Evolution of oilseed sector in Romania - an analysis from the perspective of effects produced by the COVID-19 pandemic

Romania ranks first in the European Union for the production of sunflower seeds, third for the production of soybeans and seventh for the production of rapeseed. The paper aims to analyse the effects produced by the COVID-19 pandemic on the evolution of the oilseed sector in Romania. Thus, the following indicators were analysed: evolution of areas under oilseeds, total oilseed production and average yields, as well as the volatility of selling prices for oilseeds. The results of the study reveal that Romania has been the largest producer of sunflower seeds in the European Union. The average yields in sunflower, soybeans and rapeseed have shown great variations in the analysed period. According to Eurostat data, it can be noticed that although Romania is the third large producer of oilseeds in the EU, the average yields continue to be low compared to those from other large EU producers. Yields are also among the most volatile in the EU. The selling prices for soybeans showed a higher increase in the year 2020 than in 2019 in Romania, compared to the increase in the average selling prices of the EU-27 (+9.89%). The selling prices for rapeseed also had a higher increase in 2020 than in 2019 in Romania, compared to the increase in the average selling prices of the EU-27 (+2.31%).

Impact of US-China trade war on Asian economies: neural network multilayer perceptron approach

PurposeThis study aims to find the impact of the trade war between the USA and China on Asian economies. Apart from macroeconomic variables associated with trade, this study explicitly creates a trade war scenario and trade war participant dummies. Using the neural network multilayer perceptron, this study checks for the causal linkages between the predictors and target output for the panel of Asian economies and the USA.Design/methodology/approachA conceptual model of the after effects of trade war in a quadrant is developed. Variables related to trade and tariffs are included in the study for a panel of 19 Asian economies. The feedforward structure of neural network analysis is used to identify strong and weak predictors of trade war.FindingsThe hidden layers of the multilayer perceptron reveal the inconsistency in linkages for the predictors' services exports, tariff measures, anti-dumping measures, trade war scenario dummy with gross domestic product. The findings suggest that to curtail the impact of the trade war on Asian economies, predictors with neural evidence must be paid due weightage in policy determination and trade agreements.Originality/valueThe study applies a novel and little explored AI/ML technique of Neural Network analysis with training of 70% observations. The paper will provide opportunity for other researchers to explore techniques of AI/ML in trade studies.

Estimating Moisture Content of Sausages with Different Types of Casings via Hyperspectral Imaging in Tandem with Multivariate

The moisture levels in sausages that were stored for 16 days and added with different concentrations of orange extracts to a modification solution were assessed using response surface methodology (RSM). Among the 32 treatment matrixes, treatment 10 presented a higher moisture content than that of treatment 19. Spectral pre-treatments were employed to enhance the model's robustness. The raw and pre-processed spectral data, as well as moisture content, were fitted to a regression model. The RSM outcomes showed that the interactive effects of [soy lecithin concentration] × [soy oil concentration] and [soy oil concentration] × [orange extract addition] on moisture were significant (p < 0.05), resulting in an R2 value of 78.28% derived from a second-order polynomial model. Hesperidin was identified as the primary component of the orange extracts using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The PLSR model developed from reflectance data after normalization and 1st derivation pre-treatment showed a higher coefficient of determination in the calibration set (0.7157) than the untreated data (0.2602). Furthermore, the selection of nine key wavelengths (405, 445, 425, 455, 585, 630, 1000, 1075, and 1095 nm) could render the model simpler and allow for easy industrial applications.

