ABSTRACT Concerns for fed‐cattle price‐fixing collusion by beef packers persist. Though beef packers have recently settled these claims, they did so while issuing a statement of no wrongdoing on their parts. To better understand future allegations of packer price‐fixing, we examine beef supply‐chain price dynamics within an event analysis over periods of purported collusive activity. Error‐correction vector autoregressive analysis yields no concerns over collusive activity. Next, absolute values of time‐varying speed‐of‐adjustment coefficients are regressed on event periods and market factors to determine whether commerce reaction is slower to react during these time periods. There is only slight evidence of a change in price responsiveness during the purported period of collusive activity, but of insufficient magnitude to warrant much economic importance.

ABSTRACT Previous studies have extensively documented the yield‐enhancing effects of climate‐smart agricultural practices (CSAPs). However, empirical evidence on how CSAPs adoption affects commercialization remains largely unexplored. This study examines the impact of adopting CSAPs on smallholder maize commercialization, as measured by commercialization intensity and income. We also investigate the mechanisms through which CSAPs adoption affects these commercialization outcomes. We utilize survey data from 601 smallholder maize farmers across three major maize‐producing districts in Ethiopia. We employ an endogenous switching regression model to correct selection bias from both observed and unobserved heterogeneity, complemented by structural equation modeling to examine mediation pathways. Our empirical results show that the adoption of CSAPs is significantly associated with education level, family size, livestock holding, membership in farmer‐based organizations, access to market information, CSAPs‐focused trainings, proximity to extension services, and distance to the nearest market. Central to our findings, the analysis demonstrates that CSAPs adoption significantly enhances commercialization intensity by 60.79% and crop income by 19.33% per hectare. Robustness checks using propensity score matching and inverse probability weighted regression adjustment models consistently validate these results. Heterogeneity analysis shows significant variation in the treatment effects across study districts. Mediation analysis indicates that 27.6% of the total effect on commercialization intensity and 46.5% of the effect on maize income operate through the combined pathway of yield improvement and post‐harvest loss reduction. Our findings strongly suggest that policies aimed at enhancing smallholder commercialization should prioritize the adoption of CSAPs among smallholder farmers.

ABSTRACT The 2025 U.S. tariffs on Brazilian imports exemplify the resurgence of global protectionism and its ripple effects across interconnected agri‐food systems. This study analyzes Brazil′s agribusiness response to this geopolitical shock, revealing how trade barriers disrupted key exports, while accelerating diversification toward for new markets. Through a qualitative case study, the research reveals that differences in governance amplified smallholders′ vulnerabilities, whereas large firms leveraged multinational structures and innovations to adapt. The crisis underscores broader lessons on resilience in global trade, protectionist shocks, though disruptive, can foster adaptive capacity, institutional learning, and sustainability‐oriented reconfiguration in emerging economies.

Abstract The extraordinary fluctuations in China's hog prices, particularly since the outbreaks of the African swine fever in 2018, have brought tremendous risks to hog producers' production planning. This study proposes a decision framework for hog price prediction and production planning. Specifically, we use six forecast combination strategies to integrate multi‐step‐ahead forecasts of the hog price generated by 11 econometric and machine learning methods. Furthermore, we design a practical production plan based on the obtained hog price forecasts to determine the number of piglets purchased and fattened pigs sent to slaughter every month. Our results show that the forecast combinations consistently generate more accurate forecasts across six prediction horizons and three accuracy measures than individual forecasting methods. No model consistently performs best among the 11 individual forecasting models. The least absolute deviation strategy is particularly well‐suited for predicting hog prices. Concerning economic performance, the cumulative returns of hog producers who use the proposed production plan are consistently higher than those who use a naïve production plan. Experimental results indicate that our decision framework is a promising and practical tool for price forecasting and production planning in the hog industry.

ABSTRACT Despite the growing emphasis on the importance of circular economy strategies in increasing a firm's performance, the relationship between Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) and circular economy needs to be further justified. This study assessed the effects of government support and circular economy‐oriented collaboration on the implementation of circular economy strategies. In addition, we investigated the effects of circular economy strategies adoption on firms' ESG performance and reputation. This study surveyed 235 Brazilian agri‐food firms. Data were analyzed using the Partial Least Squares–Structural Equation Modeling method. This study found a positive and significant effect of circular economy‐oriented collaboration on circular economy strategies and a positive but lower effect of government support on circular economy strategies. The study's findings also demonstrate that the adoption of circular economy strategies has a profound effect on ESG performance and firm reputation. We also identified a partial mediation of circular economy‐oriented collaboration on the relationship between government support and circular economy. This study's findings contribute to advancing the theoretical discourse on CE and collaborative governance by validating their interconnected roles in enhancing sustainability outcomes. Moreover, our research contributes to the theoretical discourse on CE by showing how internal capabilities and relational assets jointly influence agri‐food firms' sustainability transitions.

