provide information illuminating these relations to the public. (JD)

  8. Exchange Market Pressure, Stock Prices, and Commodity Prices East of the Euro

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Scott W. Hegerty

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available Aim/purpose - This paper aims to examine connections between the exchange, equity, commodity and commodity markets of a set of Central and Eastern European (CEE economies using monthly time-series data. In particular, we examine whether stock - or commodity - price changes might put pressure on these currencies to depreciate, and whether these pressures are transmitted within the region or from larger neighbors. Design/methodology/approach - This paper creates monthly indices of Ex-change Market Pressure (EMP from 1998 to 2017 using a combination of currency depreciation, reserve losses, and changes in interest-rate differentials for the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Ukraine, Bulgaria, and Romania. After examining these indices for evidence of currency 'crises', and their components for evidence of changes in currency policy, Vector Autoregressive (VAR methods such as Granger causality and impulse-response functions are used to examine connections between EMP, domestic and foreign stock returns, and changes in commodity prices in the first four countries listed. Findings - While EMP increased in 2008, and the degree of central banks' currency- -market interventions decreased afterward, this paper uncovers key differences among countries. In particular, the Czech Republic is relatively insulated from international transmissions, while Hungary is more susceptible to global spillovers and Poland is exposed to events originating elsewhere in the CEE region. Ukraine shows bidirectional causality between its EMP and stock indices, and finds that pressure on the hryvnia increases if commodity or oil prices decline. Research implications/limitations - This study adds to the relatively limited literature regarding this region, and highlights particular vulnerabilities for both individual countries and specific neighbors; further research is necessary to uncover the channels of transmission using economic modeling. Originality

  9. Global Commodity Chains & World Income Inequalities: The Missing Link of Inequality and the “Upgrading” Paradox

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Benjamin D. Brewer

    2015-08-01

    Full Text Available This article links key findings from two major research literatures within contemporary development and globalization studies: global commodity/value chains, and world income inequalities. Forging this missing link exposes what I call the “upgrading paradox” within commodity and value chain analysis. The paradox hinges on the disconnect between the global commodity/value chain literature’s focus on the potential for firms and nations to “upgrade” their position within chains and the roots of the global commodity chain construct in world-systems analysis, a theoretical framework that rejects the potential for widespread and generalizable developmental progress. Findings from the world income inequalities literature do indeed confirm the paradoxical nature of the upgrading discourse, so I conclude by discussing two potential paths for a “post-paradox” commodity chain analysis.

  10. Optimal Commodity Taxation and Income Distribution

    OpenAIRE

    Benassi, Corrado; Randon, Emanuela

    2015-01-01

    We consider the interplay between income distribution and optimal commodity taxation, linking equity issues to optimal taxes through the effect of income distribution on market demand and its price elasticity. We find conditions to conciliate the equity and efficiency tradeoff and to assess the impact of inequality changes on the optimal taxation of necessity and luxury goods. We show that the regressivity or progressivity of the tax system is determined by the distribution of luxuries and ne...

  11. Hedging Cash Flows from Commodity Processing

    OpenAIRE

    Dahlgran, Roger A.

    2005-01-01

    Agribusinesses make long-term plant-investment decisions based on discounted cash flow. It is therefore incongruous for an agribusiness firm to use cash flow as a plant-investment criterion and then to completely discard cash flow in favor of batch profits as an operating objective. This paper assumes that cash flow and its stability is important to commodity processors and examines methods for hedging cash flows under continuous processing. Its objectives are (a) to determine how standard he...

  12. Brokers and brokerage in the process of trading in commodity futures markets

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Eremić Milan B.

    2003-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper mainly deals with the analysis of a very complex process of brokerage in commodity futures markets. Unlike a classical commodity market in which brokers are not a necessity, sales and purchases in commodity futures markets cannot be carried out without brokers. Brokers who act as agents of buyers and sellers of futures are a necessary condition for trading in organized markets, such as commodity futures markets. The structure of brokers in futures trading is multilayer and involves participants in futures trading from floor brokers, immediate futures traders and the members of clearing and the clearing house itself, on the one hand, to numerous other necessary actors whose activities out of the stock exchange and the clearing house contribute to the efficient functioning of futures market. The fact that transactions between buyers and sellers in futures markets are not carried out directly but through brokers means that the obligations of buyers and sellers are formally conveyed to brokers, providing at the same time the guarantee by the broker that the actual buyer and the actual seller will fulfill their contractual obligations. At the very beginning of futures trading, the relationship between the seller and the buyer is transformed into a relationship between two brokers. Since that moment on, the original relationship is conveyed to higher levels of brokerage reaching the level of the clearing house. In the process of transformation of the buyer-seller relationship and transmitting obligations and guaranteeing their fulfillment, the clearing house itself becomes the buyer relative to all sellers and the seller relative to all buyers. In this way, it guarantees that obligations regarding all transactions in futures market will be fulfilled. The whole process is carried out in accordance with the prescribed procedures conducted on the floor of commodity exchange, in its administrative departments and in the clearing house itself.

  13. 76 FR 36281 - Mango Promotion, Research, and Information Order; Reapportionment

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-06-22

    ... Promotion, Research, and Information Order; Reapportionment AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, USDA... the Mango Promotion, Research, and Information Order (Order), which is authorized under the Commodity Promotion, Research, and Information Act of 1996 (Act), a review of the composition of the Board must be...

  14. 7 CFR 170.6 - How are potential market participants identified for the USDA Farmers Market?

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... (Continued) AGRICULTURAL MARKETING SERVICE (Standards, Inspections, Marketing Practices), DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE (CONTINUED) MISCELLANEOUS MARKETING PRACTICES UNDER THE AGRICULTURAL MARKETING ACT OF 1946 USDA...? Potential market participants are recruited by AMS market management through local farm organizations in the...

  15. 7 CFR 917.122 - Qualification requirements and nominiation procedure for public members of Commodity Committees.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... Department of Agriculture (Continued) AGRICULTURAL MARKETING SERVICE (Marketing Agreements and Orders; Fruits... members of Commodity Committees. (a) Public members shall not have a financial interest in or be associated with production, processing, financing, or marketing (except as consumers) of the commodities...

  16. Stopping the spread of agricultural pests with radiation: Quarantine commodity treatments and eradication

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Vick, K.W.

    1997-01-01

    Almost 60 yr ago, E. F. Knipling, a young U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) entomologist, proposed that it might be economically feasible to eradicate the newly introduced screwworm from Florida if a way could be found to sterilize the males. He believed that the male screwworm fly's strong mating instinct would cause released sterile males to seek out and mate with native screwworm females, interrupting the normal reproductive cycle. Knipling thought this was possible because another USDA scientist, R. C. Bushland, had recently found a way to rear this animal parasite cheaply and in large numbers in the laboratory, making possible the rearing and release of large numbers of sterile male flies into the native population. Some 13 yr would pass before research showed that radiation-induced dominant lethal mutations offered an efficient, practical way to render screwworm flies sterile

  17. Institutional, Individual, and Socio-Cultural Domains of Partnerships: A Typology of USDA Forest Service Recreation Partners

    Science.gov (United States)

    Seekamp, Erin; Cerveny, Lee K.; McCreary, Allie

    2011-09-01

    Federal land management agencies, such as the USDA Forest Service, have expanded the role of recreation partners reflecting constrained growth in appropriations and broader societal trends towards civic environmental governance. Partnerships with individual volunteers, service groups, commercial outfitters, and other government agencies provide the USDA Forest Service with the resources necessary to complete projects and meet goals under fiscal constraints. Existing partnership typologies typically focus on collaborative or strategic alliances and highlight organizational dimensions (e.g., structure and process) defined by researchers. This paper presents a partner typology constructed from USDA Forest Service partnership practitioners' conceptualizations of 35 common partner types. Multidimensional scaling of data from unconstrained pile sorts identified 3 distinct cultural dimensions of recreation partners—specifically, partnership character, partner impact, and partner motivations—that represent institutional, individual, and socio-cultural cognitive domains. A hierarchical agglomerative cluster analysis provides further insight into the various domains of agency personnel's conceptualizations. While three dimensions with high reliability (RSQ = 0.83) and corresponding hierarchical clusters illustrate commonality between agency personnel's partnership suppositions, this study also reveals variance in personnel's familiarity and affinity for specific partnership types. This real-world perspective on partner types highlights that agency practitioners not only make strategic choices when selecting and cultivating partnerships to accomplish critical task, but also elect to work with partners for the primary purpose of providing public service and fostering land stewardship.

  18. Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision: Logistics, Commodities, and Waste Management Requirements for Scale-Up of Services

    Science.gov (United States)

    Edgil, Dianna; Stankard, Petra; Forsythe, Steven; Rech, Dino; Chrouser, Kristin; Adamu, Tigistu; Sakallah, Sameer; Thomas, Anne Goldzier; Albertini, Jennifer; Stanton, David; Dickson, Kim Eva; Njeuhmeli, Emmanuel

    2011-01-01

    Background The global HIV prevention community is implementing voluntary medical male circumcision (VMMC) programs across eastern and southern Africa, with a goal of reaching 80% coverage in adult males by 2015. Successful implementation will depend on the accessibility of commodities essential for VMMC programming and the appropriate allocation of resources to support the VMMC supply chain. For this, the United States President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, in collaboration with the World Health Organization and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, has developed a standard list of commodities for VMMC programs. Methods and Findings This list of commodities was used to inform program planning for a 1-y program to circumcise 152,000 adult men in Swaziland. During this process, additional key commodities were identified, expanding the standard list to include commodities for waste management, HIV counseling and testing, and the treatment of sexually transmitted infections. The approximate costs for the procurement of commodities, management of a supply chain, and waste disposal, were determined for the VMMC program in Swaziland using current market prices of goods and services. Previous costing studies of VMMC programs did not capture supply chain costs, nor the full range of commodities needed for VMMC program implementation or waste management. Our calculations indicate that depending upon the volume of services provided, supply chain and waste management, including commodities and associated labor, contribute between US$58.92 and US$73.57 to the cost of performing one adult male circumcision in Swaziland. Conclusions Experience with the VMMC program in Swaziland indicates that supply chain and waste management add approximately US$60 per circumcision, nearly doubling the total per procedure cost estimated previously; these additional costs are used to inform the estimate of per procedure costs modeled by Njeuhmeli et al. in “Voluntary Medical

  19. Voluntary medical male circumcision: logistics, commodities, and waste management requirements for scale-up of services.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dianna Edgil

    2011-11-01

    Full Text Available BACKGROUND: The global HIV prevention community is implementing voluntary medical male circumcision (VMMC programs across eastern and southern Africa, with a goal of reaching 80% coverage in adult males by 2015. Successful implementation will depend on the accessibility of commodities essential for VMMC programming and the appropriate allocation of resources to support the VMMC supply chain. For this, the United States President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, in collaboration with the World Health Organization and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, has developed a standard list of commodities for VMMC programs. METHODS AND FINDINGS: This list of commodities was used to inform program planning for a 1-y program to circumcise 152,000 adult men in Swaziland. During this process, additional key commodities were identified, expanding the standard list to include commodities for waste management, HIV counseling and testing, and the treatment of sexually transmitted infections. The approximate costs for the procurement of commodities, management of a supply chain, and waste disposal, were determined for the VMMC program in Swaziland using current market prices of goods and services. Previous costing studies of VMMC programs did not capture supply chain costs, nor the full range of commodities needed for VMMC program implementation or waste management. Our calculations indicate that depending upon the volume of services provided, supply chain and waste management, including commodities and associated labor, contribute between US$58.92 and US$73.57 to the cost of performing one adult male circumcision in Swaziland. CONCLUSIONS: Experience with the VMMC program in Swaziland indicates that supply chain and waste management add approximately US$60 per circumcision, nearly doubling the total per procedure cost estimated previously; these additional costs are used to inform the estimate of per procedure costs modeled by Njeuhmeli et al. in

  20. Development of a new USDA plant hardiness zone map for the United States

    Science.gov (United States)

    C. Daly; M.P. Widrlechner; M.D. Halbleib; J.I. Smith; W.P. Gibson

    2012-01-01

    In many regions of the world, the extremes of winter cold are a major determinant of the geographic distribution of perennial plant species and of their successful cultivation. In the United States, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Plant Hardiness Zone Map (PHZM) is the primary reference for defining geospatial patterns of extreme winter cold for the...

  1. LNG: a commodity in the making

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chabrelie, M.F.

    2006-01-01

    Although still far from being a commodity, LNG is undoubtedly emerging as an essential vector for world gas expansion. The flexibility it procures in terms of supply is of prime importance for future market equilibrium. Despite a number of uncertainties and constraints liable to thwart the realisation of the most optimistic growth prospects, the LNG trade remains wedded to rapid growth of about 7%/year by 2020, boosting its share of world gas trade to some 38% by that horizon. (author)

  2. LNG: a commodity in the making

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Chabrelie, M.F

    2006-07-01

    Although still far from being a commodity, LNG is undoubtedly emerging as an essential vector for world gas expansion. The flexibility it procures in terms of supply is of prime importance for future market equilibrium. Despite a number of uncertainties and constraints liable to thwart the realisation of the most optimistic growth prospects, the LNG trade remains wedded to rapid growth of about 7%/year by 2020, boosting its share of world gas trade to some 38% by that horizon. (author)

  3. LNG: a commodity in the making

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chabrelie, M.F.

    2006-01-01

    Although still far being a commodity, LNG is undoubtedly emerging as an essential vector for world gas expansion. The flexibility it procures in terms of supply is of prime importance for future market equilibrium. Despite a number of uncertainties and constraints liable to thwart the realization of the most optimistic growth prospects, the LNG trade remains wedded to rapid growth of about 7% year by 2020, boosting its share of world gas trade to some 38% by that horizon. (author)

  4. Financial states of world financial and commodities markets around sovereign debt crisis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nobi, Ashadun; Lee, Jae Woo

    2017-11-01

    We applied a threshold method to construct a complex network from cross-correlations coefficients of 46 daily time series comprised of 23 global indices and 23 commodity futures from 2010 - 2014. We identify financial states of both global indices and commodity futures based on the change of the network structure. The trend of the average correlation is decreasing except sharp peak during crises during the study period. The threshold networks are generated at a threshold value of θ = 0.1 and the change of degrees of each node over time is used to identify the financial state for each index. We observe that commodity futures, such as EU CO2 emission, live cattle, natural gas as well as the financial indices of Jakarta and Indonesia stock exchange (JKSE) and Kuala Lumpur stock exchange (KLSE) change states frequently. By the average change in links we identify the indices which are more reactive to crises.