VIX and major agricultural future markets: dynamic linkage and time-frequency relations around the COVID-19 outbreak

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the volatility spillover and lead-lag relationship between the Chicago Board Options Exchange volatility index (VIX) and the major agricultural future markets before and during the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak.Design/methodology/approachThe methods used were the vector autoregression-Baba, Engle, Kraft and Kroner-generalized autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity method, the Wald test and wavelet transform method.FindingsThe findings indicate that prior to the COVID-19 outbreak, there was a two-way volatility spillover impact between the majority of the sample markets. In comparison, volatility transmission between the VIX index and the agricultural future market was significantly lower following the COVID-19 outbreak, the authors observed greater coherence at higher frequencies than at lower frequencies, implying that the interdependence between the two VIX indices and the agricultural future market was stronger over a longer time-frequency domain and the VIX's signalling effect on various agricultural future prices after the COVID-19 outbreak was significantly lower.Originality/valueThe authors conducted the first comprehensive investigation of the VIX's correlation with major agricultural futures, especially during COVID-19. The findings contribute to a better understanding of the risk transmission mechanism between the VIX and major agricultural commodities futures contracts. And our findings have significant implications for investors and portfolio managers, as well as for policymakers who are concerned about the price of agricultural futures.

Soybean science challenge: growing soybean education beyond our borders

The Soybean Science Challenge (SSC) continues to support Arkansas STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) educational goals. It aligns with the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). Junior high and high-school students are engaged in active learning and the co-creation of knowledge through the support of classroom-based lessons and applied student research. The SSC educates and engages junior high and high school science students and teachers in 'real-world' Arkansas-specific soybean science education through an original NGSS-aligned curriculum in 7E and GRC-3D format and a continuum of educational methods, which include: teacher workshops, online and virtual live stream education, virtual NGSS aligned mini-lessons for the science classroom, community gardens, personal mentoring, student-led research and corresponding award recognition, and partnerships with state and national educators, agencies and the popular media. The COVID19 global pandemic continued to alter the educational landscape in 2021, despite increased in-person instruction. The Soybean Science Challenge (SSC), by nature of its existing design and methodology, launched online Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) aligned Gathering Reasoning and Communicating (GRC)-3D and 7E lesson plans for teachers. An online course was added, including NGSS-aligned mini-lesson videos for the science classroom, and additional virtual field trips were added to the list on the Soybean Science Challenge website. The Challenge also sponsored the Arkansas Science Teacher Association Conference in October 2021, and the SSC Coordinator Diedre Young conducted a workshop on bringing agriculturally based lessons into the science classroom. The Soybean Science Challenge was also active in science fairs across the state, judging participants at both the regional and state levels. The SSC is in its second year of the junior level award at regional science fairs. Through the SSC, teachers now have access to a plethora of educational instructions that bring real-world agricultural critical thinking into the classroom and students' homes. The SSC has learned that not only do Arkansas teachers and students benefit from these additional resources but teachers and students from other states benefit as well. In 2021, the SSC program reached over 3,000 students and teachers through in-person, digital, virtual, and print methods.

How does China respond to the agricultural commodities market: A case study in the post COVID-19 era?

COVID-19 pandemic caused different levels of impact across the industries, including agriculture, since it is a food chain reaction from the raw materials to the end product. The main purpose of our review research is to find out how the Chinese government responded to food security and price in the agricultural market in post COVID19 era and then follow with key issues that need to be considered, such as steady agricultural product prices. Also, during the post COVID-19, the conflict between Russia and Ukraine affected the world's agricultural production and market. This review research concluded the strategies of the Chinese government to respond to this global issue from the point of view of agriculture. The paper also proposed some solutions and suggestions that can be applied during this new era. In the end, we concluded effective policies and regulations that have been proven by the Chinese government and can be referred to by other countries or regions.

FORMING PRICES IN THE CORN, WHEAT AND SOYA PRODUCTION CHAINS IN THE POST-COVID CONDITIONS AND THE CONDITIONS OF THE UKRAINIAN CRISIS