ABSTRACT We analyze the impact of collective action through farmer‐based organizations (FBOs) on smallholders' farm performance and income inequality in Ghana, Benin, The Gambia, and Mali. We find that FBO membership increases cereal yield in Ghana and The Gambia, legume yield in Mali, ruminant numbers in Benin and The Gambia, and total farm income in Ghana and Benin. While FBOs promote income equality among smallholders in Ghana, they widen inequality in the three countries. Ensuring inclusive participation, especially for vulnerable rural farmers and women, is key to equitable benefits from collective action.

ABSTRACTMalnutrition and the consumption of unhealthy diets remain a global challenge. Most of the malnourished and food‐insecure people live in poor rural communities, where farming is the main livelihood activity. Using robust data collected from a random cross‐sectional sample of 268 households, we investigate whether farmers' involvement in agricultural diversification contributes to dietary diversity and quality in poor rural Türkiye. We also examine whether market participation influences the association between agricultural diversification and dietary diversity and quality. The results illustrate a statistically significant influence of five agricultural diversification indicators on three dietary diversity and quality indices over a 24‐h recall period, with the livestock richness score more strongly correlated across different dietary diversity and quality indices than the crop richness score. Furthermore, we find that the heterogeneous associations between market participation and agricultural diversification significantly influence higher dietary diversity and quality indices over a 24‐h recall period. Own production of tubers and livestock (meat) increased dietary diversity and quality, while the own production of olive crops (oils) did not increase dietary diversity. Own production of tubers significantly increased own consumption of tubers, while own production of cereals, tubers, vegetables, meat, egg, milk and dairy, and oils food groups significantly increased own consumption of other food groups. The overall influence of agricultural diversification on households' dietary diversity and quality in poor rural Türkiye is modest, mainly due to the low levels of diversification.

ABSTRACTFarmer producer organizations (FPOs) play a crucial role in smallholder‐dominated agrarian economies by addressing challenges of access to markets, credit, and information faced by individual farmers. Nevertheless, their long‐term economic viability and sustainability remain a complex issue. Factors such as their organizational structure, member participation, enterprise diversification, access to finances, and policy support can significantly influence their performance. However, our understanding of these factors is limited. This study undertakes a comprehensive analysis of approximately 1069 FPOs in India to identify the factors influencing their economic viability. Findings indicate that their economic viability is positively associated with the maturity level, membership size, geographical scope, and access to finance. Conversely, their larger top management and high proportion of economically and socially disadvantaged members present significant challenges in improving their economic performance. Moreover, this investigation determines the optimal levels of key factors underlying the economic performance of FPOs, which indicate that by attaining an optimal scale of operations, enhancing financial stability, and streamlining governance structures, FPOs can potentially improve their long‐term economic viability while more effectively serving their members.

ABSTRACTThis paper examines China's corn subsidy policy reform, aiming to provide insights for future policy adjustments and optimizations in China and other developing countries facing similar agricultural subsidy challenges. It constructs a partial equilibrium model of corn supply and demand to assess the effects of policies such as the temporary reserve program and producer subsidy on production, trade, and subsidy allocation, using cross‐country corn supply and demand data from 1990 to 2020. The findings reveal several key insights: First, both the temporary reserve program and producer subsidy distort corn production and trade, with the producer subsidy causing less distortion. Second, transitioning from the temporary reserve program to a producer subsidy can reduce policy costs by 7–15%, while maintaining the same level of corn self‐sufficiency. Third, within WTO rules, China can increase corn self‐sufficiency with minimal costs by limiting producer subsidies and investing in agricultural R&D to boost yield per unit area, which cause minimal distortion to production and trade. This study highlights that, under open market conditions, the price support policy is ineffective in ensuring food security in developing countries such as China. Instead, the producer subsidy and agricultural R&D subsidy, which are exempt from the Aggregate Measurement of Support (AMS) calculation, may offer developing countries a practical way to balance WTO compliance and domestic food security.

ABSTRACTMarket‐based solutions are increasingly tested to address aflatoxin issues in peanuts in developing countries. Although previous studies have found that Haitian grocery store shoppers are willing to pay a 21% premium for peanut butter with levels of aflatoxin that meet international standards, no information is available for the much larger informal market. A stated preference survey, using an iterative bidding process, was conducted among 585 informal market consumers of Port‐au‐Prince and Cap‐Haitien, the two largest cities in Haiti. Results show that informal market participants are willing to pay a 12% premium for peanut butter that meets international aflatoxin standards. Based on the result of a previous revealed preference study on Haitian peanut farmers, the observed premium would be largely sufficient to incentivize farmers to adopt aflatoxin mitigation practices, which supports market‐based solutions to improve the safety of a Haitian staple food. Results also indicate that informal market consumers have greater confidence in a certification from an international institution rather than a domestic one.