Life Sciences Commons^™

U.S. Drought Monitor, December 27, 2016, Brad Rippey

United States Agricultural Commodities in Drought Archive

Drought map of U.S. for December 27, 2016 (12/27/16) plus: U.S. crop areas experiencing drought (map), Approximate percentage of crop located in drought, by state (bar graph), Percent of crop area located in drought, past 52 weeks (line graph) for: Corn, Soybeans, Hay, Cattle, Winter wheat.

Game Theory Analysis Of Intra-District Water Transfers; Case Study Of The Berrenda Mesa Water District, Harry Riordan Ferdon

Master's Theses

California state officials have continued to warn and encourage preparedness for the growing threats of water scarcity. This puts pressure on water suppliers to develop technological and managerial solutions to alleviate the problems associated with scarcity. A recent popular management strategy for distributing water is encouraging water transfers. While there has been analyses on water transfers between large districts and agencies, little analysis has been completed for smaller scale trades, i.e. between individuals in the same water district. This analysis models an agricultural water district, based on the Berrenda Mesa Water District (BMWD). In the model, the growers in the …

The Role Of African Leafy Vegetables In Food Security, Marcia M. Croft

Open Access Dissertations

African leafy vegetables (ALVs) are a diverse set of crops grown across sub-Saharan Africa. They have been a staple of traditional diets and contain many critical micronutrients but their importance has been largely ignored by researchers and policymakers at the expense of imported crops. Availability, accessibility, and utilization of ALVs are limited by factors across the supply chain. This research investigated seed systems, drought tolerance, hydroponic production, market barriers, consumer preference, and the impact of gender as related to ALVs. We found that ALVs play an important role in food security and that critical differences exist between formal and informal …

Subsidies, Aquaculture Technology Adoption, And Welfare Impacts In Ghana And Kenya, Akuffo Amankwah

Open Access Dissertations

This dissertation empirically examines subsidies, aquaculture technology adoption, and welfare implications of fish farming households in Ghana and Kenya. It is divided into three separate chapters, each addressing a specific empirical issue related to aquaculture in the countries.

The second chapter of this dissertation applies the lognormal double hurdle model to a cross-section of fish farms to analyze commercial demand for improved feed, and whether the government feed subsidy program influences private demand for the feed. The results indicate that households’ decisions to participate in improved feed market are affected by the quantity of the subsidized feed received. Once the …

A Unique Perspective On The Demand For Livestock Product Attributes, Elizabeth S. Byrd

Open Access Dissertations

Consumers are increasingly concerned about the social and environmental impacts of the foods they purchase. Both choice experiments and best-worst scaling (BWS) methodology have been used to elicit consumer willingness to pay (WTP) for food attributes and the relative importance of food attributes to consumers. The dissertation consists of four essays. Chapter 2 presents a formal law review article exploring the laws associated with wild game harvest, consumption, and inspections. The remaining three essays (Chapters 3-5) each address an extension or application of choice experiment and/or BWS methodology focused on credence attributes of meat products. Two online surveys were used …

Essays On Malawian Agriculture: Micro-Level Welfare Impacts Of Agricultural Productivity; Profitability Of Fertilizer Use; And Targeting Of Fertilizer Subsidy Programs, Francis Addeah Darko

Open Access Dissertations

This dissertation comprises of three essays that address different aspects of agriculture in Malawi using a two-wave panel data collected by the National Statistical Office of Malawi with support from the World Bank Living Standards Measurement Study – Integrated Surveys on Agriculture (LSMS-ISA) program. Each essay stands alone as an independent study because of differences in research questions and the methodologies used in addressing the questions.

