Business Commons^™

Government Program Decision Analysis In Nebraska At The Farm Level, Tatum R. Brunkow

Department of Agricultural Economics: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The one-year extension of the 2018 Farm Bill until September 30, 2024, has extended several government programs for the 2024 crop year including those in Title I: Commodities. This analysis looks at three different financial scenarios and analyzes five different alternatives for a case farm to select the optimal farm program decision for the operation by evaluating net farm income. Since 2021, eligible producers have been able to elect either Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) or Price Loss Coverage (PLC) for their operation on an annual basis. Support levels for these programs are trending close together making the election decision more …

Nebraska Cow-Calf Operations Use Of Pricing Tools And Market Diversification Strategies To Manage Market Risk, Logan Kalkowski

Department of Agricultural Economics: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This thesis is the work of Logan Kalkowski with assistance and direction from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and advisors Jay Parsons and Elliott Dennis. This thesis is divided into three chapters. The first chapter of this thesis investigates years of research and data collection from multiple agencies to find connections to reasoning for producers to choose marketing and diversification tools used in their operation.

The second chapter examines cow-calf marketing and risk management practices in Nebraska. Marketing and risk management behavior are examined by using the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Cow-calf survey data collected in 2016. The survey captures characteristics of …

How Does Identifying As Gluten-Free Impact Information Choice Regarding The Gluten-Free Diet?, Pratiksha Baishya

Department of Agricultural Economics: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The market for gluten-free products is a multi-billion-dollar industry in the United States and has seen tremendous growth in the recent years. The retail sales of gluten-free foods in the United States almost tripled between 2011 and 2015, although rates of diagnosed gluten-related health problems have not risen. In addition to people who suffer from Celiac Disease, Wheat Allergy and Non-Celiac Gluten Sensitivity, there is a category or people known as PWAG (people who avoid gluten) who seem to have significantly contributed to this boom in the market for gluten-free foods. With more people choosing to adopt the gluten-free diet, …

Modeling And Economic Analysis Of A Crop-Livestock Production System Incorporating Cereal Rye As A Forage, Eric R. Coufal

Department of Agricultural Economics: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This thesis consists of two chapters using agent-based modeling for a crop-livestock production system incorporating human labor. The first chapter examines the principles used to develop a fundamental simulation pertaining to grazing cereal rye (Secale cereal L.) with calves. Within the software guidelines, the base model has the ability to capture diverse system interactions between livestock/plants and land management with human labor efficiency. AnyLogic incorporates agent-based modeling while combining with discrete event modeling and system dynamics. The purpose of the model was to find the economic returns of grazing cover crops relative to the area of Mead, Nebraska. In our …

Has The Usage Of Precision Agriculture Technologies Actually Led To Increased Profits For Nebraska Producers?, Michael H. Castle

Department of Agricultural Economics: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

An ever-increasing global demand for food, coupled with increasingly volatile commodity prices have charged producers with the task of becoming more efficient. As such, technologies aimed at producing more with less are continually being developed and marketed to producers. However, whether or not these expensive new technologies have resulted in improved profitability is still unknown, as the vast majority of studies showing their impact on profitability have been performed using hypothetical farms and simulations. These studies have shown the potential for increases in profitability from use, but their impact in the real world is still uncertain.

This project uses various …

U.S. Mushroom Import Demand Estimation With Source Differentiated Aids And Rotterdam Models, Jun Li

Department of Agricultural Economics: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

While technically considered as fungi, mushrooms are often classified as vegetables because they provide many of the nutritional attributes of produce as well as meat, beans, and grains. The U.S. is the largest consumer of mushrooms and the share of imports in total consumption of mushrooms has been rising and will likely continue to rise as U.S. consumers increasingly adopt healthier diets. While most of U.S. fresh mushroom imports are from Canada, China, Mexico and South Korea, most of U.S. canned mushroom imports are from China, India, Indonesia, and the Netherlands.

The contribution of this thesis is to provide the …

Three Essays On Biofuels, Drought, Livestock, And The Environment, Sunil P. Dhoubhadel

Department of Agricultural Economics: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This dissertation consists of three essays. The first essay examines the impact of the 2012 drought and the biofuels mandate on the U.S. grain and livestock markets. A stochastic equilibrium displacement model is used to analyze the impact on eight commodity markets viz. beef, pork, poultry, corn, distillers’ grain (DG), soybean, soymeal, and ethanol. Among the eight markets, corn and beef are found to be the most vulnerable to drought. The use of Renewable Identification Number (RIN) credits as an instrument to mitigate the impact of drought has limited effectiveness. A mandate waiver of about 23% is required to fully …

Replacement Alternatives For Beef Cow Herds: An Analysis Of Retaining Non-Pregnant Cows, Trenton T. Bohling

Department of Agricultural Economics: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

A non-pregnant cow is a liability to a producer. Over the last four years, cow-calf producers have had an increased number of non-pregnant cows due to factors like environmental conditions and diseases like trichomoniasis. While most research has indicated that culling a non-pregnant female and replacing the cow with retained heifers, purchased heifers, or purchased cows are the only economic alternatives, recent trends in the cattle market have suggested that keeping a non-pregnant cow may also be an alternative.

Annual beef cow budgets were created based on typical Nebraska Sandhills conditions. Revenues and costs in these budgets vary according to …