In the paper, an analysis of the costs and economic efficiency of the production of the three most significant stock-exchange crops in Serbia (namely corn, wheat and soya) was carried out. The paper is aimed at comparing the costs and profits their production in the year that was stable when the market is concerned (2018) and in the year which is affected by the influence of the coronavirus pandemic and the crisis in Ukraine (2022). The results have shown that there has been a significant increase in the growth of the total costs in all the three crops, namely 74.5%, 63.6% and 66.5% in corn, wheat and soybean, respectively. Change in the structure of the costs has also been perceived, namely the total production costs in the year 2022 were dominated by direct costs, i.e. the costs ofthe reproduction material, 65.3%, 55.8% and 55.1%, respectively. Changes in the agricultural products supply chain have caused a drastic rise in the kernel price per unit of measure namely by 73.7% in corn, 113.1% in wheat and 119.2% in the soybean kernel. Based on the analysis of the obtained parameters, the greatest economic efficiency was perceived in the production of soybean (1.43), then wheat (0.60) and corn (0.46).

The Trilogy of the Chinese Apple Futures Market: Price Discovery, Risk-Hedging and Cointegration

The agricultural futures market plays an extremely important role in price discovery, hedging risks, integrating agricultural markets and promoting agricultural economic growth. China is the largest apple producer and consumer in the world. In 2017, Chinese apple futures were listed on the Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange (CZCE) as the first fruit futures contract globally. This paper aims to study the efficiency of the apple futures market by using the Wild Bootstrapping Variance Ratio model to estimate the price discovery function, the ARIMA-GARCH model to estimate the risk-hedging function, and the ARDL-ECM model to estimate the cointegration relationship of the futures and spot market. Experimental results firstly demonstrate that the apple futures market conforms to the weak-form efficiency, which indicates that it is efficient in price discovery. Secondly, the apple futures market is not of semi-strong efficiency because it generated abnormal profit margins amid China–US trade friction, climate disaster, and COVID-19;in terms of the degree of impact, the COVID-19 pandemic had the greatest impact, followed by the rainstorm disaster and trade friction. Thirdly, the results of this study indicate that the cointegration relationships exist between the futures market and the spot markets of the main producing areas. This paper is not only conducive to sustainable development of the global fresh or fruit futures market, but also has potential and practical importance for China in developing the agricultural futures market, strengthening market risk management and promoting market circulation.

Current situation of soybean production and consumption in China and strategies to improve self-sufficiency rate

Low self-sufficiency rate and the higher foreign dependence rate of about 87% have seriously threatened the soybean safety in China. In recent years, with the changes of the international situation and the COVID-19 epidemic, soybean production, processing and consumption in China have attracted more attention at home and abroad. China unveiled "No. 1 central document" proposed a soybean revitalization plan in 2019, putting forward the goal of "one expansion and two improvements" to strengthen the competitiveness of China's soybean industry in the international agricultural market. This paper reviewed the current situation of soybean production, processing, trade and consumption in China in recent years, and upgraded strategies to enhance China's soybean industry and enhanced the self-sufficiency rate according to China's national conditions.

Evaluation of Hesperidin on Sausages Stuffed in a New Modified Casing during Long-Term Storage—A Preliminary Study

The effects of hesperidin and different casings on pH, moisture content, water-holding capacity, and total viable count (TVC) of sausages stored for 171 days were evaluated by principal component analysis (PCA) and discriminant analysis (DA). Sausages stuffed in a modified casing with treatment B (soy lecithin concentration: 1:30, soy oil concentration: 2.5%, lactic acid concentration: 21 mL/kg NaCl [solid], treated time: 90 min) had a significantly lower pH value (6.89 ± 0.01) at d 31 but higher (6.55 ± 0.03) than that of control casings at d 171 (p < 0.05). Hesperidin plays an important role in antimicrobial property that renders the sausages with modified casing by treatment A (soy lecithin concentration: 1:27.5, soy oil concentration: 1.25%, lactic acid concentration: 19.5 mL/kg NaCl [solid], treated time: 75 min) stable (p > 0.05), with the final TVC of 5.03 ± 0.10 log cfu/g. According to the PCA results, water-holding capacity has a positive correlation to pH. Moisture content was the best discriminator for differentiating sausages with control and modified casings, whilst pH was able to discriminate sausages stored after 138 days from other days.