The first essay analyzes the micro-level welfare impacts of agricultural productivity. Welfare is measured by various dimensions of poverty and food insecurity; and agricultural productivity is measured by maize yield and value of crop …

Measuring The Effect Of Cold Storage, Captive Supply, And Concentration On The Marketing Margin In The U.S. Pork Industry, Yuhang Liu

Open Access Theses

This study investigates the implication of key decision variables at the control of processing firms in a concentrated industry. Succinctly, the decisions examined affect the firm's ability to buffer short run supply and demand fluctuations through storage and access to an alternative source of specialized inputs essential to production. What makes them different in the context of this research is a focus on high-throughput processing plants where capacity utilization can result in cost efficiencies and a high degree of market concentration where adjustments in quantity demanded of the specialized input can affect its price and where adjustments in the quantity …

Willingness To Pay For Irrigation Water Under Scarcity Conditions, Tyler Robert Knapp

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Reliance of Arkansas agricultural producers on groundwater for irrigation has led to depletion of the Mississippi River Valley alluvial aquifer. Without intervention, consequences include insufficient groundwater to meet irrigation demand as well as drawdown of the deeper Sparta Aquifer, upon which communities in eastern Arkansas rely for non-agricultural use. Among proposed solutions to combat groundwater decline is the construction of off-farm surface water infrastructure to meet the irrigation needs of producers. Despite the importance of irrigated agriculture to Arkansas, there is little know about the economic value of irrigation water to producers. Thus, we implement a double-bounded dichotomous choice contingent …

Query Theory Applications: Choice Experiments Under Oath, Attendance To Attributes, And Genetically Modified Food Labeling Policy, Nathan Paul Kemper

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In recent years, there has been an intensifying campaign by some stakeholders regarding concern over genetically modified (GM) foods in the U.S. As a result, the issue of labeling has entered into the federal agenda. This research uses Query Theory to provide a deeper understanding of the demand for GM foods and the preferences for GM policy. Query theory is first applied to the formation of hypothetical bias in the estimation of consumers’ willingness-to-pay. To address this, the honesty oath is used as an ex-ante technique to reduce hypothetical bias.

Paper one using Query Theory in a discrete-choice experiment (DCE) …

Effect Of Varying Rumen Degradable And Undegradable Protein On Milk Production And Nitrogen Efficiency In Lactating Dairy Cows Under Summer Conditions, Jeffrey D. Kaufman

Masters Theses

The objective is to determine the effect of reducing nitrogen input through feeding low rumen degradable protein (RDP) and rumen undegradable protein (RUP) proportions on milk production, nitrogen efficiency and metabolism in heat-stressed cows. Forty-eight mid-lactating, Holstein cows were assigned to treatments using a randomized block design in a 2x2 factorial arrangement of treatments (n = 12/treatment). Treatments included two levels of RDP (10 and 8%) and two levels of RUP (8 and 6%). From d 1 to 21, a common diet (10% RDP-8% RUP) was fed to cows followed with their respective treatment diets fed from d 22 to …

U.S. Drought Monitor, November 22, 2016, Richard R. Heim Jr.

United States Agricultural Commodities in Drought Archive

Drought map of U.S. for November 22, 2016 (11/22/16) plus: U.S. crop areas experiencing drought (map), Approximate percentage of crop located in drought, by state (bar graph), Percent of crop area located in drought, past 52 weeks (line graph) for: Corn, Soybeans, Hay, Cattle, Winter wheat.

U.S. Drought Monitor, November 15, 2016, Richard R. Heim Jr.

United States Agricultural Commodities in Drought Archive

Drought map of U.S. for November 15, 2016 (11/15/16) plus: U.S. crop areas experiencing drought (map), Approximate percentage of crop located in drought, by state (bar graph), Percent of crop area located in drought, past 52 weeks (line graph) for: Corn, Soybeans, Hay, Cattle, Winter wheat.

A Framework For Assessing Alternative Agro-Ecosystems: Finding Multi-Functional Solutions For Sustainable Urban Landscapes., Thais H. Thiesen Ms.