  5. Network governance in electricity distribution: Public utility or commodity

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kuenneke, Rolf; Fens, Theo

    2005-01-01

    This paper addresses the question whether the operation and management of electricity distribution networks in a liberalized market environment evolves into a market driven commodity business or might be perceived as a genuine public utility task. A framework is developed to classify and compare different institutional arrangements according to the public utility model and the commodity model. These models are exemplified for the case of the Dutch electricity sector. It appears that the institutional organization of electricity distribution networks is at the crossroads of two very different institutional development paths. They develop towards commercial business if the system characteristics of the electricity sector remain basically unchanged to the traditional situation. If however innovative technological developments allow for a decentralization and decomposition of the electricity system, distribution networks might be operated as public utilities while other energy services are exploited commercially. (Author)

  6. Education: Commodity, Come-On, or Commitment?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moore, John W.

    2000-07-01

    July 4, and the glass art shown on pages 812-816, remind us that freedom is fragile. Through their governments, citizens of democracies have traditionally made strong commitments to education on grounds that without it individuals would not be able to act responsibly and to make wise decisions in voting booths and public meetings. All citizens have a stake in everyone's education, because a better-educated citizenry benefits all of society. In this country such a commitment has produced a system of public schools and public universities that offers opportunities to many who otherwise could not afford a level of education commensurate with their talents. But there are signs that this commitment to public education is flagging. Many students, teachers, and administrators view education as merely a way to enhance personal prosperity. How often have you heard the statistic that a college education pays for itself through increased earning power, even if it costs $20,000-30,000 per year? Investing in education pays off just as investing in the stock market does, provided you wait long enough. Attending a better school gets you a better job and a better income. In other words, a certified level of education is a commodity-something that is useful and can be turned to commercial advantage. Viewing education as a commodity has several consequences. First, if education is a means to better employment rather than better citizenship, why should anyone pay for it other than the person who benefits? Why should I pay taxes to help someone else get a better job when I could be spending the money for my own benefit? Education as a commodity makes such attitudes reasonable, though not commendable, and the result is lessened support for public education. Second, those who supply education as an economic good should be rewarded, and those who are much better at educating should be rewarded much more. Hence the fear of Arthur Levine, president of Teachers College, Columbia University

  7. 76 FR 6313 - Asparagus Revenue Market Loss Assistance Payment Program

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-02-04

    ... Revenue Market Loss Assistance Payment Program AGENCY: Commodity Credit Corporation and Farm Service Agency, USDA. ACTION: Final rule. SUMMARY: This rule implements the Asparagus Revenue Market Loss Assistance Payment (ALAP) Program authorized by the Food, Conservation and Energy Act of 2008 (the 2008 Farm...

  8. 78 FR 48035 - Conservation Reserve Program, Re-Enrollment

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-08-07

    ... longstanding USDA policy and existing handbooks. This technical amendment did not require Office of Management... Reserve Program (CRP) regulations to clarify that land with use restrictions that prohibit the production... other deed restrictions that restrict the production of agricultural commodities. A 2003 interim rule...

  9. 75 FR 60712 - Notice of Request for an Extension and Revision of a Currently Approved Information Collection

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... markets, and develop new uses and markets for specified agricultural commodities. USDA has the..., cotton, dairy, eggs, fluid milk, Hass avocados, honey, lamb, mangos, mushrooms, peanuts, popcorn, pork... Avocado Promotion, Research, and Information Act [7 U.S.C. 7801- 7813]; the Mushroom Promotion, Research...

  10. Regiones-commodities: Crisis y contagio en Chile

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Antonio Daher

    2003-05-01

    Full Text Available La hipótesis de un nuevo dualismo entre una capital subglobal y sus "regiones-commodities" subyace en el estudio del impacto diferencial de las tres últimas crisis internacionales en las regiones de Chile, cuantificado a través de cuatro indicadores: el producto, el empleo, la inversión externa y las exportaciones, cuya variación permite verificar la disímil vulnerabilidad de cada región y su desigual exposición al riesgo de contagio de crisis. Fundamentado en un marco conceptual que sostiene que las crisis siguen siendo más regionales que globales, y que existe una verdadera geografía del contagio, el estudio muestra evidencia empírica que permite constatar: 1 la reproducción de un desbalance norte-sur al interior de Chile; 2 la doble paradoja de Santiago, cuya economía es la más diversificada y la más vulnerable, la más recesiva y la de mayor crecimiento; 3 la emergencia de Antofagasta como segunda economía regional de Chile, desplazando a Valparaíso y Concepción; 4 el paralelismo de Santiago y Antofagasta como regiones con el mayor producto, la mayor inversión extranjera y mayores exportaciones; y 5 la "mercosurización" de Santiago, capital subglobal, y la globalización de sus "regiones-commodities".The hypothesis of a new dualism between a sub-global capital city and its "commodities regions" underlies the study of the differential impact of the three last international crises on the regions of Chile. This impact is quantified through four indicators: product, employment, foreign investment and exports, and their variability allow the verification of the dissimilar vulnerability of each region and its dissimilar exposure to the risk of crisis contamination. The study is based on a conceptual frame that states that crisis continue to be more regional-like than global, and that there is a real geography of contamination. On the other hand, this study shows empirical evidence which makes it possible to verify: 1 the

  11. A change in a competitive economy with indivisible commodities

    OpenAIRE

    Takayuki Oishi; Shin Sakaue

    2008-01-01

    We consider the relationship between a traditional competitive market and a competitive market with middlemen for trading indivisible commodities. We demonstrate that existence of many homogeneous middlemen leads to a change from the market with middlemen to the bilateral market.

  12. Modelling Long Memory Volatility in Agricultural Commodity Futures Returns

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    R. Tansuchat (Roengchai); C-L. Chang (Chia-Lin); M.J. McAleer (Michael)

    2009-01-01

    textabstractThis paper estimates the long memory volatility model for 16 agricultural commodity futures returns from different futures markets, namely corn, oats, soybeans, soybean meal, soybean oil, wheat, live cattle, cattle feeder, pork, cocoa, coffee, cotton, orange juice, Kansas City wheat,

  13. Modelling Long Memory Volatility in Agricultural Commodity Futures Returns

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    C-L. Chang (Chia-Lin); M.J. McAleer (Michael); R. Tansuchat (Roengchai)

    2012-01-01

    textabstractThis paper estimates a long memory volatility model for 16 agricultural commodity futures returns from different futures markets, namely corn, oats, soybeans, soybean meal, soybean oil, wheat, live cattle, cattle feeder, pork, cocoa, coffee, cotton, orange juice, Kansas City wheat,

  14. Cacao genetic resources research at the USDA-ARS Tropical Agriculture Research Station, Mayaguez, Puerto Rico

    Science.gov (United States)

    The current USDA ARS Tropical Agriculture Research Station’s (TARS) cacao (Theobroma cacao L.) collection in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, consists of 262 clonally propagated accessions. Each accession is represented by six individual trees grafted onto a common ‘Amelonado’ seedling rootstock and planted ...

  15. Techniques for Analyzing the Attractiveness of International Commodity Markets Under Conditions of Economic Globalization

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Olha Pryhara

    2006-03-01

    Full Text Available This article examines existing techniques and proposes its own for analyzing the attractiveness of international commodity markets in light of the globalization of world economic processes. Taking into account the supranational nature of the world economic environment when examining categories in the attractiveness of international commodity markets, the author introduces a multilevel system of indicators: market attractiveness at the mega-level – global level; market attractiveness at the macro-level national level; market attractiveness at the mezo-level – level of an individual sector. The attractiveness of international commodity markets is considered to be the degree of conformity between market environment factors and the mega-, macro- and mezo-levels of the economic interests of enterprises concerning the entry into and strategies for their activity on the international commodity markets in the short-, medium- and long-term. The author designs a stage-by-stage technique for strategically analyzing the attractiveness of international commodity markets in order to frame efficient market strategies of enterprises. Relying on the proposed techniques, she rates the integrated indicators of market accessibility and the possibility of realizing the economic interests of enterprises in target markets, bringing the index data into a matrix of «market accessibility – opportunity for realizing the economic interests of enterprises.» The analysis of a country’s position in the matrix makes it possible to frame efficient market strategies for enterprises.

  16. Exporting Rambutan to United States: One Reality?

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ahmad Zainuri Mohd Dzomir; Zainon Othman; Mohd Sidek Othman

    2011-01-01

    Rambutan is a one of commodity that are passed by United States of America authority to be market in that states. The main condition for the approval is the exporter must use irradiation technology as quarantine treatment to monitor the insects in there. United States of America's Agriculture Department (USDA-APHIS) has make early survey to the facilities involved in exporting process chain to overview Malaysia preparedness for this purpose. This paper work will discussed the possibility of this exporting implemented based on conditions rule by the USDA. (author)

  17. Deforestation risk due to commodity crop expansion in sub-Saharan Africa

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ordway, Elsa M.; Asner, Gregory P.; Lambin, Eric F.

    2017-04-01

    Rapid integration of global agricultural markets and subsequent cropland displacement in recent decades increased large-scale tropical deforestation in South America and Southeast Asia. Growing land scarcity and more stringent land use regulations in these regions could incentivize the offshoring of export-oriented commodity crops to sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). We assess the effects of domestic- and export-oriented agricultural expansion on deforestation in SSA in recent decades. Analyses were conducted at the global, regional and local scales. We found that commodity crops are expanding in SSA, increasing pressure on tropical forests. Four Congo Basin countries, Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Côte d’Ivoire were most at risk in terms of exposure, vulnerability and pressures from agricultural expansion. These countries averaged the highest percent forest cover (58% ± 17.93) and lowest proportions of potentially available cropland outside forest areas (1% ± 0.89). Foreign investment in these countries was concentrated in oil palm production (81%), with a median investment area of 41 582 thousand ha. Cocoa, the fastest expanding export-oriented crop across SSA, accounted for 57% of global expansion in 2000-2013 at a rate of 132 thousand ha yr-1. However, cocoa only amounted to 0.89% of foreign land investment. Commodity crop expansion in SSA appears largely driven by small- and medium-scale farmers rather than industrial plantations. Land-use changes associated with large-scale investments remain to be observed in many countries. Although domestic demand for commodity crops was associated with most agricultural expansion, we provide evidence of a growing influence of distant markets on land-use change in SSA.

  18. 7 CFR 1599.11 - Use of commodities and sale proceeds.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE McGOVERN-DOLE INTERNATIONAL FOOD FOR EDUCATION AND CHILD NUTRITION... sell the donated commodities at a reasonable market price in the economy where the sale occurs. The...

  19. AN OVERVIEW OF MAJOR SOURCES OF DATA AND ANALYSES RELATING TO PHYSICAL FUNDAMENTALS IN INTERNATIONAL COMMODITY MARKETS

    OpenAIRE

    Pilar Fajarnes

    2011-01-01

    The debate on whether price movements in commodity markets are determined by changes in physical supply and demand fundamentals or by the speculative effects of financial investors seems to find some element of agreement on one particular point: the need for increased transparency and improved information on futures markets and physical commodity markets. This discussion paper provides an assessment of the current situation with regard to availability of information on physical commodity mark...

  20. 7 CFR 1945.18 - United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food and Agriculture Council (FAC).

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 13 2010-01-01 2009-01-01 true United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food and Agriculture Council (FAC). 1945.18 Section 1945.18 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) RURAL HOUSING SERVICE, RURAL BUSINESS-COOPERATIVE SERVICE, RURAL UTILITIES SERVICE...

  1. Beef customer satisfaction: USDA quality grade and marination effects on consumer evaluations of top round steaks.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Behrends, J M; Goodson, K J; Koohmaraie, M; Shackelford, S D; Wheeler, T L; Morgan, W W; Reagan, J O; Gwartney, B L; Wise, J W; Savell, J W

    2005-03-01

    An in-home beef study evaluated consumer ratings of top round steaks (semimembranosus) as influenced by USDA quality grade (top Choice or high Select), city (Chicago or Philadelphia), consumer segment (beef loyalists = heavy consumers of beef; budget rotators = cost-driven and split meat consumption between beef and chicken; and variety rotators = higher incomes and education and split meat consumption among beef, poultry, and other foods), degree of doneness, cooking method, and marination. Consumers evaluated each steak for overall like, tenderness, juiciness, flavor like, and flavor amount using 10-point scales (1 = dislike extremely, not at all tender, not at all juicy, dislike extremely, and none at all to 10 = like extremely, extremely tender, extremely juicy, like extremely, and an extreme amount of flavor, respectively). Quality grade affected several consumer sensory traits, with top Choice receiving higher (P Consumers in Chicago rated steaks cooked "medium and less" higher for overall like, tenderness, juiciness, flavor like, and flavor amount than those in Philadelphia (city x degree of doneness; P customers in Philadelphia received among the highest scores for overall like, tenderness, juiciness, flavor like, and flavor amount compared with any cooking method used by customers in Chicago (cooking method x city; P customers' satisfaction with top round steaks, and was the sensory trait most highly correlated to overall like, followed by tenderness, flavor amount, and juiciness. Preparation of top round steaks was crucial in consumers' likes and dislikes, and by improving flavor, higher consumer satisfaction may be achieved.

  2. 17 CFR 1.1 - Fraud in or in connection with transactions in foreign currency subject to the Commodity Exchange...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... 17 Commodity and Securities Exchanges 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Fraud in or in connection with... Securities Exchanges COMMODITY FUTURES TRADING COMMISSION GENERAL REGULATIONS UNDER THE COMMODITY EXCHANGE ACT Definitions § 1.1 Fraud in or in connection with transactions in foreign currency subject to the...

  3. School Nutrition Directors' Perspectives on Preparing for and Implementing USDA's New School Meal Regulations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yon, Bethany A.; Amin, Sarah A.; Taylor, Jennifer C.; Johnson, Rachel K.

    2016-01-01

    Purpose/Objectives: The U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) new school meals regulations went into effect in July 2012. The purpose of this research was to explore school nutrition director's (SNDs) perspectives and attitudes about the new regulations and to identify strategies used to prepare for and subsequently implement the regulations.…

  4. Performing Free Radioactive Certificate as an Effort to Protect Import and Export Commodities in Globalization Era

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kunto-Wiharto; Syarbaini

    2001-01-01

    Several activities such as nuclear weapon tests, nuclear fuel reprocessing and nuclear accidents have caused radioactive contamination in local, regional and global environment. In globalization and free trade era, every country will be faced to the condition with the movable commodities from and to another countries. Global contamination through import and export commodities is a problem will be found every country in the future. Therefore, performing free radioactive certification on import and export commodities must be carried out to protect a member of public and environment from radioactive contamination. (author)

  5. 75 FR 75959 - Notice of Intent: To Request a Revision of a Currently Approved Information Collection

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-12-07

    ... enhancing forest ecosystems to: 1) Promote the recovery of threatened and endangered species; 2) improve... condition receipt of USDA benefits on landowners and operators not converting wetlands for agricultural production purposes or to make possible the production of an agricultural commodity. All the programs in this...

  6. 78 FR 56648 - Notice of a Request for a Reinstatement of a Currently Approved Information Collection

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-09-13

    ... communication of information (Braille, large print, audiotape, etc.) should contact USDA's Target Center at (202... public record and subject to disclosure. Do not enclose any material in your comments that you consider... assistance and cash benefits to eligible producers of raw agricultural commodities and fishermen [[Page 56649...