17th Symposium on Insect-Plant Relationships (SIP-17), Online, 25-30 July 2021

Originally, the 17th Symposium on Insect-Plant Relationships (SIP-17) was scheduled to take place in Leiden, The Netherlands, in July 2020. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the symposium was postponed to July 2021 and held in an exclusively online format. This exceptional edition has resulted in four strong contributions to the journal. It is with great pleasure that we now present a themed issue including the proceedings of SIP-17, supplemented with eight regular articles within the subject of insect-plant relationships.

Agri-food trade in 2020

The year 2020 marked one of the biggest recessions in global economic activity and world trade. During this period, the EU economy contracted by 6% and its international trade followed a similar downward trend - EU exports of goods decreased by 9% and imports by 12%, compared to 2019. By contrast, EU international trade in agri-food reported a slight growth. Over the course of 2020, the value of EU agri-food exports increased to 184.3 billion (a growth of 1.4% compared to 2019), while the value of imports rose to 122.2 billion (a growth of 0.5%). As a result, the EU further reinforced its leading position among the world's biggest exporters. On the import side, the EU has become the third largest importer after the US and China. The contraction in global trade was accompanied by increasing prices of food, including commodities as evidenced by the increases reflected in the FAO Global Price Index. The EU exports a wide range of products from all parts of the value chain which demonstrates the competitiveness of the EU agri-food sector in a variety of product classes ranging from commodities to highly processed food industry products. EU imports, on the other hand, are clearly dominated by basic agricultural food and feed products, which represent about 75% of all imports. Looking at product categories, exports of pig meat and wheat strongly contributed to the increase in EU overall agri-food exports. Conversely, spirits and liqueurs as well as wine are among the sectors that experienced a difficult period for a number of reasons (e.g. the COVID pandemic, US retaliatory tariffs). The growth in EU agri-food imports was mainly driven by increases in import values for oilseeds, other than soya beans;fatty acids and waxes, palm oil, fruit including tropical fruit, and soya beans. China, Switzerland and the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region were the major growth destinations for EU agri-food exports in 2020. The value of EU exports fell most to the United States, Turkey, Singapore and Japan. In terms of imports, Canada grew significantly as a source for the EU imports. By contrast, EU imports declined most in value from the United Kingdom, Ukraine and the United States. In 2020, the UK has become the EU's most important partner in agri-food trade, with a share of 23% in total EU agri-food exports and 13% in total imports. With EU exports and imports both decreasing, its trade surplus with the US increased by 2% when compared to 2019, as falls on the imports side were stronger. China became the top destination for US agri-food exports. EU agri-food exports to China were primarily driven by continued record high sales of pig meat which increased by 74%. Pig meat and meat offal - the latter mainly comprised of products originating from pigs - accounted for over 40% of EU exports to China in 2020, demonstrating the importance of this market for the pig meat sector. Brazil's exports to China continued to increase in 2020, absorbing 35% of its total agri-food exports. Combined agri-food exports from Brazil to the EU and the US now account for half of Brazilian exports to China. In 2020, Brazil supplied 50% of extra-EU demand for soya beans and 40% for oilcakes. Wheat continued to be the leading EU export product to Africa with a 23% share of the EU's total export basket, whereas cocoa beans dominate in the EU imports from Africa, with the same share of 23%. Most African countries benefit from duty-free, quota-free access to the EU market under the "Everything But Arms" scheme and for many of them Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) or other trade agreements with the EU are applied, encouraging regional cooperation and trade. In 2020, the EU applied 45 free trade agreements (FTAs) with 77 partners. The share of agri-food trade under preferential agreements is also expanding and in 2021, it accounted for 31% and 41% of total EU agri-food exports and imports, respectively. The value of EU agri-food trade under preferential agreements expanded more in relative terms compared to total EU agri-food trade. EU agri-food ex

Short-Term Speculation Effects on Agricultural Commodity Returns and Volatility in the European Market Prior to and during the Pandemic