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Creating sustainable urban landscapes in light of growing population pressures requires interdisciplinary multi-functional solutions. Alternative agro-ecosystems described as food forests, permaculture gardens, and/or edible landscapes among others could offer potential ways to address the social, economic and ecological goals of various stakeholders simultaneously. The present research used a unique rubric, the Permaculture and Agro-ecosystems Sustainability Scorecard (PASS) that combines existing agricultural and landscape sustainability indicators in order to assess alternative agro-ecosystems. The rubric evaluates provisioning, regulating, supporting and cultural ecosystem services such as pollinator presence, biodiversity, pesticides and fertilizer use, carbon sequestration and human interactions. The PASS was used to …

U.S. Drought Monitor, November 8, 2016, Deborah J. Bathke

United States Agricultural Commodities in Drought Archive

Drought map of U.S. for November 8, 2016 (11/8/16) plus: U.S. crop areas experiencing drought (map), Approximate percentage of crop located in drought, by state (bar graph), Percent of crop area located in drought, past 52 weeks (line graph) for: Corn, Soybeans, Hay, Cattle, Winter wheat.

Recycled Waste Increased Tomato Production Under Field Conditions, Lusekelo J. Nkuwi

Posters-at-the-Capitol

As more municipal sewage sludge (SS) treatment districts turn to composting as a means of sludge stabilization and because of the rapid growth in the poultry industry, significant chicken manure (CM) and municipal SS generation will become available in increasing quantities. A field trial area was established at the University of Kentucky South Farm. Tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum var. Mountain spring) seedlings of 52 days old was planted in 30’ × 144’ beds of freshly tilled soil at eight inch row spacing on June, 2016. The entire study area contained 30 plots ( 3 replicates × 10 treatments). Each bed …

U.S. Drought Monitor, November 1, 2016, Deborah J. Bathke

United States Agricultural Commodities in Drought Archive

Drought map of U.S. for November 1, 2016 (11/1/16) plus: U.S. crop areas experiencing drought (map), Approximate percentage of crop located in drought, by state (bar graph), Percent of crop area located in drought, past 52 weeks (line graph) for: Corn, Soybeans, Hay, Cattle, Winter wheat.

Revenue Reconciliation Act Of 1990, Neil E. Harl

Neil E. Harl

The legislation imposes a 31 percent marginal tax rate above the 15 and 28 percent marginal tax rate brackets. The phase-outs of the benefits from the 15 percent rate and the personal exemption amounts (creating the so-called "bubble") are repealed. The new 31 percent rate begins at the same level of taxable income as the phase-out range of prior law.

Turn Over Of Assets To Creditors, Neil E. Harl

Neil E. Harl

From 1983 to 1989, US agricultural debt dropped by about $60 billion as debts were discharged in bankruptcy, obligations were restructured with debt written off and property was deeded back to creditors. The resulting tax consequences created highly significant income tax burdens for debtors and contributed to various proposals for debtor relief from tax liability. However, except for relief from alternative minimum tax liability stemming from capital gains and a new solvent farm debtor rule for discharge of indebtedness, farm and ranch debtors were consigned to working through their debt problems within existing tax law.

Type Of Lease For An S Corporation, Neil E. Harl

Neil E. Harl

Since enactment of the S corporation concept in 1958, it has been important to give careful thought to the kind of lease entered into by S corporations as landowners. In the years since the major amendments to Subchapter S of the Internal Revenue Code in 1982, The type of lease has been less important for some S corporations but it is still a major checklist item for S corporation planning.

Tax-Free Incorporation, Neil E. Harl

Neil E. Harl

For several years, relatively little change had been made in the rules governing the tax-free exchange of property to a corporation. The questions raised in the 1970s about how to handle basis allocation between stock and debt securities had been answered. The problems of distinguishing debt and equity securities had not been resolved but that issue seemed to be less of a burning concern with IRS than it was until the proposed regulations issued in 1980 were revoked in 1983 before becoming final.

Soil Expenditures, Neil E. Harl

Neil E. Harl

Historically, expenditures to improve the productivity of soil have been viewed as capital in nature and not deductible. Over the past four decades Congress has acted to make some expenditures deductible if specified conditions are met.