  7. Using Discrete Event Simulation to Model Integrated Commodities Consumption for a Launch Campaign of the Space Launch System

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leonard, Daniel; Parsons, Jeremy W.; Cates, Grant

    2014-01-01

    In May 2013, NASA's GSDO Program requested a study to develop a discrete event simulation (DES) model that analyzes the launch campaign process of the Space Launch System (SLS) from an integrated commodities perspective. The scope of the study includes launch countdown and scrub turnaround and focuses on four core launch commodities: hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, and helium. Previously, the commodities were only analyzed individually and deterministically for their launch support capability, but this study was the first to integrate them to examine the impact of their interactions on a launch campaign as well as the effects of process variability on commodity availability. The study produced a validated DES model with Rockwell Arena that showed that Kennedy Space Center's ground systems were capable of supporting a 48-hour scrub turnaround for the SLS. The model will be maintained and updated to provide commodity consumption analysis of future ground system and SLS configurations.

  8. Using Empirical Data to Estimate Potential Functions in Commodity Markets: Some Initial Results

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shen, C.; Haven, E.

    2017-12-01

    This paper focuses on estimating real and quantum potentials from financial commodities. The log returns of six common commodities are considered. We find that some phenomena, such as the vertical potential walls and the time scale issue of the variation on returns, also exists in commodity markets. By comparing the quantum and classical potentials, we attempt to demonstrate that the information within these two types of potentials is different. We believe this empirical result is consistent with the theoretical assumption that quantum potentials (when embedded into social science contexts) may contain some social cognitive or market psychological information, while classical potentials mainly reflect `hard' market conditions. We also compare the two potential forces and explore their relationship by simply estimating the Pearson correlation between them. The Medium or weak interaction effect may indicate that the cognitive system among traders may be affected by those `hard' market conditions.

  9. Competitiveness of Slovak agri-food commodities in third country markets

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Iveta Ubrežiová

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available The impression of a single “European” market is gradually generated mainly due to action of the Common Agricultural Policy. Most of the agro-food complex enterprises see opportunities especially in the internationalization, globalization and regionalization in the agri-food sector, in pursuance of this, they are gradually smouldering innovative activities and trying to work on their competitive advantages. Based on the written we can say, that the issue of the competitiveness of enterprises, as well as of various commodities is in the current period highly current and adequate. The importance of the trade with so-called third countries is still increasing. This increase is mainly caused by the enlargement of the European Union in the term of foreign trade and it can be also confirmed from the results of the research. As the results of the research shows, the most important customers of the Slovak agri-food commodities are the Commonwealth of Independent States, where in the followed four-year period went within third countries at the average of 32.9% of the total Slovak agriculture export, also countries of EUROMED, where this proportion was 18.4%, and Croatia, with the proportion of 19.1%. These countries are the largest buyers of such Slovak agri-food commodities as are for example malt, chocolate and live cattle. On the other hand, Slovak republic is in agri-food import mostly dependent on such countries as are for example MERCOSUR countries, Mediterranean countries EUROMED, the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP, China, ASEAN and the U.S., which are the major suppliers of so-called „irreplaceable“ items, which Slovak republic can not produce.Results of the research also shows that while the importance of the trade with those countries (note- third countries is still increasing, Slovak export to third countries, in the contrast to its import, is still decreasing and that the most competitive agri-food commodities are for example live

  10. 7 CFR Appendix to Subpart A of... - List of Federal Financial Assistance From USDA

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... Food Security Act of 1985 (7 U.S.C. 1281 et seq.). 7. Human Nutrition 7 CFR 3015.205(b); Department of... 7 Agriculture 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false List of Federal Financial Assistance From USDA Appendix to Subpart A of Part 15 Agriculture Office of the Secretary of Agriculture NONDISCRIMINATION...

  11. Duurzaamheid en grondstoffen voor diervoeding = Sustainability and feed commodity production

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Gosselink, J.M.J.; Bindraban, P.S.; Bos, J.F.F.P.

    2010-01-01

    This study creates a preliminary framework to judge the sustainability of production of agricultural commodities for the purpose of animal nutrition. Criteria are selected according to the economic, societal and ecological dimensions of sustainability.

  12. 75 FR 16453 - Nasdaq OMX Commodities Clearing-Finance, LLC; Supplemental Notice That Initial Market-Based Rate...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY Federal Energy Regulatory Commission [Docket No. ER10-914-000] Nasdaq OMX Commodities Clearing--Finance, LLC; Supplemental Notice That Initial Market-Based Rate Filing Includes Request...-referenced proceeding of Nasdaq OMX Commodities Clearing--Finance, LLC's application for market- based rate...

  13. 48 CFR 470.202 - Acquisition of commodities for United States Agency for International Development (USAID) programs.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 4 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Acquisition of commodities... Federal Acquisition Regulations System DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE FOOD ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS COMMODITY...) programs. (a) Lowest landed cost and delivery considerations. (1) Except as provided in paragraphs (a)(3...

  14. Commodity Alliance Model – An Option for Advancing Private and ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Commodity Alliance Model – An Option for Advancing Private and Commercial ... that ensure adequate value addition and ultimate remunerative price for farmers' ... and integrating them in terms of fair price determination, information flow and ...

  15. Role of Reproductive Health Commodity Security on Maternal and ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Methods: A Medline search and search of other internet search engines for published studies on contraceptive commodity security and maternal and child health in West Africa was done. The journals were accessed online and from public libraries. Results: Contraceptive prevalence rate in West Africa is generally low.

  16. 45 CFR 205.25 - Eligibility of supplemental security income beneficiaries for food stamps or surplus commodities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... beneficiaries for food stamps or surplus commodities. 205.25 Section 205.25 Public Welfare Regulations Relating....25 Eligibility of supplemental security income beneficiaries for food stamps or surplus commodities... XVI of the Social Security Act, the State agency shall make the following determinations: (1) The...

  17. Agricultural Commodity Price Shocks and their Effect on Growth in Sub-Saharan Africa

    OpenAIRE

    Addison, Tony; Ghoshray, Atanu

    2014-01-01

    Commodity price shocks are an important type of external shock and are often cited as a problem for economic growth in sub-Saharan Africa. This paper quantifies the impact of agricultural commodity price shocks using a near vector autoregressive model. The novel aspect of this model is that we define an auxiliary variable that can potentially capture the definition of a price shock that allows us to determine whether the response of per capita Gross domestic product (GDP) growth in sub-Sahara...

  18. Indonesia Export, Import, and Demand for Domestic Commodities under Economics Liberalisation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Andi Irawan

    2011-09-01

    Full Text Available The aim of this research is to identify the behaviour of export, import and domestic commoditiesdemand in liberalization era both in the long run and the short run. This researchapplies the Vector Error Correction Model, Johansen Cointegration Test, Impulse ResponseAnalysis and Granger Causality Test. The data range from 1993:01 to 2002:12. The resultshows that in the long run the cross-price elasticity of imported non agricultural goods withrespect to demand for domestically produced goods have lower magnitudes than own priceelasticity of domestically produced goods. The demand elasticity of import commodities iselastic but that of domestic commodities is inelastic.Keywords: Import, Export, Economic Liberalization, Vector Error Correction Model

  19. School Nutrition Professionals' Usage and Perceptions of USDA Recipes and the Impact of Student Enrollment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rushing, Keith; Johnson, J. T.

    2015-01-01

    Purpose/Objectives: The purpose of this study was to explore the frequency of usage of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Recipes for Schools and investigate factors influencing their usage. The relationship between these variables and school district size (student enrollment) was also investigated. Methods: An expert panel…

  20. Characterization of Sugar Concentration Among Edible Podded Accessions in the USDA Phaseolus vulgaris Germplasm Collection

    Science.gov (United States)

    The objective is to gain knowledge regarding variation in sugar and flavor content among a sample of dry bean and green pod-type accessions from the USDA Phaseolus Germplasm Core Collection, Pullman, WA. The results could be used to market product quality and offer unique opportunities to expand ma...

  1. The Effects of Digital Marketing of Unhealthy Commodities on Young People: A Systematic Review

    OpenAIRE

    Limin Buchanan; Bridget Kelly; Heather Yeatman; Kishan Kariippanon

    2018-01-01

    The marketing of unhealthy commodities through traditional media is known to impact consumers’ product attitudes and behaviors. Less is known about the impacts of digital marketing (online promotional activities), especially among young people who have a strong online presence. This review systematically assesses the relationship between digital marketing and young people’s attitudes and behaviors towards unhealthy commodities. Literature was identified in June 2017 by searches in six electro...

  2. Dependence structure of the commodity and stock markets, and relevant multi-spread strategy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Min Jae; Kim, Sehyun; Jo, Yong Hwan; Kim, Soo Yong

    2011-10-01

    Understanding the dependence structure between the commodity and stock markets is a crucial issue in constructing a portfolio. It can also help us to discover new opportunities to implement spread trading using multiple assets classified in the two different markets. This study analyzed the dependence structure of the commodity and stock markets using the random matrix theory technique and network analysis. Our results show that the stock and commodity markets must be handled as completely separated asset classes except for the oil and gold markets, so the performance enhancement of the mean-variance portfolio is significant as expected. In light of the fact that WTI 1 month futures and four oil-related stocks are strongly correlated, they were selected as basic ingredients to complement the multi-spread convergence trading strategy using a machine learning technique called the AdaBoost algorithm. The performance of this strategy for non-myopic investors, who can endure short-term loss, can be enhanced significantly on a risk measurement basis.

  3. Trade tensions between EU and Russia: Possible effects on trade in agricultural commodities for Visegrad countries

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Erokhin, V.; Heijman, W.J.M.; Ivolga, A.

    2014-01-01

    The paper includes overview of the current state of the EU-CIS and the EU-Russia trade flows with particular attention to trade in agricultural commodities, as well as contemporary tendencies in agricultural production and foreign trade in agricultural commodities and food in Russia. The paper

  4. Mineral production and mining trends for selected non-fuel commodities in Idaho and Montana, 1905-2001

    Science.gov (United States)

    Larsen, Jeremy C.; Long, Keith R.; Assmus, Kenneth C.; Zientek, Michael L.

    2004-01-01

    Idaho and Montana state mining statistics were obtained from historical mineral production records and compiled into a continuous record from 1905 through 2001. To facilitate comparisons, the mineral production data were normalized by converting the units of measure to metric tons for all included commodities. These standardized statistical data include production rates for principal non-fuel mineral commodities from both Idaho and Montana, as well as the production rates of similar commodities for the U.S. and the world for contrast. Data are presented here in both tabular and bar chart format. Moreover, the tables of standardized mineral production data are also provided in digital format as, commodity_production.xls. Some significant historical events pertaining to the mining industry are described as well. When taken into account with the historical production data, this combined information may to help explain both specific fluctuations and general tendencies in the overall trends in the rates of mineral resource production over time.

  5. Phytosanitary irradiation of fresh tropical commodities in Hawaii: Generic treatments, commercial adoption, and current issues

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Follett, Peter A.; Weinert, Eric D.

    2012-01-01

    Hawaii is a pioneer in the use of phytosanitary irradiation. The commercial X-ray irradiation facility, Hawaii Pride LLC, has been shipping papaya and other tropical fruits and vegetables to the United States mainland using irradiation for 11 years. Irradiation is an approved treatment to control quarantine pests in 17 fruits and 7 vegetables for export from Hawaii to the US mainland. Hawaiian purple sweet potato is the highest volume product with annual exports of more than 12 million lbs (5500 t). The advent of generic radiation treatments for tephritid fruit flies (150 Gy) and other insects (400 Gy) will accelerate commodity export approvals and facilitate worldwide adoption. Lowering doses for specific pests and commodities can lower treatment costs and increase capacity owing to shorter treatment times, and will minimize any quality problems. Current impediments to wider adoption include the 1 kGy limit for fresh horticultural products, the labeling requirement, and non-acceptance of phytosanitary irradiation in Japan, the European Union, and elsewhere. Irradiation has potential as a treatment for unregulated imports to prevent new pest incursions. - Highlights: ► Irradiation is used to control quarantine insects in exported fresh commodities. ► Hawaii exported 5.7 t of tropical produce using irradiation in 2010. ► Generic radiation treatments will accelerate commodity export approvals. ► Lowering the dose for specific commodities will reduce costs/maintain quality. ► Current issues include the 1 kGy dose limit and labeling requirements.

  6. Using USDA's National Cooperative Soil Survey Soil Characterization Data to detect soil change: A cautionary tale

    Science.gov (United States)

    Recently, the USDA-NRCS National Cooperative Soil Survey Soil Characterization Database (NSCD) was reported to provide evidence that total nitrogen (TN) stocks of agricultural soils have increased across the Mississippi basin since 1985. Unfortunately, due to omission of metadata from the NSCD, hist...

  7. Sensitive Information Tracking in Commodity IoT

    OpenAIRE

    Celik, Z. Berkay; Babun, Leonardo; Sikder, Amit K.; Aksu, Hidayet; Tan, Gang; McDaniel, Patrick; Uluagac, A. Selcuk

    2018-01-01

    Broadly defined as the Internet of Things (IoT), the growth of commodity devices that integrate physical processes with digital connectivity has had profound effects on society--smart homes, personal monitoring devices, enhanced manufacturing and other IoT apps have changed the way we live, play, and work. Yet extant IoT platforms provide few means of evaluating the use (and potential avenues for misuse) of sensitive information. Thus, consumers and organizations have little information to as...

  8. Monetary Policy, Commodity Prices and Infl ation – Empirical Evidence from the US

    OpenAIRE

    Verheyen, Florian

    2010-01-01

    The past years were characterized by unprecedented rises in prices of commodities such as oil or wheat and inflation rates moved up above the mark of two percent per annum. This led to a revival of the debate whether commodity prices indicate future CPI inflation and if they can be used as indicator variables for central banks or not. We apply various econometric methods like Granger causality tests and SVAR models to US data. The results corroborate the notion that there was a strong link be...

  9. 76 FR 61074 - USDA Increases the Fiscal Year 2011 Tariff-Rate Quota for Refined Sugar

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-10-03

    ... Quota for Refined Sugar AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, USDA. ACTION: Notice. SUMMARY: The Secretary of Agriculture today announced an increase in the fiscal year (FY) 2011 refined sugar tariff-rate quota (TRQ) of... INFORMATION: A quantity of 22,000 MTRV for sugars, syrups, and molasses (collectively referred to as refined...

  10. Real Time Business Analytics for Buying or Selling Transaction on Commodity Warehouse Receipt System

    Science.gov (United States)

    Djatna, Taufik; Teniwut, Wellem A.; Hairiyah, Nina; Marimin

    2017-10-01

    The requirement for smooth information such as buying and selling is essential for commodity warehouse receipt system such as dried seaweed and their stakeholders to transact for an operational transaction. Transactions of buying or selling a commodity warehouse receipt system are a risky process due to the fluctuations in dynamic commodity prices. An integrated system to determine the condition of the real time was needed to make a decision-making transaction by the owner or prospective buyer. The primary motivation of this study is to propose computational methods to trace market tendency for either buying or selling processes. The empirical results reveal that feature selection gain ratio and k-NN outperforms other forecasting models, implying that the proposed approach is a promising alternative to the stock market tendency of warehouse receipt document exploration with accurate level rate is 95.03%.

