I put in all the resources needed. You're supposed to research fruit and its economics costs.
Cro� Wast� & E�icienc� Eco� 111 – �23 – Damia� Par� Final Draft: Due Fri Feb 3rd First Draft: Due January 23rd, in class and on Camino. You will get feedback on your draft before resubmitting it. You may work with other people, but everyone should have their own individual assignment to submit with unique graphs and explanations. If you use another’s ideas and work without proper attribution, or if answers are too similar, I may ask you to redo the assignment using a different crop and/or assign a grade penalty. Purpose: Use supply and demand graphs to think about efficiency and deadweight loss Write concisely and clearly about efficiency Learn basic terms Learn about a crop of your choice. Task: 1. Choose a crop that you’d like to learn more about from Baker et al.’s paper (besides cabbage). You will also use this in a later assignment. Research (don’t use Baker’s article) an important issue affecting your crop and describe it - be detailed so I get a sense of why it is interesting. What are the efficiency implications of your crop’s issue? Define efficiency in your answer. How to apply efficiency : focus on your one main issue and consider the following questions and answer those that fit your crop. Is it efficient to harvest less when your issue occurs? Is the outcome you find with your crop's issue still efficient? How do the net benefits compare to those without the issue? Does your issue lead to more uncertainty, and more food loss, which is not wasteful from a harvest-time perspective but is something the farmer would prefer to avoid to improve overall net benefits? 2. Draw a supply and demand curve that reflects the overall market for your CA crop. Use numbers for both the equilibrium price & quantity that you can find in the following sources: ○ Label the current price for your crop: use the first couple pages of Current Studies - UC Davis Cost Studies to determine the price and unit that your crop is typically measured in. (e.g. blackberries are measured in “trays”). Compare the price you found in the UC Davis cost studies ($/unit) to the price calculated from columns 4&5, starting on pg 13 ($/ton), converted to $/unit. Use the average. ○ Label Q* (efficient Q) : California Agricultural Production Statistics (convert from tons to your unit). Assume the amount produced is efficient. If you use an organic crop, use this doc 2021 Organics Report ○ Label the maximum quantity Q MAX : Using Baker’s Total Crop loss percentages (Table 5, 3rd column), and assuming this applies to every field, estimate the total amount of your crop that is physically possible to harvest in the current time period. ○ Specify your quantity axis on the graph: Q of _____ grown in _______ in a year (a description of the good, its location & the time period) 3. Carefully but simply explain how to find net benefits on a supply and demand graph for any Q 1 produced. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0921344919301296 https://coststudies.ucdavis.edu/en/current/ https://coststudies.ucdavis.edu/en/current/ https://www.cdfa.ca.gov/Statistics/PDFs/2021_Ag_Stats_Review.pdf https://www.cdfa.ca.gov/Statistics/ https://www.cdfa.ca.gov/Statistics/PDFs/2021_Organics_Publication.pdf ○ Net Benefits: how to find it? Would a person untrained know what the left and right endpoints are? 4. Define deadweight loss using our formula. 5. Using letters that you use to label/represent relevant areas on the graph (I don’t need numbers) ○ what are the net benefits of Q* ○ what are the net benefits of 50% of Q*? ○ what is the deadweight loss of Q*? ○ what is the deadweight loss of 50% of Q*? ○ what is the deadweight loss of Q MAX ? 6. How much would a unit of your crop cost at Safeway or a similar grocery store? Why the difference? 7. Suppose your parents/someone not familiar with this class walks by a farm at harvest time and sees lots of lettuce/broccoli/blackberries/etc. left in the fields. “It doesn’t make sense! People are hungry and that food is just going to rot!” Simply and briefly, explain the logic behind what they observe. Explain to a non-econ person such that it makes sense. Use some nuance and write precisely. (e.g. Don’t use the word efficient because they don’t know what that means) Formatting ● Single Spaced ● Type your answers to these questions and edit your writing to be organized and clear. ● Round relevant numbers to the nearest 100 or 1000 depending on the size. ● Cite your sources with links using footnotes , like this: Price of cabbage = $4/pound 1 ○ Don’t write “According to the article by Fernandez and Smith titled "What do I know", … ● Create one LARGE, colorful , neatly drawn graph by hand (paste a picture into your document) or with an ipad/MS Paint/Google Draw. Label it well (all relevant prices and areas and points of interest as well as the axes and curves) and use letters (A,B,C) to refer to relevant areas. Rubric Criteria Score Crop Issue and Efficiency Implications Researched and described clearly in your own words with enough writing to clearly convey what is going on. Implications for efficiency are explained, demonstrating understanding of efficiency. 6 Graph Supply & demand curve are drawn appropriately; graph is neat and well labeled (axes tell us precisely what they measure, lines on graph are labeled, important points labeled, label letters reflect unique non-overlapping areas) 2 P*, Q*: reasonable and cited. 4 Net Benefits and DWL correct 10 Definitions Language used is precise and correct. 4 Waste Explanation Correctly conveys logic of crops left in fields 4 Formatting/Dir ections Generally follows them (may subtract if you do not) Self Assessment 1 Cost and Profitability Analysis for Cabbage Production in the Oxnard Plain, Ventura County, 2012-13 , pg 3 https://coststudyfiles.ucdavis.edu/uploads/cs_public/b0/fa/b0fa617f-329f-4993-b3e3-0aaf055238f6/costs-and-profitability-analysis-for-cabbage-production-in-the-oxnard-plain-ventura-county-2012-13.pdf Did you create one graph, inserted neatly into your document? Are all intersections and intercepts and lines labeled? Is the assignment typed? Q axis: includes a description of the good and a region (and should be annual)? “Explain how to find net benefits on a supply and demand graph.” Is this clearly written? Does your definition of efficiency match mine and did you use it in your opening paragraph? Does your definition of DWL match mine? Did you cite your sources using footnotes with links and page numbers? Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes 1.