Tax Free Incorporation–Ii, Neil E. Harl

Neil E. Harl

In the June 8, 1990, issue of Agricultural Law Digest, we discussed a 1989 amendment specifying that, with some exceptions, for transfers after October 2, 1989, debt securities issued as part of a tax free exchange are treated as boot. Gain is recognized to the extent of boot received by the transferor.

Taxing Agricultural Program Payments, Neil E. Harl

Neil E. Harl

As a general rule agricultural program payments received in cash or in materials or services are includible in income. The time at which the amounts are received or made available under constructive receipt principles is ordinarily the time the payments are to be included in income. Amounts are "made available" in the year in which farm program payment requirements have been met, regardless of whether an application had been signed to receive final payment. Thus, if federal farm program payments are made available in one year with an option to accept payment in the following year, the amount made available …

Self-Cancelling Installment Notes, Neil E. Harl

Neil E. Harl

Until 1980, it was generally believed that an installment contract set up with remaining payments cancelled after the death of the contract seller would be treated as a transfer with a retained life estate. That was sufficient to discourage use of such a concept.

The Gross Income Test For Chapter 12 Bankruptcy Eligibility, Neil E. Harl

Neil E. Harl

Chapter 12, added to the Bankruptcy Code in 1986 may be initiated only voluntarily and is available only to a "family farmer" whose debts do not exceed $1,500,000. At least 80 percent of the debts (other than debts on the principal residence unless the debt arose out of a farming operation) must have arisen out of a farming operation owned or operated by the debtor or debtor and spouse. Moreover, an individual debtor or debtor and spouse must have earned more than 50 percent of their gross income from farming for the preceding taxable year. Closely held corporations and partnerships …

Proposed Regulations Issued For Estate "Freezes", Neil E. Harl

Neil E. Harl

The repeal of I.R.C. § 2036(c) in 1990 as part of the Revenue Reconciliation Act of 1990 was accompanied by enactment of rules shifting estate freezes away from federal estate tax and toward the federal gift tax arena. Proposed regulations have now been issued for the statute, I.R.C. § 2701-2704.

Expense Method Depreciation, Neil E. Harl

Neil E. Harl

Recently published proposed regulations to the expense method depreciation rules have provided firm guidance on the position of the Department of the Treasury on several key issues involving the 1986 amendments to the expense method depreciation statute.

Eligibility For Expense Method Depreciation, Neil E. Harl

Neil E. Harl

The Revenue Reconciliation Act of 1990, Pub. L. No. 101-508, 104 Stat. 1388 (1990), has amended the eligibility requirements for expense method depreciation for property placed in service after 1990. Id., Sec. 11801. Before the amendment, expense method depreciation was limited to "Section 38 property," I.R.C. § 48(a), which was originally enacted for purposes of investment tax credit eligibility and which excluded horses from eligibility for investment tax credit and thus from expense method depreciation. I.R.C. § 48(a)(6).

Farm Leases And Passive Activity Losses, Neil E. Harl

Neil E. Harl

Enactment of the passive activity loss rules in 1986 was motivated by a desire to curb tax shelter abuses and to correct the misallocation of resources caused by tax-induced investment in agriculture and elsewhere in the economy. Thus, it is not surprising that the provisions have caused economic pain. One provision, involving the deduction of up to $25,000 for losses attributable to "rental real estate activities," has led to taxpayer confusion and uncertainty for their tax advisors.

Income In Respect Of Decedent, Neil E. Harl

Neil E. Harl

In general, property held until death receives a new income tax basis equal to fair market value at death, the value of property as of the alternate valuation date or special use value in the case of land where that election is made. This is particularly advantageous in farm estates because raised animals and grain with a zero income tax basis receive a higher basis and consequent elimination of gain and the basis of machinery and equipment and farmland often is adjusted upward at death. However, for some assets the basis adjustment rule has a negative effect as a potential …