  11. International commodity prices, growth and the outbreak of Civil War in Sub-Saharan Africa

    OpenAIRE

    Markus Brückner; Antonio Ciccone

    2007-01-01

    To learn more about the effect of economic conditions on civil war, we examine whether Sub-Saharan civil wars are more likely to start following downturns in the international price of countries’ main export commodities. The data show a robust effect of commodity price downturns on the outbreak of civil wars. We also find that Sub-Saharan countries are more likely to see civil wars following economic downturns in their main OECD export destinations.

  12. International Commodity Prices, Growth, and the Outbreak of Civil War in Sub-Saharan Africa

    OpenAIRE

    Markus Brückner; Antonio Ciccone

    2009-01-01

    To learn more about the effect of economic conditions on civil war, we examine whether Sub-Saharan civil wars are more likely to start following downturns in the international price of countries main export commodities. The data show a robust effect of commodity price downturns on the outbreak of civil wars. We also find that Sub-Saharan countries are more likely to see civil wars following economic downturns in their main OECD export destinations.

  13. Tips for Organizing an Educational Agricultural Commodity Trading Club

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yost, John

    2011-01-01

    Educational commodity marketing clubs have been an effective tool for producers to develop their grain and livestock marketing skills. These groups are further enhanced when the participants engage in "actual trading" versus "paper trading" techniques. When a club chooses to try actual trading, it becomes more complicated than pooling monies…

  14. A policy-oriented cost model for shipping commodities by truck.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2009-12-01

    Surprisingly, transportation planners and policy makers do not have the ability to estimate the cost of shipping a quantity of a commodity between two : locations for broad categories of goods. Costs of shipping are important components in mode, rout...

  15. Applications of UAV imagery for agricultural and environmental research at the USDA Southeast Watershed Research Lab

    Science.gov (United States)

    The ARS is the USDA's in-house scientific research agency, whose mission is to conduct research to "develop and transfer solutions to agricultural problems of high national priority..." This includes enhancing the natural resource base and the environment, a dimension of particular relevance to the ...

  16. The impact of global oil price shocks on China’s bulk commodity markets and fundamental industries

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhang, Chuanguo; Chen, Xiaoqing

    2014-01-01

    This paper investigated the reaction of aggregate commodity market to oil price shocks and also explored the effects of oil price shocks on China's fundamental industries: metals, petrochemicals, grains and oilfats. We separated the volatilities of oil price into expected, unexpected and negatively expected categories to identify how oil prices influence bulk commodity markets. We contrasted the results between different periods and among classified indices, in order to discover the significant changes in recent years and the differences at an industry level. Our results indicate that the aggregate commodity market was affected by both expected and unexpected oil price volatilities in China. The impact of unexpected oil price volatilities became more complex after 2007. The metals and grains indices did not significantly respond to the expected volatility in oil prices, in contrast to the petrochemicals and oilfats indices. These results not only contribute to advancing the existing literature, but also merit particular attention from policy makers and market investors in China. - Highlights: • We investigated the impact of global oil price shocks on China’s bulk commodity markets and fundamental industries. • The aggregate commodity market was affected by both expected and unexpected oil price volatilities. • The impact of unexpected oil price volatilities became more complex after 2007. • The metals and grains indices did not significantly respond to the expected volatility in oil prices

  17. The Impact of the Global Commodity and Financial Crises on Poverty in Vietnam

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Thurlow, James; Tarp, Finn; McCoy, Simon

    Economic growth in Vietnam has been fairly resilient to the global commodity and financial crises, but it is unclear why. In addition, the impact of the crises on employment and poverty is in dispute. We develop a dynamic computable general equilibrium model to decompose impacts and estimate...... distributional outcomes. Our results indicate that the 2008 commodity crisis increased employment and reduced poverty by favouring labour-intensive exports, especially in agriculture. The 2009 financial crisis reversed these gains. It pushed more than a million workers into unemployment and about 3 million...

  18. Aromatherapy Oils: Commodities, Materials, Essences

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ruth Barcan

    2014-08-01

    Full Text Available This article examines the essential oils that are the central tools of aromatherapy and uses them as a case study for different approaches to material culture. It considers the conceptual and political implications of thinking of essential oils as, in turn, commodities, materials and essences. I argue that both cultural studies and aromatherapy have something to learn from each other. Classic materialist approaches might do well to focus more attention on the material properties and effects of things. Aromatherapy, on the other hand, could benefit from the enriched political understanding associated with classic materialist critique. New materialist strains of cultural studies may also find the vibrancy of matter that underpins many CAM/New Age practices worthy of examination.

  19. 7 CFR 1220.622 - Certification and request procedures.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... MARKETING SERVICE (MARKETING AGREEMENTS AND ORDERS; MISCELLANEOUS COMMODITIES), DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE... entity owns or rents land. Eligible producers may also obtain form LS-51-1 via the Internet at http://www.ams.usda.gov/lsmarketing programs. For those persons who chose to obtain form LS-51-1 via the Internet...

  20. Mesocarp RNASeq analysis of Mango (Mangifera indica L.) identify quarantine post-harvest treatment effects on gene expression.

    Science.gov (United States)

    The United States is the world’s largest importer of mangos. Before mangos can enter the US, they must be hot water treated to eliminate the eggs of an insect pest. The National Mango Board, a USDA supported commodity group, as well as mango exporters, importers and wholesale and retail distributo...

  1. 77 FR 23450 - USDA Increases and Reassigns Fiscal Year 2012 Overall Allotment Quantity and Increases Fiscal...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-04-19

    ... marketing allocations between beet processors, and a reassignment of surplus cane sugar marketing allotment...-0876; or by email to [email protected] . SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: USDA today announced an... split in accordance with the Sugar Marketing Allotment program, 54.35/45.65 percent between the beet and...

  2. A Framework for Learning Analytics Using Commodity Wearable Devices.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lu, Yu; Zhang, Sen; Zhang, Zhiqiang; Xiao, Wendong; Yu, Shengquan

    2017-06-14

    We advocate for and introduce LEARNSense, a framework for learning analytics using commodity wearable devices to capture learner's physical actions and accordingly infer learner context (e.g., student activities and engagement status in class). Our work is motivated by the observations that: (a) the fine-grained individual-specific learner actions are crucial to understand learners and their context information; (b) sensor data available on the latest wearable devices (e.g., wrist-worn and eye wear devices) can effectively recognize learner actions and help to infer learner context information; (c) the commodity wearable devices that are widely available on the market can provide a hassle-free and non-intrusive solution. Following the above observations and under the proposed framework, we design and implement a sensor-based learner context collector running on the wearable devices. The latest data mining and sensor data processing techniques are employed to detect different types of learner actions and context information. Furthermore, we detail all of the above efforts by offering a novel and exemplary use case: it successfully provides the accurate detection of student actions and infers the student engagement states in class. The specifically designed learner context collector has been implemented on the commodity wrist-worn device. Based on the collected and inferred learner information, the novel intervention and incentivizing feedback are introduced into the system service. Finally, a comprehensive evaluation with the real-world experiments, surveys and interviews demonstrates the effectiveness and impact of the proposed framework and this use case. The F1 score for the student action classification tasks achieve 0.9, and the system can effectively differentiate the defined three learner states. Finally, the survey results show that the learners are satisfied with the use of our system (mean score of 3.7 with a standard deviation of 0.55).

  3. An analysis on types of strategic commodities and technologies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tae, Jaewoong; Shin, Donghun

    2013-01-01

    In the study, Reconsideration of classification cases was carried out and a database was built based on Information of classification requests as features which are necessary for data mining. In this study, two main features of classified documents were organized systematically to apply data mining skills. It will be helpful to discover association rules between documents and to classify documents as they are key factors of strategic commodity classification. In addition, the classification scheme presented in the study helps step-by-step search by adding the auxiliary search criteria. The international community strengthened the export control regime. Accordingly, Korea also needs to fully comply with the export control obligations. Despite International export control regimes are strengthened, the current system to control exports of strategic commodities relies on limited human resource and experience to the situation. Especially, exports of nuclear power plants are related to one thousand kinds more material. Thus, the burden of the government, relevant institutes and enterprises has increased a lot. It is necessary to enhance the ease and efficiency of export control business processes in order to cope with such export control issues. NSSC operates the NEPS system for export control of nuclear items. Technical reviewers can search past cases of strategic commodity classification on NEPS system. However, searching function of NEPS system has limitations because exports to UAE and Jordan increased sharply, but characteristics of classification requests are not systematized. To provide more efficient ways to their decisions, development of the advanced export control system, IXCS (Intelligent eXport Control System) is considered. IXCS will adopt various methods including data mining. Data mining is the computational process of discovering patterns in large data sets. It is an efficient way to find out hidden consideration patterns. However, it needs many kinds of

  4. An analysis on types of strategic commodities and technologies

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Tae, Jaewoong; Shin, Donghun [Korea Institute of Nuclear Nonproliferation and Control, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

    2013-05-15

    In the study, Reconsideration of classification cases was carried out and a database was built based on Information of classification requests as features which are necessary for data mining. In this study, two main features of classified documents were organized systematically to apply data mining skills. It will be helpful to discover association rules between documents and to classify documents as they are key factors of strategic commodity classification. In addition, the classification scheme presented in the study helps step-by-step search by adding the auxiliary search criteria. The international community strengthened the export control regime. Accordingly, Korea also needs to fully comply with the export control obligations. Despite International export control regimes are strengthened, the current system to control exports of strategic commodities relies on limited human resource and experience to the situation. Especially, exports of nuclear power plants are related to one thousand kinds more material. Thus, the burden of the government, relevant institutes and enterprises has increased a lot. It is necessary to enhance the ease and efficiency of export control business processes in order to cope with such export control issues. NSSC operates the NEPS system for export control of nuclear items. Technical reviewers can search past cases of strategic commodity classification on NEPS system. However, searching function of NEPS system has limitations because exports to UAE and Jordan increased sharply, but characteristics of classification requests are not systematized. To provide more efficient ways to their decisions, development of the advanced export control system, IXCS (Intelligent eXport Control System) is considered. IXCS will adopt various methods including data mining. Data mining is the computational process of discovering patterns in large data sets. It is an efficient way to find out hidden consideration patterns. However, it needs many kinds of

  5. THE ANALYSIS OF THE COMMODITY PRICE FORECASTING SUCCESS CONSIDERING DIFFERENT LENGTHS OF THE INITIAL CONDITION DRIFT

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marcela Lascsáková

    2015-09-01

    Full Text Available In the paper the numerical model based on the exponential approximation of commodity stock exchanges was derived. The price prognoses of aluminium on the London Metal Exchange were determined as numerical solution of the Cauchy initial problem for the 1st order ordinary differential equation. To make the numerical model more accurate the idea of the modification of the initial condition value by the stock exchange was realized. By having analyzed the forecasting success of the chosen initial condition drift types, the initial condition drift providing the most accurate prognoses for the commodity price movements was determined. The suggested modification of the original model made the commodity price prognoses more accurate.

  6. International Commodities Prices, Growth and the Outbreak of Civil War in Sub-Saharan Africa

    OpenAIRE

    Markus Bruckner; Antonio Ciccone

    2010-01-01

    To learn more about the effect of economic conditions on civil war, we examine whether Sub-Saharan civil wars are more likely to start following downturns in the international price of countries’ main export commodities. The data show a robust effect of commodity price downturns on the outbreak of civil wars. We also find that Sub-Saharan countries are more likely to see civil wars following economic downturns in their main OECD export destinations.

  7. Hedging Price Risks of Farmers by Commodity Boards: A Simulation Applied to the Indian Natural Rubber Market

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Zant, W.

    2001-01-01

    This paper investigates a hypothetical hedging scheme in a domestic commodity market under which a commodity board offers a forward contract to domestic producers and local traders and covers its commitments on an international futures exchange. It is aimed to quantify welfare gains to agents in the

  8. Bayesian Networks to Compare Pest Control Interventions on Commodities Along Agricultural Production Chains.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Holt, J; Leach, A W; Johnson, S; Tu, D M; Nhu, D T; Anh, N T; Quinlan, M M; Whittle, P J L; Mengersen, K; Mumford, J D

    2018-02-01

    The production of an agricultural commodity involves a sequence of processes: planting/growing, harvesting, sorting/grading, postharvest treatment, packing, and exporting. A Bayesian network has been developed to represent the level of potential infestation of an agricultural commodity by a specified pest along an agricultural production chain. It reflects the dependency of this infestation on the predicted level of pest challenge, the anticipated susceptibility of the commodity to the pest, the level of impact from pest control measures as designed, and any variation from that due to uncertainty in measure efficacy. The objective of this Bayesian network is to facilitate agreement between national governments of the exporters and importers on a set of phytosanitary measures to meet specific phytosanitary measure requirements to achieve target levels of protection against regulated pests. The model can be used to compare the performance of different combinations of measures under different scenarios of pest challenge, making use of available measure performance data. A case study is presented using a model developed for a fruit fly pest on dragon fruit in Vietnam; the model parameters and results are illustrative and do not imply a particular level of fruit fly infestation of these exports; rather, they provide the most likely, alternative, or worst-case scenarios of the impact of measures. As a means to facilitate agreement for trade, the model provides a framework to support communication between exporters and importers about any differences in perceptions of the risk reduction achieved by pest control measures deployed during the commodity production chain. © 2017 Society for Risk Analysis.

  9. Modeling commodity salam contract between two parties for discrete and continuous time series

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hisham, Azie Farhani Badrol; Jaffar, Maheran Mohd

    2017-08-01

    In order for Islamic finance to remain competitive as the conventional, there needs a new development of Islamic compliance product such as Islamic derivative that can be used to manage the risk. However, under syariah principles and regulations, all financial instruments must not be conflicting with five syariah elements which are riba (interest paid), rishwah (corruption), gharar (uncertainty or unnecessary risk), maysir (speculation or gambling) and jahl (taking advantage of the counterparty's ignorance). This study has proposed a traditional Islamic contract namely salam that can be built as an Islamic derivative product. Although a lot of studies has been done on discussing and proposing the implementation of salam contract as the Islamic product however they are more into qualitative and law issues. Since there is lack of quantitative study of salam contract being developed, this study introduces mathematical models that can value the appropriate salam price for a commodity salam contract between two parties. In modeling the commodity salam contract, this study has modified the existing conventional derivative model and come out with some adjustments to comply with syariah rules and regulations. The cost of carry model has been chosen as the foundation to develop the commodity salam model between two parties for discrete and continuous time series. However, the conventional time value of money results from the concept of interest that is prohibited in Islam. Therefore, this study has adopted the idea of Islamic time value of money which is known as the positive time preference, in modeling the commodity salam contract between two parties for discrete and continuous time series.