Motivated by increased agricultural commodity price volatility and surges during the past decade, we investigated whether financial speculation is to blame. The aim of this paper is to build on prior research about to what extent and in which ways financial speculation undermines agricultural commodity prices. In our analysis, we utilized the daily returns on milling wheat, corn, and soybean futures from the Euronext Commodities Paris market (MATIF) as well as the short-term speculation index. To quantify this impact, we apply Granger noncausality tests as well as the GARCH (generalized autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity) technique. We also propose a model using seasonal dummy variables to examine whether financial speculation has a greater impact on price volatility during more volatile months. According to our results, financial speculation, as an external factor, in most cases has no effect or reduces the volatility of the underlying futures prices. The opposite is observed in the corn market, where volatility has risen in the post-2020 period and has been pushed up even more by speculation in April. However, since the influence on other commodities is limited or nonexistent, more emphasis should be focused on speculation in the European corn futures market or its interdependence with energy markets.

USDA outlook for 2021 shows healthy recovery

It is reported that the USDA outlook for US agriculture in 2021 is generally positive. Most agricultural markets, including the major markets for Iowa, have recovered from the depths of the price declines that struck during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. Some of the basic statistics (such as production, exports, imports, and prices) for cattle/beef, pigs/pigmeat, maize and soyabeans are presented.

Soybean Science Challenge: sustaining education during a pandemic

The Soybean Science Challenge (SSC) continues to support Arkansas STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) educational goals, is aligned with the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and engages junior high and high school students in active learning and the co-creation of knowledge through support of classroom-based lessons and applied student research. The SSC educates and engages junior high and high school science students and teachers in 'real-world' Arkansas specific soybean science education through original NGSS aligned curriculum in 7E and Gathering Reasoning and Communicating (GRC)-3D format and a continuum of educational methods which include: teacher workshops, online and virtual education, NGSS aligned mini-lessons for science classrooms, community gardens, personal mentoring, student-led research and corresponding award recognition, and partnerships with state and national educators, agencies, and the popular media. The COVID-19 global pandemic altered the educational landscape in 2020 and continues to do so. The new educational environment has seen an increase in virtual classrooms, online courses, and interactions with Zoom © . The Soybean Science Challenge (SSC), by nature of its existing design and methodology, was and is amid these methods by launching online Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) aligned Gathering Reasoning and Communicating (GRC)-3D and 7E lesson plans for teachers, adding an online course, adding NGSS aligned mini-lesson videos for the science classroom, and adding virtual field trips to the list on the Soybean Science Challenge website. The Challenge also sponsored the virtual Arkansas Science Teacher Association Conference, and the SSC Coordinator taught virtual workshops on bringing agriculturally based lessons into science classrooms. The Soybean Science Challenge virtually judged participants at both the regional and state level, and SSC added a junior level award at regional science fairs. Through the SSC, teachers now have access to a plethora of educational instructions that bring real-world agricultural critical thinking both into the classroom and the homes of students.

Will Iowa farmland values continue to rise?

This article shows how the agricultural commodity markets and the land market have gained noticeable strength since fall 2020 due to COVID-19. Record government support, historically low interest rates, and surging agricultural exports led to a near-10% hike in farmland values for almost all Midwestern states. The two most recent quarterly surveys on farmland values of agricultural lenders by the Federal Reserve Banks of Kansas City and Chicago are presented in this paper. Moreover, the surging crop and land prices offer optimism to landowners, producers, and agricultural professionals, and once again proves the resiliency of agricultural real estate values. The estimates from an online survey on land value trends and crop prices for corn and soybean in Iowa were provided. Overall, agricultural professionals expect a continuation of the growth spree in farmland values in their local service areas over the next 18 months.

Identifying possible misspecification in South African soybean oil futures contracts. (Special Issue: Special collection of articles on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on South African agriculture.)

