The data on prices presented in Table 1 provide an approximate

representation of relative returns to Florida producers during the 11

years spanned because average yields per acre have been fairly steady

during most of the period. Although relative prices have been subject

to some erosion in more recent years, such results are not totally

explained by changing levels of Mexican imports as implied by Meyers.

A more sophisticated approach is called for in order to separate the

effects of numerous forces which influence Florida vegetable prices.

Preliminary Model Results

 Tomatoes and green peppers rank first and second in terms of market

 value for these Florida vegetables which encounter stiff import competi-

 tion during the crop year. Using data for the fall, winter and spring

 quarters for the 1968-76 crop years, econometric models for these veget-

 able crops were estimated using two stage least squares. For expositional

 purposes Florida and other U.S. production variables will be exogenized

 so that partial reduced form multipliers and elasticities may be present-

 ed. The key eouations then for each crop are the price determination

 and import supply relations. The estimated parameters for these equations

 are shown in Table 2 along with t-values in parentheses below their

 respective coefficients.

 Since all quantity variables are expressed in units of 1 ,000 hundred-

 weights the coefficients in Table 2 can be interpreted as multipliers in

 terms of this quality measure. Thus, the effect of a 10 million pound

 increase in Florida tomato production causes prices to fall by (-.0026 *
 10,000,000 1,000 100 = -.26) 26 cents per hundredweight and imports