  10. Rambutan Commodity Development Strategy as Regional Potential Product

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Amin Pujiati

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available The potential product of a region needs to be developed in order to improve the social welfare. Commonly, at harvest time, there is abundant horticulture commodity. Unluckily, the price of the commodity drops significantly. In other words, it costs extremely cheap. The purpose of research is analyzing the internal and external factors and determining an appropriate strategy for developing rambutan in Central Java, especially at Gunungpati District, Semarang, Central Java Province. The primary data of this research is obtained from 58 rambutan farmers that have been interviewed and have filled out the questionnaire forms. The secondary data is taken from the Central Bureau of Statistics, the monograph of the village and the internet by implementing the literature study method. Then, SWOT analysis is implemented for analizing the data. The internal factors that become the strengths are fertilized land for rambutan to grow and the farmers’ hereditary experiences in cultivating rambutan. Further, the lack of absorbing power of knowledge and technologies and the low existence of rambutan business are the weaknesses. Next, the external factor that becomes opportunity is the continuous increasing market demand, while the threat is the young generations having no interest in rambutan business. Finally, the stability (hold and maintain strategy should be implemented for developing rambutan business

  11. Rambutan Commodity Development Strategy as Regional Potential Product

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Amin Pujiati

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available The potential product of a region needs to be developed in order to improve the social welfare. Commonly, at harvest time, there is abundant horticulture commodity. Unluckily, the price of the commodity drops significantly. In other words, it costs  extremely cheap. The purpose of research is analyzing the internal and external factors and determining an appropriate strategy for developing rambutan in Central Java, especially at Gunungpati District, Semarang, Central Java Province. The primary data of this research is obtained from 58 rambutan farmers that have been interviewed and have filled out the questionnaire forms. The secondary data is taken from the Central Bureau of Statistics, the monograph of the village and the internet by implementing the literature study method. Then, SWOT analysis is implemented for analizing the data. The internal factors that become the strengths are fertilized land for rambutan to grow and the farmers’ hereditary experiences in cultivating rambutan. Further, the lack of absorbing power of knowledge and technologies and the low existence of rambutan business are the weaknesses. Next, the external factor that becomes opportunity is the continuous increasing market demand, while the threat is the young generations having no interest in rambutan business. Finally, the stability (hold and maintain strategy should be implemented for developing rambutan business

  12. The changing dynamics between biofuels and commodity markets

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bole, T.; Londo, H.M.

    2008-06-01

    The recent development of the biofuel industries coincides with significant increases in prices of basic commodities such as food and feed. Against popular perception, it appears that there is not a straightforward causal relationship between the two; there are a number of factors that determine the level and strength of the impact of the biofuels sector on other commodities. For the case of markets of agricultural raw material these factors include the amount of feedstock claimed by the biofuels industry, its relative purchasing power, the responsiveness of the agricultural sector to price incentives and availability of substitutes. For consumer food markets we must additionally consider the relative share of agricultural input costs in the retail food price and the demand elasticity. Based on the analysis of these factors and estimates of other studies that attempted to quantify the price impacts of biofuels on crop prices, we conclude that the impact of biofuels is relatively small, especially when compared with other causes that triggered the recent price increases. We end the paper with a recommendation for future efforts in curbing food price inflations while keeping ambitious biofuel targets and suggest a shift in focus of the debate around the social costs of biofuels

  13. Sensitivity analysis of tracer transport in variably saturated soils at USDA-ARS OPE3 field site

    Science.gov (United States)

    The objective of this study was to assess the effects of uncertainties in hydrologic and geochemical parameters on the results of simulations of the tracer transport in variably saturated soils at the USDA-ARS OPE3 field site. A tracer experiment with a pulse of KCL solution applied to an irrigatio...

  14. Regiones-commodities: Crisis y contagio en Chile

    OpenAIRE

    Antonio Daher

    2003-01-01

    La hipótesis de un nuevo dualismo entre una capital subglobal y sus "regiones-commodities" subyace en el estudio del impacto diferencial de las tres últimas crisis internacionales en las regiones de Chile, cuantificado a través de cuatro indicadores: el producto, el empleo, la inversión externa y las exportaciones, cuya variación permite verificar la disímil vulnerabilidad de cada región y su desigual exposición al riesgo de contagio de crisis. Fundamentado en un marco conceptual que sostiene...

  15. 77 FR 38033 - Notice of Establishment of a Commodity Import Approval Process Web Site

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-06-26

    ... post the draft risk assessment on the Web site for 30 days to give stakeholders an opportunity to... Process Web Site AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA. ACTION: Notice. SUMMARY: We are announcing the creation of a new Plant Protection and Quarantine Web site that will provide stakeholders with...

  16. The Effects of Digital Marketing of Unhealthy Commodities on Young People: A Systematic Review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Buchanan, Limin; Kelly, Bridget; Yeatman, Heather; Kariippanon, Kishan

    2018-01-29

    The marketing of unhealthy commodities through traditional media is known to impact consumers' product attitudes and behaviors. Less is known about the impacts of digital marketing (online promotional activities), especially among young people who have a strong online presence. This review systematically assesses the relationship between digital marketing and young people's attitudes and behaviors towards unhealthy commodities. Literature was identified in June 2017 by searches in six electronic databases. Primary studies (both qualitative and quantitative) that examined the effect of digital marketing of unhealthy food or beverages, alcohol and tobacco products on young people's (12 to 30 years) attitudes, intended and actual consumption were reviewed. 28 relevant studies were identified. Significant detrimental effects of digital marketing on the intended use and actual consumption of unhealthy commodities were revealed in the majority of the included studies. Findings from the qualitative studies were summarized and these findings provided insights on how digital marketing exerts effects on young people. One of the key findings was that marketers used peer-to-peer transmission of messages on social networking sites (e.g., friends' likes and comments on Facebook) to blur the boundary between marketing contents and online peer activities. Digital marketing of unhealthy commodities is associated with young people's use and beliefs of these products. The effects of digital marketing varied between product types and peer endorsed marketing (earned media) may exert greater negative impacts than owned or paid media marketing.

  17. The Effects of Digital Marketing of Unhealthy Commodities on Young People: A Systematic Review

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Limin Buchanan

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available The marketing of unhealthy commodities through traditional media is known to impact consumers’ product attitudes and behaviors. Less is known about the impacts of digital marketing (online promotional activities, especially among young people who have a strong online presence. This review systematically assesses the relationship between digital marketing and young people’s attitudes and behaviors towards unhealthy commodities. Literature was identified in June 2017 by searches in six electronic databases. Primary studies (both qualitative and quantitative that examined the effect of digital marketing of unhealthy food or beverages, alcohol and tobacco products on young people’s (12 to 30 years attitudes, intended and actual consumption were reviewed. 28 relevant studies were identified. Significant detrimental effects of digital marketing on the intended use and actual consumption of unhealthy commodities were revealed in the majority of the included studies. Findings from the qualitative studies were summarized and these findings provided insights on how digital marketing exerts effects on young people. One of the key findings was that marketers used peer-to-peer transmission of messages on social networking sites (e.g., friends’ likes and comments on Facebook to blur the boundary between marketing contents and online peer activities. Digital marketing of unhealthy commodities is associated with young people’s use and beliefs of these products. The effects of digital marketing varied between product types and peer endorsed marketing (earned media may exert greater negative impacts than owned or paid media marketing.

  18. The Effects of Digital Marketing of Unhealthy Commodities on Young People: A Systematic Review

    Science.gov (United States)

    Buchanan, Limin; Kelly, Bridget; Kariippanon, Kishan

    2018-01-01

    The marketing of unhealthy commodities through traditional media is known to impact consumers’ product attitudes and behaviors. Less is known about the impacts of digital marketing (online promotional activities), especially among young people who have a strong online presence. This review systematically assesses the relationship between digital marketing and young people’s attitudes and behaviors towards unhealthy commodities. Literature was identified in June 2017 by searches in six electronic databases. Primary studies (both qualitative and quantitative) that examined the effect of digital marketing of unhealthy food or beverages, alcohol and tobacco products on young people’s (12 to 30 years) attitudes, intended and actual consumption were reviewed. 28 relevant studies were identified. Significant detrimental effects of digital marketing on the intended use and actual consumption of unhealthy commodities were revealed in the majority of the included studies. Findings from the qualitative studies were summarized and these findings provided insights on how digital marketing exerts effects on young people. One of the key findings was that marketers used peer-to-peer transmission of messages on social networking sites (e.g., friends’ likes and comments on Facebook) to blur the boundary between marketing contents and online peer activities. Digital marketing of unhealthy commodities is associated with young people’s use and beliefs of these products. The effects of digital marketing varied between product types and peer endorsed marketing (earned media) may exert greater negative impacts than owned or paid media marketing. PMID:29382140

  19. Evolution of soil, ecosystem, and critical zone research at the USDA FS Calhoun Experimental Forest

    Science.gov (United States)

    Daniel deB. Richter; Allan R. Bacon; Sharon A. Billings; Dan Binkley; Marilyn Buford; Mac Callaham; Amy E. Curry; Ryan L. Fimmen; A. Stuart Grandy; Paul R. Heine; Michael Hofmockel; Jason A. Jackson; Elisabeth LeMaster; Jianwei Li; Daniel Markewitz; Megan L. Mobley; Mary W. Morrison; Michael S. Strickland; Thomas Waldrop; Carol G. Wells

    2015-01-01

    The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service Calhoun Experimental Forest was organized in 1947 on the southern Piedmont to engage in research that today is called restoration ecology, to improve soils, forests, and watersheds in a region that had been severely degraded by nearly 150 years farming. Today, this 2,050-ha research forest is managed by the Sumter...

  20. Guide to a Strategic Procurement Planning Approach on Regulated Commodity Markets

    Science.gov (United States)

    Seifert, Marcus; Wüst, Thorsten

    The access of Virtual Organizations to raw materials normally requires external resources. In many cases, the market for raw materials is regulated and the VO principles of trust, customer orientation etc. are not applicable. In consequence, the VO needs to provide reliable solutions for the customer while being dependent on the access to the required raw materials. The objective of the proposed paper is to present a guide to a strategic procurement planning for the manufacturing industry on regulated commodity markets. This guide can be used to evaluate specific sourcing options. The main goal of this guide is to identify the negative effects of market regulation at an early stage and reduce them by developing strategic alternatives. The successful application of this guide is demonstrated by the practical example of the refractory industry and one of their commodities, refractory grade bauxite.

  1. Aerial Photography and Imagery, Uncorrected - CROPS_2006_USDA_IN: Crops in Indiana for 2006, Derived from National Agricultural Statistics Service (United States Department of Agriculture, 1:100,000, 56-Meter TIFF Image)

    Data.gov (United States)

    NSGIC State | GIS Inventory — The following is excerpted from the metadata provided by NASS (USDA) for the source data set CDL_AWIFS_R_IN_2006.tif: "The USDA-NASS 2006 Indiana Cropland Data Layer...

  2. Screening of various diesel particulate matter samples from various commodity mines

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Mahlangu, Vusi J

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents qualitative analysis results of diesel particulate matter (DPM) from various mining commodities in South Africa. The objective of this work was to determine the concentrations of elements in DPM samples. For this screening...

  3. The time constrained multi-commodity network flow problem and its application to liner shipping network design

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Karsten, Christian Vad; Pisinger, David; Røpke, Stefan

    2015-01-01

    -commodity network flow problem with transit time constraints which puts limits on the duration of the transit of the commodities through the network. It is shown that for the particular application it does not increase the solution time to include the transit time constraints and that including the transit time...... is essential to offer customers a competitive product. © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved....

  4. Sources of contraceptive commodities for users in Nigeria.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Boniface A Oye-Adeniran

    2005-11-01

    Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Understanding the sources of contraceptive commodities is an important aspect of the delivery of family planning services and is required by planning programme managers for strategic planning purposes. Findings from the 2003 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey have previously showed that the private sector was the most frequently reported source of contraceptive supply, providing contraception to two and a half times as many women as the public sector. We conducted a community-based study to examine further the sources of contraceptive commodity for users in Nigeria with a view to identifying their preferences for distribution centres. This information would be useful to improve commodity distribution and to build the necessary capacity for satisfactory delivery of contraceptives. METHODS AND FINDINGS: A multi-stage random sampling technique was used. A state was randomly selected to represent each of the four health zones in Nigeria. Two local government areas (LGAs were then selected representing both urban and rural areas. Ten enumeration areas were subsequently selected from each LGA. Of the 2,001 respondents aged 15-49 years, 1,647 (82.3% were sexually active, out of which 244 were found to be using contraceptive methods at the time of the study, giving a contraceptive prevalence of 14.8%. The commonest source of information on contraceptives was through friends (34%, followed by the radio (11.5% and husbands (10.2%. Most respondents procured their contraceptives from chemist/patent medicine shops (19.7%, while only 0.8% obtained them from designated family planning clinics. The younger groups in this study (15-24 years, single people, Catholics, and Muslims, showed a greater preference for chemist/patent medicine shops for their sources of contraceptives. The older groups and married respondents, however, made use of government and private hospitals to obtain their contraceptives. CONCLUSION: Strategies to increase

  5. proposal for a lean commodity management process for the south

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Administrator

    Commodity Managers (CMs) within the South African Navy (SAN) need new and ... The SAN supply chain process, as graphically represented in Figure 1.1, starts with the .... Tactical level: These recommendations only affect the Fleet Logistics supply ..... The sourcing of the item will be as wide as possible (global), and may.

  6. 76 FR 23539 - Proposed Information Collection; Comment Request; Commodity Flow Survey

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-04-27

    ... planning organizations, and the business community. The Commodity Flow Survey is co-sponsored by the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Research and Innovative Technology Administration, Department of..., industry, and mode of transportation. The Census Bureau will publish these shipment characteristics for the...