With the inclusion of a locally traded soybean oil futures contract, that is dual-listed and cash-settled of the Chicago Board of Trade futures contract, the South African Futures Exchange (SAFEX) aimed to provide local soybean crushing plants, the opportunity for managing their exposure toward the variation in soybean oil prices using effective hedging strategies. Which is only viable assuming adequate liquidity, that is currently lacking in these futures contracts. The soybean oil contract used for hedging local price exposure should also reflect local import parity and/or be correlated to local price movements. Therefore, with most soybean oil usually being imported from Argentina, one would expect SAFEX soybean oil futures contracts to reflect the cost of imported soybean oil from Argentina. Hence, the research study used the Engle-Granger (1987) cointegration approach, alongside a range of diagnostic tests to determine whether SAFEX soybean oil futures contracts, that is dual-listed and cash-settled of CBOT settlement values is a misspecification and whether or not SAFEX soybean oil futures contracts should rather be based on the Argentina free-on-board soybean oil prices which is a much better representation of South Africa's import parity and local industry prices.

Optimization of Soybean Protein Extraction Using By-Products from NaCl Electrolysis as an Application of the Industrial Symbiosis Concept

Featured ApplicationThis study shows the use of a by-product from the manufacture of a novel antiseptic/disinfectant (HOCl) to obtain a protein isolate from defatted soybean flour (a co-product from the soybean oil industry);an optimization process was carried out to create an industrial symbiosis.Defatted soybean flour is generated during the oil extraction process of soybean, and it has a protein content of ~50%. On the other hand, an alkaline solution of NaOH is produced during the electrolysis process of NaCl in a novel method used to make a potent disinfectant/antiseptic (HOCl). In the present work, we suggest using these two products to produce soy protein isolate (SPI), aiming to create an industrial symbiosis. A Box–Behnken experimental design was executed, and a surface response analysis was performed to optimize temperature, alkaline solution, and time used for SPI extraction. The SPI produced at optimal conditions was then characterized. The experimental results fit well with a second-order polynomial equation that could predict 93.15% of the variability under a combination of 70 °C, alkaline solution 3 (pH 12.68), and 44.7 min of the process. The model predicts a 49.79% extraction yield, and when tested, we obtained 48.30% within the confidence interval (46.66–52.93%). The obtained SPI was comparable in content and structure with a commercial SPI by molecular weight and molecular spectroscopy characterization. Finally, the urease activity (UA) test was negative, indicating no activity for trypsin inhibitor. Based on the functional properties, the SPI is suitable for food applications.

Editorial: Fish Nutrition, Metabolism and Physiology

Editorial on the Research Topic Fish Nutrition, Metabolism and Physiology Aquatic foods from marine and freshwater play a significant role in nutrition of billions of people globally, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic which has jeopardized the global food security (Tigchelaar et al., 2021). [...]aquatic foods are considered as unique and rich sources of n-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC-PUFA) such as EPA and DHA with beneficial impacts in a range of human pathologies particularly cardiovascular diseases (Golden et al., 2021). [...]promoting intestinal health of fish fed high soybean meal diets through supplementation of bioactive compounds has also drawn increasing attention. [...]the inclusion of higher plant are often associated with research challenges for fish health and welfare. [...]identifying LC-PUFA biosynthesis in fish fed plant oils has pivotal implication for aquafeeds formulation.

Hedging Effectiveness of Commodity Futures Contracts to Minimize Price Risk: Empirical Evidence from the Italian Field Crop Sector

Over the last years, farmers have been increasingly exposed to income risk due to the volatility of the commodities prices. Among others, hedging in futures markets (i.e., financial markets) represents an available strategy for producers to cope with income risks at farm level. To better understand the advantages of such promising tools, this paper aims at analyzing the hedging effectiveness for soybean, corn and milling wheat producers in Italy. Following the literature, three different methodologies (i.e., naïve, OLS, GARCH) are applied for the estimation of the hedge portfolio, then compared to an unhedged portfolio for assessing the income risk reduction. Findings confirm the hedging effectiveness of futures contracts for all the considered commodities, showing also that this effect increases with longer hedge horizons, and also showing better performances for the European exchange market (i.e., Euronext), compared to the North American counterpart.