The Role of Harvest Timing in Pest Management: Grower Response to Infestation and Sector-Level Shifts in the Distribution of Output Quality

Kelly M. Cobourn, Boise State University
Rachael E. Goodhue, University of California, Davis
Jeffrey C. Williams, University of California, Davis

Abstract

A ubiquitous pest, such as the olive fruit fly, would seem to harm all producers. Olive growers in California have not only incurred costs of spraying insecticides but have harvested olives when they are smaller and less susceptible. A mathematical programming model optimizes a grower’s decisions, given the heterogeneity among growers’ cultivars and climate conditions. The model is extended to make the price premium for larger olives endogenous, given the individual growers’ responses to the pest. The market-level model indicates that some types of growers actually benefit from the infestation.