  7. USDA's National Food and Nutrient Analysis Program (NFNAP) produces high-quality data for USDA food composition databases: Two decades of collaboration.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Haytowitz, David B; Pehrsson, Pamela R

    2018-01-01

    For nearly 20years, the National Food and Nutrient Analysis Program (NFNAP) has expanded and improved the quantity and quality of data in US Department of Agriculture's (USDA) food composition databases (FCDB) through the collection and analysis of nationally representative food samples. NFNAP employs statistically valid sampling plans, the Key Foods approach to identify and prioritize foods and nutrients, comprehensive quality control protocols, and analytical oversight to generate new and updated analytical data for food components. NFNAP has allowed the Nutrient Data Laboratory to keep up with the dynamic US food supply and emerging scientific research. Recently generated results for nationally representative food samples show marked changes compared to previous database values for selected nutrients. Monitoring changes in the composition of foods is critical in keeping FCDB up-to-date, so that they remain a vital tool in assessing the nutrient intake of national populations, as well as for providing dietary advice. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

  8. Phase I Investigations at the Former CCC/USDA Grain Storage Facility in Montgomery City, Missouri, in 2010-2011

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    LaFreniere, Lorraine M. [Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States). Environmental Science Division. Applied Geoscience and Environmental Restoration Program

    2012-11-01

    This report presents the technical findings of Phase I of Argonne’s studies. The Phase I field investigation was initiated on October 18, 2010. The work was conducted in accord with (1) the final site-specific Phase I Work Plan for Montgomery City (Argonne 2010; approved by the MDNR [2010]); (2) applicable Missouri regulations; and (3) the standard operating procedures, quality assurance/quality control (QA/QC) measures, and general health and safety policies outlined in the Master Work Plan (Argonne 2002) for operations in Kansas, which was reviewed by the MDNR and accepted for current use. A draft master plan specific to work in Missouri and a set of draft standard operating procedures are in review with the MDNR. The site-specific Work Plan for Montgomery City (Argonne 2010) (1) summarizes the pre-existing knowledge base for the Montgomery City investigation site compiled by Argonne and (2) describes the site-specific technical objectives and the intended scope of work developed for the first phase of the investigation. Three primary technical objectives were identified for the Phase I studies, as follows: 1. Update the presently identified inventory and status of private and public drinking water wells in the immediate vicinity of the former CCC/USDA grain storage facility, and sample the identified wells for volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and geochemical analyses. In conjunction with this effort, determine the present sources(s) of drinking water for all residents in an approximate 0.5-mi radius of the former CCC/USDA facility. 2. Investigate for possible evidence of a soil source of carbon tetrachloride contamination in the unconsolidated sediments beneath the former CCC/USDA facility that might affect the underlying bedrock aquifer units. 3. Obtain preliminary information on the site-specific lithologic and hydrologic characteristics of the unconsolidated sediments overlying bedrock at the former CCC/USDA grain storage location. Section 2 of this report

  9. 78 FR 23737 - Request for Extension and Revision of a Currently Approved Information Collection for Commodities...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-04-22

    ... Livestock Mandatory Act of 1999 AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, USDA. ACTION: Request for comments... Division, Livestock, Poultry and Seed Program, Agricultural Marketing Service, U.S. Department of... DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE Agricultural Marketing Service [Doc. No. AMS-LS-13-0017] Request for...

  10. Outcomes from the USDA/ARS area-wide project for management of the Asian tiger mosquito, Aedes albopictus

    Science.gov (United States)

    The Asian tiger mosquito, Aedes albopictus, became established in the continental US in 1985 and now infests 30 states. In 2007 the USDA Agricultural Research Service funded an “area-wide” project focused on the management of this species. The project was a unique federal, state, local collaborati...

  11. New Commodity Services System increases gas bill for clients

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Koevoet, H.

    2003-01-01

    The Dutch company Gasunie Trade and Supply will replace the Commodity Services System (CDS, abbreviated in Dutch) January 1, 2004. This will result in a higher gas bill for almost all their clients that are expected to use more than 1 million m 3 natural gas per year. An overview is given of the principles of the old and the new pricing system [nl

  12. Effects of Health-Care Services and Commodities Cost on the ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    2017-09-14

    Sep 14, 2017 ... services and commodities cost on the patients at the primary health facilities in Zaria .... This is a social security system that guarantees the provision of needed ..... tourism to India, Dubai, London, America, and even to some other ..... Mudyarabikwa O. An examination of public sector subsidies to the private ...

  13. Managing the risks of disease transmission through trade: a commodities-based approach?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brückner, G K

    2011-04-01

    Since its founding in 1924, the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) has facilitated safe trade in animals and animal products by developing effective standards to prevent the spread of animal diseases across the globe. A protocol for recognising the disease-free status of countries is an integral part of this process and has been adopted and advanced through the years to assist OIE Member Countries in placing disease-free animals and their products on the international market. Options such as trade from disease-free zones and disease-free compartments are now available to Members and have proven to be a positive mechanism for facilitating trade. A further option is trading in safe commodities, i.e. animals and animal products that have been identified as safe to trade even in the presence of disease, either with or without applying risk mitigation measures before export. Although most Members have incorporated the acceptance of disease-free countries or zones into their animal health policies and sanitary measures, there still appears to be a reluctance to trade in commodities from infected countries, despite clear, scientifically based risk management standards that can be applied if needed. This paper offers some examples reflecting the apparent reluctance to trade in commodities and discusses how the standards in the OIE's Terrestrial Animal Health Code could be used to apply scientifically based risk management practices to review outdated policies.

  14. Exchange Rate and Industrial Commodity Volatility Transmissions, Asymmetries and Hedging Strategies

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    S.M. Hammoudeh (Shawkat); Y. Yuan (Yuan); M.J. McAleer (Michael)

    2010-01-01

    textabstractThis paper examines the inclusion of the dollar/euro exchange rate together with four important and highly traded commodities - aluminum, copper, gold and oil- in symmetric and asymmetric multivariate GARCH and DCC models. The inclusion of exchange rate increases the significant direct

  15. Commodity Cluster Computing for Remote Sensing Applications using Red Hat LINUX

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dorband, John

    2003-01-01

    Since 1994, we have been doing research at Goddard Space Flight Center on implementing a wide variety of applications on commodity based computing clusters. This talk is about these clusters and haw they are used on these applications including ones for remote sensing.

  16. 75 FR 32306 - Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act: Impact of Post-Default Agreements on Trust Protection...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-06-08

    ... marketing chain becomes a seller in its own turn and can preserve its own trust assets accordingly. Because... Post-Default Agreements on Trust Protection Eligibility AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, USDA... industry that sellers may lose their status as trust creditors when they agree orally or in writing, after...

  17. 7 CFR 1488.2 - Definition of terms.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... Program (GSM-5) General § 1488.2 Definition of terms. As used in this subpart A and in the forms and...) inability of the foreign bank through no fault of its own to convert foreign currency to dollars, or (2) non... (USDA), and which includes the list of eligible commodities and interest rates under GSM-5. (aa) Vice...

  18. External cycles and commodities in Latin America and the Caribbean: a cointegration analysis with breaks

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fernando Delbianco

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available En este trabajo se busca caracterizar la relación entre los comportamientos cíclicos de la cuenta corriente y los índices de precios de los productos básicos (commodities para América Latina y el Caribe. Usando diferentes test de estacionariedad que permiten la presencia de quiebres, se encuentra evidencia de que los precios de los commodities se encuentran cointegrados con las cuentas corrientes de los países de Latinoamérica, lo que sugiere que los planes desarrollistas no generaron la diversificación productiva deseada y que la posición externa de la región todavía depende fuertemente de los productos básicos. Los resultados también apoyan los hallazgos de Delbianco y Fioriti (2014, 2015 que sostienen que la región ha sufrido dos quiebres estructurales en los últimos 60 años, ambos derivados de cambios en los precios de los commodities.

  19. A Note on the Ongoing Processes of Commodification: From the Audience Commodity to the Social Factory

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jernej Prodnik

    2012-05-01

    Full Text Available Commodity-form played an important, if often overlooked role in the studies of capitalism. Processes of transforming literally anything into a privatized form of (fictitious commodity that is exchanged in the circulation process are of fundamental importance for the rise and reproduction of capitalism. At the same time commodity, as the “cell-form of capitalism”, has played a crucial role throughout Marx’s oeuvre. The central aim of the paper is to demonstrate how commodity-form develops in his works (both as a part of his “global” argument and in the context of historical changes and what role does it play in some of the key works of critical theory. Furthermore, it is analysed how this topic was approached in critical communication studies, especially in the political economy of communication. The latter is done especially through a reappraisal of the “blind spot debate” iniated by Dallas W. Smythe and the audience commodity thesis, which was raised in it. This long-lasting debate, which at least indirectly continues to this day, can be seen as an invaluable source for practices and ideas connected to both Marxian-inspired critical communication studies and to a serious analysis of the continuing commodification of different spheres of society and its increasing pervasiveness in contemporary life. In the last part of the text, these findings are connected to some of the recent neo-Marxist approaches, especially to the findings of the authors coming from the autonomist (post-operaist movement. Insights of this intellectual strand can provide an understanding of the ongoing commodification processes, while also offering possibilities of convergence with Smythe’s approach.

  20. Visual Culture in the Elementary-School Classroom: Moving from Box-Store Commodities to Out-of-the-Box Thinking

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fattal, Laura Felleman

    2017-01-01

    The goal of the action research project on visual culture is to contribute to the dialogue on the exploratory ecology vs commodity culture of the elementary school classroom. Exploratory culture, unlike commodity culture, applauds open-ended thinking, inchoate imaginings, and critical thinking with its attachment to divergent paths to resolving…

  1. Value chain management for commodities: a case study from the chemical industry

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kannegiesser, M.; Gunther, H.O.; van Beek, P.

    2009-01-01

    decisions by volume and value throughout the value chain to ensure profitability. Contract and spot demand differentiation with volatile and uncertain spot prices, spot sales quantity flexibility, spot sales price-quantity functions and variable raw material consumption rates in production are problem...... quantity, price and supply decisions throughout the value chain. A two-phase optimization approach supports robust planning ensuring minimum profitability even in case of worst-case spot sales price scenarios. Model evaluations with industry case data demonstrate the impact of elasticities, variable raw......We present a planning model for chemical commodities related to an industry case. Commodities are standard chemicals characterized by sales and supply volatility in volume and value. Increasing and volatile prices of crude oil-dependent raw materials require coordination of sales and supply...

  2. The Ivorian pineapple : social action within the international pineapple commodity network

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Willems, S.

    2006-01-01

    Today, a significant part of the agricultural commodities that we find at markets in the West are cultivated in developing countries. Many of these products are shipped around the world, passing through a complex network of actors involved in production, distribution and marketing activities. Who

  3. Impacts of the Federal Energy Acts and Other Influences on Prices of Agricultural Commodities and Food

    OpenAIRE

    Ferris, John N.

    2013-01-01

    Most of the increase in ethanol production in the 2008-2012 period can be attributed to the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA) and earlier federal energy legislation. The expansion in U.S. biofuel production, particularly ethanol, was the predominant cause of the elevated commodity prices. Other influences documented were a weak dollar, speculation and an increasingly inelastic commodity demand function. The supply function displayed more elasticity as crop farmers responded ...

  4. Assessment of the safety of aquatic animal commodities for international trade: the OIE Aquatic Animal Health code.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Oidtmann, B; Johnston, C; Klotins, K; Mylrea, G; Van, P T; Cabot, S; Martin, P Rosado; Ababouch, L; Berthe, F

    2013-02-01

    Trading of aquatic animals and aquatic animal products has become increasingly globalized during the last couple of decades. This commodity trade has increased the risk for the spread of aquatic animal pathogens. The World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) is recognized as the international standard-setting organization for measures relating to international trade in animals and animal products. In this role, OIE has developed the Aquatic Animal Health Code, which provides health measures to be used by competent authorities of importing and exporting countries to avoid the transfer of agents pathogenic for animals or humans, whilst avoiding unjustified sanitary barriers. An OIE ad hoc group developed criteria for assessing the safety of aquatic animals or aquatic animal products for any purpose from a country, zone or compartment not declared free from a given disease 'X'. The criteria were based on the absence of the pathogenic agent in the traded commodity or inactivation of the pathogenic agent by the commercial processing used to produce the commodity. The group also developed criteria to assess the safety of aquatic animals or aquatic animal products for retail trade for human consumption from potentially infected areas. Such commodities were assessed considering the form and presentation of the product, the expected volume of waste tissues generated by the consumer and the likely presence of viable pathogenic agent in the waste. The ad hoc group applied the criteria to commodities listed in the individual disease chapters of the Aquatic Animal Health Code (2008 edition). Revised lists of commodities for which no additional measures should be required by the importing countries regardless of the status for disease X of the exporting country were developed and adopted by the OIE World Assembly of Delegates in May 2011. The rationale of the criteria and their application will be explained and demonstrated using examples. © 2012 Crown Copyright. Reproduced

  5. Impactos do Protocolo de Cartagena sobre o Comércio de Commodities Agrícolas

    OpenAIRE

    Borges, Izaías de Carvalho; Silveira, Jose Maria Ferreira Jardim da; Vieira Filho, José Eustáquio; Pereira, Andrea M.

    2015-01-01

    O Protocolo de Cartagena sobre Biossegurança é um acordo ambiental que agrega 132 países. O Protocolo tem impactos sobre o comércio de commodities agrícolas, porque estabelece regras para o transporte entre fronteiras de organismos vivos modificados (OVMs). O Artigo 18.2(a) do Protocolo refere-se às formas de identificação dos OVMs nos carregamentos de commodities agrícolas. O fato de que os principais países exportadores de grãos também sejam produtores de cultivares geneticamente modificado...

  6. Implications of Climate Volatility for Agricultural Commodity Markets in the Presence of Biofuel Mandates

    Science.gov (United States)

    Verma, M.; Diffenbaugh, N. S.; Hertel, T. W.; Beckman, J.

    2011-12-01

    In presence of bio-fuels, link between energy and agricultural commodity markets has become more complex. An increase in ethanol production to minimum 15bn gallons a year - Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) and current technically permissible maximum 10% blending limit - Blend Wall (BW); make the link even stronger. If oil prices in future do not rise significantly from their current levels, this minimum production requirement would likely be binding. In such a scenario any fluctuation in crop production will have to be absorbed by the non-ethanol usage of the crop and would translate into crop prices adjusting to clear the markets and therefore the commodity prices will be more volatile. At high oil prices it is possible that the BW may become binding, severing the link between oil prices and commodity prices as well, potentially leading to higher price volatility. Hertel and Beckman (2010) find that, with both RFS and BW simultaneously binding, corn price volatility due to supply side shocks (which could arise from extreme climate events) could be more than 50% as large as in the absence of bio-fuel policies. So energy markets are important determinants of agricultural commodity price volatility. This proposal intends to introduce the increased supply side volatility on account of climate change and volatility, in the framework. Global warming on account of increased GHG concentrations is expected to increase the intensity and frequency of hot extremes in US (Diffenbaugh et al. 2008) and therefore affect corn yields. With supply shocks expected to increase, binding RFS and BW will exacerbate the volatility, while if they are non-binding then the price changes could be cushioned. We propose to model the impacts of climate changes and volatility on commodity prices by linking three main components - a. Projections for change in temperature and precipitation using climate model b. A statistical model to predict impacts of change in climate variable on corn yields in US

  7. THE IMPACT OF THE RECENT FEDERAL RESERVE LARGESCALE ASSET PURCHASES ON THE AGRICULTURAL COMMODITY PRICES: A HISTORICAL DECOMPOSITION

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sayed H. Saghaian

    2014-04-01

    Full Text Available In this study, we evaluate the effects of the recent Federal Reserve’s purchases of longterm assets on prices of agricultural commodities. The first large-scale asset purchases began at the end of 2008, after the Great Recession, and the second purchases began in November of 2010. The commodities included in this analysis are meats (beef, pork, and broilers, cereal grains (corn, soybeans, wheat, and rice, and softs (sugar, coffee, cocoa, and cotton. Using historical decompositions, we find significant increases in the nominal agricultural prices of ten out of 12 agricultural commodities under investigation from the second large-scale asset purchases (in 2010 but the first set large-scale asset purchases had only two positive effects.

