Notice of Hearing on the Application to Use Sodium Fluoroacetate ...

adhered to the !,j31~
L;
that - ,qas L412 arpropridi F T ~ C ~
i:?xi bi! i ty
. vaiue even ;:7cugii sucn $ialues for 2ther ccmon zea; itzrns ssch 2s
beef, ;art and chicken ?rere a', 1 greater than one, inaiclting + ~~nat
the demand was inelastic. %e defended chis result upon the ground
that lamb as now so expensive, it was more <strong>of</strong> a luxury or special iy
- LIl
item. He acknowledged that pricz flexibilitics change over time
and tnac the data in tne ci red USDA pub1 icati cn was cnli czrrenc
through 1975. de ?ointed out, hcwever, tht 20. ?ower had not
reported ~ hconfidencz e i nxarva! dsS0ci axed wi :!-I ni s cceiii ci enr
<strong>of</strong> elasticity and thar Or. Power's single estjmate did not indicare
that sufficienx tests had been conduc~ed that jc could be consj2ered
a reliable est'mato.
-,--
177. Using an estirnatsd average current lcsi <strong>of</strong> iambs tz coyotes c; 3.2
percenc, Sr. Schaub caicula~ed that a one 7ercen: zedcc-ion in losses
to coyotes ta 5.3 percenT would increase lamb production by 53,300
head and gross revenue to producers by $1.3 mi 11 ion. This calculation
is based on the -.42 price flexibility value reisrred to in the
preceding finding. He defended the 6.3 percent es:i,~ated loss figore
as rea:onable based on Gee, et al., wno derived an average loss to
coyotes <strong>of</strong> 6.4 percent, even though he acknowledged that precise data
on lamb losses to coyotes were not available. He also ackncwiedged
that data on the extent to which use <strong>of</strong> I080 would decrease coyote
predation were not available, but defended his assumptions as reasonable.
Ilj This is contrary to a study cited in the testimony <strong>of</strong> Dr. Power
which is to the effect that the price <strong>of</strong> specialty items could be expected
to be more responsive to changes in supply.