  8. Stochastic modeling of economic injury levels with respect to yearly trends in price commodity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Damos, Petros

    2014-05-01

    The economic injury level (EIL) concept integrates economics and biology and uses chemical applications in crop protection only when economic loss by pests is anticipated. The EIL is defined by five primary variables: the cost of management tactic per production unit, the price of commodity, the injury units per pest, the damage per unit injury, and the proportionate reduction of injury averted by the application of a tactic. The above variables are related according to the formula EIL = C/VIDK. The observable dynamic alteration of the EIL due to its different parameters is a major characteristic of its concept. In this study, the yearly effect of the economic variables is assessed, and in particular the influence of the parameter commodity value on the shape of the EIL function. In addition, to predict the effects of the economic variables on the EIL level, yearly commodity values were incorporated in the EIL formula and the generated outcomes were further modelled with stochastic linear autoregressive models having different orders. According to the AR(1) model, forecasts for the five-year period of 2010-2015 ranged from 2.33 to 2.41 specimens per sampling unit. These values represent a threshold that is in reasonable limits to justify future control actions. Management actions as related to productivity and price commodity significantly affect costs of crop production and thus define the adoption of IPM and sustainable crop production systems at local and international levels. This is an open access paper. We use the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license that permits unrestricted use, provided that the paper is properly attributed.

  9. Analysis of consumer behaviour when purchasing selected commodity groups concerning the effect of price, habit, discount and product characteristics

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jitka Poměnková

    2008-01-01

    Full Text Available The aim of the paper is consumer behaviour analysis when purchasing selected commodity groups concerning the effect of price, habit, discount and product characteristics. Analysis proceed from the Czech household marketing research, where 726 households were electronically questioned. As mentioned above, selected factors for the analysis were habit, products‘ characteristics, price and discount actions.Primary aim is to measure the correspondence of selected factors influence on consumer behaviour during purchase decision making process of selected commodity groups. Interpretation is based on two-tier evaluation. First level represents commodity groups distinction by the character of goods and subsequent evaluation of goods characteristics correspondence in accordance with each influencing factor. Second one represents behaviour of commodity group in cross-section of selected factors. For consumer behaviour analysis chi-square test was used. Before its application the data set (responses was divided according to the ten-point scale into three interval’ groups.

  10. Shared Freight Transportation and Energy Commodities Phase One: Coal, Crude Petroleum, & Natural Gas Flows

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Chin, Shih-Miao [Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Hwang, Ho-Ling [Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Davidson, Diane [Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

    2016-07-01

    The Freight Analysis Framework (FAF) integrates data from a variety of sources to create a comprehensive picture of nationwide freight movements among states and major metropolitan areas for all modes of transportation. It provides a national picture of current freight flows to, from, and within the United States, assigns selected flows to the transportation network, and projects freight flow patterns into the future. The latest release of FAF is known as FAF4 with a base year of 2012. The FAF4 origin-destination-commodity-mode (ODCM) matrix is provided at national, state, major metropolitan areas, and major gateways with significant freight activities (e.g., El Paso, Texas). The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is interested in using FAF4 database for its strategic planning and policy analysis, particularly in association with the transportation of energy commodities. However, the geographic specification that DOE requires is a county-level ODCM matrix. Unfortunately, the geographic regions in the FAF4 database were not available at the DOE desired detail. Due to this limitation, DOE tasked Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) to assist in generating estimates of county-level flows for selected energy commodities by mode of transportation.

  11. Speculation on commodities futures markets and destabilization of global food prices: exploring the connections.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ghosh, Jayati; Heintz, James; Pollin, Robert

    2012-01-01

    In December 2010, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization's Food Price Index surpassed its previous peak of June 2008, and prices remained at this level through September 2011. This pattern is creating justified fears of a renewal or intensification of the global food crisis. This paper reviews arguments and evidence to inform debates on how to regulate commodity futures markets in the face of such price volatility and sustained high prices. We focus on the relationship between market liquidity and price patterns in asset markets in general and in commodities futures markets in particular, as well as the relationship between spot and futures market prices for food. We find strong evidence supporting the need to limit huge increases in trading volume on futures markets through regulations. We find that arguments opposing regulation are not supported. We find no support for the claim that liquidity in futures markets stabilizes prices at "fundamental" values or that spot market prices are free of any significant influence from futures markets. Given these results, the most appropriate position for regulators is precautionary: they should enact and enforce policies capable of effectively dampening excessive speculative trading on the commodities markets for food.

  12. Retrospective Analog Year Analyses Using NASA Satellite Precipitation and Soil Moisture Data to Improve USDA's World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates

    Science.gov (United States)

    Teng, William; Shannon, Harlan; Mladenova, Iliana; Fang, Fan

    2010-01-01

    A primary goal of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is to expand markets for U.S. agricultural products and support global economic development. The USDA World Agricultural Outlook Board (WAOB) supports this goal by coordinating monthly World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) for the U.S. and major foreign producing countries. Because weather has a significant impact on crop progress, conditions, and production, WAOB prepares frequent agricultural weather assessments, in a GIS-based, Global Agricultural Decision Support Environment (GLADSE). The main goal of this project, thus, is to improve WAOB's estimates by integrating NASA remote sensing soil moisture observations and research results into GLADSE (See diagram below). Soil moisture is currently a primary data gap at WAOB.

  13. Survey of Alternative Feedstocks for Commodity Chemical Manufacturing

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    McFarlane, Joanna [ORNL; Robinson, Sharon M [ORNL

    2008-02-01

    The current high prices for petroleum and natural gas have spurred the chemical industry to examine alternative feedstocks for the production of commodity chemicals. High feedstock prices have driven methanol and ammonia production offshore. The U.S. Chemical Industry is the largest user of natural gas in the country. Over the last 30 years, alternatives to conventional petroleum and natural gas feedstocks have been developed, but have limited, if any, commercial implementation in the United States. Alternative feedstocks under consideration include coal from unconventional processing technologies, such as gasification and liquefaction, novel resources such as biomass, stranded natural gas from unconventional reserves, and heavy oil from tar sands or oil shale. These feedstock sources have been evaluated with respect to the feasibility and readiness for production of the highest volume commodity chemicals in the United States. Sources of organic compounds, such as ethanol from sugar fermentation and bitumen-derived heavy crude are now being primarily exploited for fuels, rather than for chemical feedstocks. Overall, government-sponsored research into the use of alternatives to petroleum feedstocks focuses on use for power and transportation fuels rather than for chemical feedstocks. Research is needed to reduce cost and technical risk. Use of alternative feedstocks is more common outside the United States R&D efforts are needed to make these processes more efficient and less risky before becoming more common domestically. The status of alternative feedstock technology is summarized.

  14. Balancing Acts: Culture as Commodity Among Business Consultants

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Elias Mellander

    2013-09-01

    Full Text Available In this article the authors intend to analyze how the concept of culture is packaged, sold and delivered as a commodity. It is based on an ethnographic study of a Swedish consultancy in the field of cross-cultural communication and the relationship between the company and its clients. The clients were primarily foreign executives working in Sweden or Swedish expatriates, preparing for life abroad. The significance of culture-as-commodity will be explored from the perspective of the company as well as its clients in order to shed light on how the concept of culture can be communicated and what happens to it in the process. The study shows how the company combines theoretical perspectives from anthropology and intercultural communication with the aim to deliver a complex yet accessible understanding of culture to its clients. The analysis shows that these perspectives both clash and synergize, creating contradictions as well as turning culture into an accessible and useful tool for clients. The authors argue that researchers in the field of applied cultural analysis can learn from the example put forth by the balancing act between these two perspectives on culture performed by the company. The authors conclude that although the commodification process reduces and simplifies the meaning(s of culture, the company still manages to put culture on the agenda, demonstrating to its clients how, why, and in what ways it matters to them.

  15. Improving World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates by Integrating NASA Remote Sensing Soil Moisture Data into USDA World Agricultural Outlook Board Decision Making Environment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Teng, W. L.; de Jeu, R. A.; Doraiswamy, P. C.; Kempler, S. J.; Shannon, H. D.

    2009-12-01

    A primary goal of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is to expand markets for U.S. agricultural products and support global economic development. The USDA World Agricultural Outlook Board (WAOB) supports this goal by developing monthly World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) for the U.S. and major foreign producing countries. Because weather has a significant impact on crop progress, conditions, and production, WAOB prepares frequent agricultural weather assessments, in a GIS-based, Global Agricultural Decision Support Environment (GLADSE). The main objective of this project, thus, is to improve WAOB's estimates by integrating NASA remote sensing soil moisture observations and research results into GLADSE. Soil moisture is a primary data gap at WAOB. Soil moisture data, generated by the Land Parameter Retrieval Model (LPRM, developed by NASA GSFC and Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam) and customized to WAOB's requirements, will be directly integrated into GLADSE, as well as indirectly by first being integrated into USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS)'s Environmental Policy Integrated Climate (EPIC) crop model. The LPRM-enhanced EPIC will be validated using three major agricultural regions important to WAOB and then integrated into GLADSE. Project benchmarking will be based on retrospective analyses of WAOB's analog year comparisons. The latter are between a given year and historical years with similar weather patterns. WAOB is the focal point for economic intelligence within the USDA. Thus, improving WAOB's agricultural estimates by integrating NASA satellite observations and model outputs will visibly demonstrate the value of NASA resources and maximize the societal benefits of NASA investments.

  16. Development of hazard analysis by critical control points (HACCP) procedures to control organic chemical hazards in the agricultural production of raw food commodities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ropkins, Karl; Ferguson, Andrew; Beck, Angus J

    2003-01-01

    Hazard Analysis by Critical Control Points (HACCP) is a systematic approach to the identification, assessment, and control of hazards in the food chain. Effective HACCP requires the consideration of all chemical microbiological, and physical hazards. However, current procedures focus primarily on microbiological and physical hazards, while chemical aspects of HACCP have received relatively little attention. In this article we discuss the application of HACCP to organic chemical contaminants and the problems that are likely to be encountered in agriculture. We also present generic templates for the development of organic chemical contaminant HACCP procedures for selected raw food commodities, that is, cereal crops,raw meats, and milk.

  17. Bacterial and yeast counts in Brazilian commodities and spices

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Freire Francisco das Chagas Oliveira

    2002-01-01

    Full Text Available A total of thirteen genera of bacteria and two genera of yeasts were detected in surface sterilized and unsterilized Brazilian commodities and spices such as cashew kernels, Brazil nut kernels, black and white pepper. The genus Bacillus with eight species was by far the most common. The yeasts isolated were Pichia sp., P. guillermondii and Rhodotorula sp. Bacillus cereus, Salmonella typhimurium and Staphylococcus aureus were detected in cashew and Brazil nut kernels.

  18. Discovering and Promoting Commodity Health Attributes: Programs and Issues

    OpenAIRE

    Carman, Hoy F.

    2007-01-01

    There is a growing consumer segment demanding healthy foods and diets, health and nutrition messages can expand food demand, and governments in the U.S. and EU, faced with increasing obesity and associated health outcomes, want consumers to have reliable information to choose healthy diets. California commodity organizations, charged with expanding the demand for almonds, avocados, strawberries and walnuts, are funding health and nutrition research as a means to discover a unique selling prop...

  19. O livro didático como mercadoria The textbook as commodity

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kazumi Munakata

    2012-12-01

    Full Text Available Para Marx, a mercadoria é a principal categoria para o entendimento do capitalismo. Mediadora das relações sociais, ela é, antes, uma coisa que serve para realizar as necessidades do ser humano. Num regime baseado na troca, o valor de uso da mercadoria, que se refere à sua utilidade para satisfazer essas necessidades, aparece também como suporte material do valor de troca, pelo qual as mercadorias são trocadas no mercado. Com o livro didático não é diferente. Como valor de uso, satisfaz as necessidades de certa expectativa dita educacional, mas, para realizar a satisfação dessas necessidades, subordina-se ao valor de troca e às suas determinações. O presente artigo busca traçar historicamente essa duplicidade do livro didático, com ênfase na sua configuração no Brasil.For Marx, commodity is the main category for understanding capitalism. Mediator of social relations, it is rather a thing that serves to satisfy some human needs. In a system based on the exchange, the use-value of the commodity, which refers to its usefulness to satisfy those needs, also appears as a material support for the exchange value whereby commodities are exchanged in the market. The textbook is not different. As use-value, it satisfies the needs of some educational expectations, but in order to meet those needs it is subordinated to the exchange-value and its determinations. This article examines historically the twofold character of the textbook, with emphasis on its configuration in Brazil.

  20. 77 FR 23673 - Notice of Stakeholder Meeting: Industry Roundtable-DON/USDA/DOE/DOT-FAA Advanced Drop-In Biofuels...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-04-20

    ...--DON/USDA/DOE/ DOT-FAA Advanced Drop-In Biofuels Initiative AGENCY: Department of the Navy, DoD. ACTION... participants in the biofuels supply chain. The purpose of the roundtable meeting is for the federal government... Biofuels Production Project. Questions related to the Special Notices or the pending Broad Agency...

  1. HIV/AIDS related commodities supply chain management in public health facilities of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: a cross-sectional survey.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Berhanemeskel, Eyerusalem; Beedemariam, Gebremedhin; Fenta, Teferi Gedif

    2016-01-01

    A wide range of pharmaceutical products are needed for diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of HIV/AIDS. However, interrupted supplies and stock-outs are the major challenges in the supply chain of ARV medicines and related commodities. The aim of this study was to assess the supply chain management of HIV/AIDS related commodities in public health facilities of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. A descriptive cross-sectional survey complemented by qualitative method was conducted in 24 public health facilities (4 hospitals and 20 health centers). A semi-structured questionnaire and observation check list were used to collect data on HIV/AIDS related service, reporting and ordering; receiving, transportation and storage condition of ARV medicines and test kits; and supportive supervision and logistics management information system. In addition, in-depth interview with flexible probing techniques was used to complement the quantitative data with emphasis to the storage condition of ARV medicines and test kits. Quantitative data was analyzed using SPSS version-20. Analysis of qualitative data involved rigorous reading of transcripts in order to identify key themes and data was analyzed using thematic approach. The study revealed that 16 health centers and one hospital had recorded and reported patient medication record. Six months prior to the study, 14 health centers and 2 hospitals had stopped VCT services for one time or more. Three hospitals and 18 health centers claimed to have been able to submit the requisition and report concerning ARV medicines to Pharmaceutical Fund and Supply Agency according to the specific reporting period. More than three-fourth of the health centers had one or more emergency order of ARV medicines on the day of visit, while all of hospitals had emergency order more than 3 times within 6 months prior to the study. All of the hospitals and nearly half of the health centers had an emergency order of test kits more than 3 times in the past 6

  2. Co-Movement of Major Commodity Price Returns : Time-Series Assessment

    OpenAIRE

    de Nicola, Francesca; De Pace, Pierangelo; Hernandez, Manuel A.

    2014-01-01

    This paper provides a comprehensive analysis of the degree of co-movement among the nominal price returns of 11 major energy, agricultural and food commodities based on monthly data between 1970 and 2013. A uniform-spacings testing approach, a multivariate dynamic conditional correlation model and a rolling regression procedure are used to study the extent and the time-evolution of uncondi...

  3. Segmentation of the industrial market for food commodities

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bech-Larsen, Tino

    2001-01-01

    by the appearance of changing demands and technological opportunities, which potentially can lead to differentiation possibilities. The article describes a framework for the study of industrial buying of food commodities and the results of a conjoint study based on interviews with oil purchasers in the margarine...... and mayonnaise industries in Denmark, Sweden, Germany, the United Kingdom and Switzerland. The main result of the study is that the price is an omnipotent decision criterion, when vegetable fats and mayonnaise producers buy vegetable oil, but also that product and supplier criteria can be used to segment...

  4. 4D Unconstrained Real-time Face Recognition Using a Commodity Depthh Camera

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Schimbinschi, Florin; Wiering, Marco; Mohan, R.E.; Sheba, J.K.

    2012-01-01

    Robust unconstrained real-time face recognition still remains a challenge today. The recent addition to the market of lightweight commodity depth sensors brings new possibilities for human-machine interaction and therefore face recognition. This article accompanies the reader through a succinct

  5. Commodity derivatives pricing with inventory effects

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bach, Christian; Dziubinski, Matt P.

    We introduce tractable models for commodity derivatives pricing with inventory and volatility eects, and illustrate with applications to the oil market. We contribute to the existing literature in several respects. First, whereas the previous literature uses futures data for investigating...... the relationship between inventory and volatility, we use the information available in options traded on futures. Second, performance assessment in the previous literature has primarily evolved around explaining moments of data or forecasting prices of futures. Instead, we asses the performance of our model...... by considering both the ability of explaining prices in-sample and out-of-sample - assessing both the pricing-performance and the hedging-performance of the models. Third, we model the futures surface rather than the spot price process, and from the no-arbitrage relationship between spot and futures prices we...

  6. Water Stream in Bidet Toilet Commode as a Cause of Anterior Anal Fissure: A Case-Control Study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pankaj Garg

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available Background Water used as a single sharp stream in toilet commode for post defecation cleansing is a common practice in several countries across the globe including India. Repeated hitting of the anus by water stream could potentially cause injury to the anal canal epithelium and lead to development of fissure-in-ano. As the water stream is emanating from the backside of the toilet commode, the possible injury, if any, would be on the anterior anal canal. Objectives The present study aimed at determining whether water stream usage in toilet commodes increased the incidence of anterior fissure-in-ano; this was determined by the incidence of anterior fissure-in-ano the study and control groups. Methods All consecutive fissure-in-ano patients referring to a colorectal clinic from February 2012 to 2015 were included in the study. The patients were classified as a study group (who were using water stream for cleansing purposes in toilet commodes and a control group (patients who were not using water stream. The characteristics and location (position of the fissure-in-ano was noted. Results In this study, 165 patients were prospectively enrolled. Male/female ratio was 96/69, and the mean age was 36.3 ± 11.2 years. The anterior fissure-in-ano in the study group was 55.9% (47/84, while it was 17.3 % (14/81 in the control group (P < 0.0001, odds ratio: 6.08, 95% CI: 2.96 - 12.47]. Conclusions Water used as a single sharp stream to cleanse after defecation in toilet commodes is hazardous and should be avoided.

  7. Evaluation of chlorpyrifos transferred from contaminated feed to duck commodities and dietary risks to Chinese consumers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Rui; Ji, Xiaofeng; He, Liang; Liu, Zhiqiang; Wei, Wei; Qiang, Mingrong; Wang, Qiang; Yuan, Yuwei

    2015-06-03

    The present study describes chlorpyrifos residues in duck commodities through the duck food chain, transfer factors, and dietary risks to Chinese consumers. After duck feeding experiments with pellet feed that lasted for 42 days, chlorpyrifos residues found in all samples collected from the ducks on maximum estimated dose group (3.20 mg/kg level) were from chlorpyrifos had a low persistency in duck meat and metabolism organs. The chronic exposure assessment revealed that only 0.034-0.150% of the acceptable daily intake (ADI; 0-0.01 mg/kg/bw/day) of chlorpyrifos was consumed via the duck commodities for different age and gender groups in China. The acute exposure assessments of different age and gender groups were only 0.019-0.082% of the acute reference dose (ARfD; 0-0.1 mg/kg/bw). The results show that the single dietary exposure risk of chlorpyrifos raised by the intake of duck commodities was quite low in China.

  8. Changing Social and Legal Forces Affecting the Management of National Forests

    Science.gov (United States)

    Daina Dravnieks Apple

    1996-01-01

    The U.S.D.A. Forest Service has been cited as one of the best managed agencies in the government. The Forest Service gained national respect during the Great Depression and emerged from World War II expanding its mission from primarily custodial management to supplier of natural resource commodities such as timber. Its budget grew and so did its numbers of employees (...

  9. Report on Progress Toward Security and Stability in Afghanistan

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-07-01

    and expendable supplies/commodities, pay-for-position scams , and localized collusion with both insurgent entities and narcotics traffickers. The...interagency students in 17 sessions since November 2011. To complement hands-on training, USDA provides an online knowledge reach-back tool called e-Afghan...Ag. The website is a growing, publically accessible, online resource that provides credible, relevant information to those helping farmers in

  10. Previsão dos preços de commodities por meio das taxas de câmbio

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Davi Rosolen

    2013-12-01

    Full Text Available Este trabalho procura modelar e prever o comportamento dos preços de commodities utilizando taxas de câmbio de países exportadores de commodities. A compreensão do comportamento desses preços é importante para um apropriado controle da inflação e planejamento da produção. Os resultados obtidos apontam para uma relação de causalidade entre a taxa de câmbio e os preços de commodities para os países estudados, com exceção da África do Sul e Argentina. Para Austrália, Brasil, Canadá, Chile, Colômbia e Nova Zelândia, a taxa de câmbio se mostra uma informação significativa para previsões de preços de commodities para o período dentro da amostra. No caso da Austrália e do Canadá, a relação também é significativa para o período fora da amostra. Os resultados encontrados confirmam os obtidos por Chen, Rogoff e Rossi (2010, além de estender aquele trabalho aos casos da Argentina, Brasil e Colômbia.

  11. 75 FR 22095 - USDA Reassigns Domestic Cane Sugar Allotments and Increases the Fiscal Year 2010 Raw Sugar Tariff...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-27

    ... USDA Reassigns Domestic Cane Sugar Allotments and Increases the Fiscal Year 2010 Raw Sugar Tariff-Rate... announced a reassignment of surplus sugar under domestic cane sugar allotments of 200,000 short tons raw value (STRV) to imports, and increased the fiscal year (FY) 2010 raw sugar tariff-rate quota (TRQ) by...

  12. 75 FR 38764 - USDA Reassigns Domestic Cane Sugar Allotments and Increases the Fiscal Year 2010 Raw Sugar Tariff...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-06

    ... USDA Reassigns Domestic Cane Sugar Allotments and Increases the Fiscal Year 2010 Raw Sugar Tariff-Rate... announced a reassignment of surplus sugar under domestic cane sugar allotments of 300,000 short tons raw value (STRV) to imports, and increased the fiscal year (FY) 2010 raw sugar tariff-rate quota (TRQ) by...

  13. 76 FR 20305 - USDA Reassigns Domestic Cane Sugar Allotments and Increases the Fiscal Year 2011 Raw Sugar Tariff...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-04-12

    ... USDA Reassigns Domestic Cane Sugar Allotments and Increases the Fiscal Year 2011 Raw Sugar Tariff-Rate... announced a reassignment of surplus sugar under domestic cane sugar allotments of 325,000 short tons raw value (STRV) to imports, and increased the fiscal year (FY) 2011 raw sugar tariff-rate quota (TRQ) by...

  14. Video data of flowers, fruitlets, and fruit in apple trees during the 2017 growing season at USDA-ARS-AFRS

    Science.gov (United States)

    This record contains videos of apple trees acquired from a ground vehicle throughout the growing season at the USDA-ARS, Appalachian Fruit Research Station. Research in precision management methods in orchard crops revolve around locating objects of interest, namely flowers, fruitlets, and fruit, a...

  15. Comparing Critical Capitalist Commodity Chains in the Early Twenty-first Century: Opportunities For and Constraints on Labor and Political Movements

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Elizabeth Sowers

    2015-08-01

    Full Text Available There have been a number of critical historical opportunities for labor to exert power by interrupting long distance flows of commodities at the extraction, processing, and transport stages. This vulnerability has been used by workers in these industries to gain higher wages and better working conditions and to achieve political goals in national and international arenas. In this paper, we compare two commodity chains that are critical components of the global economy. The first, which we describe as transport, is a broad category involving a range of manufactured goods, whose delivery to customers around the world was fundamentally changed in the past fifty years via "containerization" and "the logistics revolution." The second is oil and gas, which also has experienced recently dramatic changes in both extraction (via "tar sands" and "[racking" and transportation. In each case, we discuss possibilities and challenges for labor and political organizing to disrupt capital in these key commodity chains. We identify the "stakes" in each commodity chain by demonstrating the vulnerabilities on which labor and political organizations/movements could capitalize, which usually stem from the capital intensity and global integration of each critical commodity chain. These vulnerabilities are the factors which form the most basic opportunities for organizing in these sectors. Our analysis further suggests that while transport and raw materials remain vulnerable nodes in capitalist commodity chains, there are also constraints and challenges to be faced by labor and social movement organizations (SMOs that might attempt to leverage power over these circuits of the world-economy.

  16. 17 CFR 240.15c3-1b - Adjustments to net worth and aggregate indebtedness for certain commodities transactions...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... contracts; and (B) The value attributed to any commodity option which is not traded on a contract market... for inventory and forward contracts in the inter-bank market in those foreign currencies which are... broker or dealer which is a purchaser of a commodity option which is traded on a contract market the...

  17. Prevalence of potentially pathogenic Bacillus cereus in food commodities in The Netherlands

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Wijnands, L.M.; Dufrenne, J.B.; Rombouts, F.M.; Veld, in 't P.H.; Leusden, van F.M.

    2006-01-01

    Randomly selected food commodities, categorized in product groups, were investigated for the presence and number of Bacillus cereus bacteria. If positive, and when possible, five separate colonies were isolated and investigated for the presence of four virulence factors: presence of genes encoding

  18. [Assessment of the sensitizing potency of cosmetic ingredients and commodities. How will the ingredients of cosmetics and commodities be tested in Europe today and tomorrow?].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Peiser, M; Platzek, T; Luch, A

    2012-03-01

    Cosmetics and certain commodities are applied or used by consumers directly on the skin. Creams may remain on the skin for longer periods, hair is dyed multiple times per year, nickel ions can be released from studs and piercings in areas of skin damage or migrate from toy materials into the skin of children. Accordingly, using or handling such products always entails a risk for developing a contact allergy. Moreover, daily usage and repeated contacts to certain cosmetics and commodities might lead to repeated elicitation of contact eczema in people already sensitized against allergenic ingredients. Unfortunately, contact allergy is not curable. For the assessment of the allergenic potential of chemicals, only testing based on animal experiments was available in the past. In 2003, the 7(th) amendment of the Cosmetics Directive 76/768/EWG laid down a ban on animal testing of cosmetic ingredients and from 2013 a general marketing ban of such products as well. Therefore, the development and validation of non-animal methods for assessing the toxicological endpoint sensitization/allergenic potency of chemicals is a major task for the years ahead and remains equally a challenge for industry and regulatory agencies.

  19. Regulatory Bodies: Dramatic Creativity, Control and the Commodity of Lady Audley's Secret

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kate Mattacks

    2009-04-01

    Full Text Available 'Lady Audley's Secret' resonates with a sense of theatricality grounded in the eponymous heroine's propensity for visual tactics to attract an audience. Repositioning the dramatic exchange between actress and audience within the domestic sphere sensitised the reader to the question of diagnosing morally degenerative artificiality whilst involving the reader in the complicit act of encouraging Lady Audley's performance through consumer demand. This complex relationship between consumerism, theatre and society saw Lady Audley's figure assume an iconic status, but little has been written on the creative interplay between the novel and the theatre itself. Beginning with the way in which aspiring actresses used Lady Audley as a model to display their histrionic variety, I argue that the theatre used her character to engage with the complex connections between drama and commodity culture. Her autophagy in favour of a false identity provided a model for actresses to visualise self-commodification whilst highlighting the tension between the material practices of the theatre and the materiality of commodity culture. The drive for regulation of the theatrical medium finds its locus in the licensing text/published acting edition of William E. Suter's 'Lady Audley's Secret' (1863. Here I move to show how Suter's adaptation functioned as a site where the state regulation of the theatre was explored and contested. These unauthorised images of Lady Audley's containment came to symbolise not only the regulatory processes of licensing and copyright, but also the creative exploitation of a commodity culture critiqued through the dehumanised form of Braddon's original heroine.

  20. Processing of food and agricultural commodities with electron beam from microtron

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sharma, Arun; Behere, Arun; Jadhav, S.S.; Bongirwar, D.R.; Kaul, Ahinsa; Soni, H.C.; Ganesh, S.

    2001-01-01

    A microtron machine source installed by the Centre for Advanced Technology (CAT), Indore, at Mangalore University, was used in the study. The machine was operated at a beam power of 1.8 W, beam energy of 8.6 MeV, and a beam current of 20 mA. After initial standardization, the irradiation of commodities was carried out. The doses employed were 0.06 kGy for onion, 0.10 kGy for potato, 0.25 kGy for rawa, and 8 kGy for spices. The desired dose was delivered by exposing the samples from the two opposite sides of the box. The microbial load in spice samples was determined immediately after the experiment, as well as after six months of storage at the ambient temperature (26±2 degC). Onion and potato samples were stored for a six months period both at ambient temperature and 15 degC for observing the effect of electron beam irradiation on sprouting in these commodities. Rawa samples were stored at ambient temperature for observing the effect of electron beam irradiation on insect disinfestation. The electron beam irradiation at the recommended doses was found to be as effective as gamma radiation in bringing down the microbial load of the tested spices to the desired level, disinfestations of rawa, and inhibition of sprouting in onion. In the case of potato even four-side irradiation of the product box did not inhibit the sprouting completely. This indicated the necessity of standardization of machine parameters for uniform dose distribution in the product box for each commodity. These lab-scale studies showed that electron beam could in principle be used for processing of various food products after standardizing the machine parameters and ensuring uniform dose distribution in the product. Use of this technology on commercial scale would need standardization on larger machines