Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Nebraska Farmland Values Soar, Bruce Johnson

Cornhusker Economics

The 2012 UNL Nebraska Farm Real Estate Survey confirms what most people close to agriculture already knew – agricultural land values across the state have shot upward in recent months. Preliminary survey results show the state’s all-land average value as of February 1, 2012 to be at $2,410 per acre, 31 percent above the year-earlier level (Figure 1 and Table 1, on following pages). The annual gain, in both dollar amount and percentage, is the largest ever recorded in the 34-year history of the UNL land market survey series.

Cropland, particularly, showed pronounced value gains in every region of the …

The Increasing Use Of Unallocated Retained Earnings By Farmer Cooperatives, Jeffrey S. Royer

Cornhusker Economics

In the past, the primary source of equity capital in U.S. farmer cooperatives has been retained patronage refunds. Typically, a cooperative would allocate its net earnings to individual members on the basis of patronage and retain a share of those allocations to provide equity until eventually redeeming it in cash. Over time, however, unallocated retained earnings have become an increasingly important source of equity. In fact, in 2008, cooperatives kept a greater proportion of their net earnings as unallocated retained earnings than as retained patronage refunds, according to the most recent U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) financial profile of farmer …

Nebraska Leads The Way To Help Beginning Farmers And Ranchers, Dave Goeller

Cornhusker Economics

Nebraska continues to lead the nation with efforts to provide an incentive for owners of agricultural assets to rent those agricultural assets to beginning farmers and ranchers. The Nebraska Beginning Farmers Tax Credit program provides owners of Nebraska agricultural assets such as land, livestock, machinery, grain storage, livestock facilities or irrigation equipment a state income tax credit incentive to rent to a beginning farmer/rancher, rather than someone that is more established. Owners of Nebraska agricultural assets can earn a ten percent state income tax credit for providing a beginner a three-year cash lease, or a fifteen percent state income tax …

Nebraska Restrictions On Foreign Land Ownership, J. David Aiken

Cornhusker Economics

Nebraska is one of eight states that restrict the ownership of agricultural land by aliens (i.e., noncitizens). The other states are Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota and Wisconsin. Foreign land ownership is generally unrestricted in the remaining states. Federal law does not restrict alien land ownership, but does require alien land owners to report ownership to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). This newsletter will (1) examine the extent of foreign land ownership within the United States and Nebraska, and (2) summarize Nebraska’s laws restricting alien land ownership.

Consumer Attitudes And Labeling Regimes As Determinants Of The Market Success Of Food Nanotechnology, Amalia Yiannaka

Cornhusker Economics

In a recent poll conducted by the Institute of Food Technologists, when consumers were asked about their knowledge of nanotechnology and its applications to the food sector, two-thirds said they had heard ‘nothing at all’ about the technology (Food Safety News 2010). European polls tell a similar story; a 2010 Eurobarometer survey showed that, while public awareness of nanotechnology is gradually emerging, more than half of the respondents knew nothing about the technology, and could not tell whether it would have a positive or a negative impact on their lives (European Commission 2010).

According to the National Nanotechnology Initiative, nanotechnology …

From Farm Income Support To Risk Management, Bradley Lubben

Cornhusker Economics

The debate over the next farm bill fired up in late 2011 when it looked like a closed-door-negotiated agreement could become part of a grand budget-cutting plan put together by the so-called “Super Committee.” But then, the Super Committee failed to reach an agreement on how to cut the federal budget deficit and the whole farm bill package failed to advance as well.

Now, the work has restarted on the farm bill in 2012, with even greater challenges. Questions remain about how big the spending cuts will be, what direction the farm programs will go, and even what the political …

Water Management Funding Issues, J. David Aiken

Cornhusker Economics

In 2007, the Nebraska Unicameral authorized Natural Resources Districts (NRDs) located in the Republican River Basin to impose two new taxes to pay for water management activities associated with Republican River Compact compliance. The taxes were intended to pay for NRD bonds to finance needed Republican River water management activities. One tax was a general property tax levy of up to ten cents, and the second an occupation tax of up to $10/acre, levied only against irrigated land. This article reviews the lawsuits associated with these two NRD water management taxes.

Accounting For The Impacts Of Public Research, R&D Spill-Ins, Extension, And Roads In U.S. Regional Agricultural Productivity Growth, 1980-2004, Ling Sun Wang, Eldon Ball, Lilyan E. Fulginiti, Alejandro Plastina

Department of Agricultural Economics: Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Sorgo Sureño Normal: El Sorgo Tradicional De Honduras De Doble Proposito, Alberto Morán Araujo, Miriam Villeda

INTSORMIL Scientific Publications

Origen: En Honduras, el Sorgo Sureño Normal ingresó a la estación experimental La Lujosa, en Choluteca, en el año de 1982, por medio del vivero de resistencia a l a i n t e m p e r i e , d o n d e s e seleccionó por su rendimiento, adaptación y calidad tortillera.

El Sorgo Sureño Normal fue liberado por la Secretaría de Recursos Naturales (SRN) y el Programa Internacional de Sorgo y Mijo (INTSORMIL) en 1985.

Adaptación: Sureño Normal se adapta a climas secos y calientes, suelos pobres, en condiciones de sequía y exceso de humedad …

Natural Resources In Nonmetropolitan Nebraska: Use And Priorities: 2012 Nebraska Rural Poll Results, Rebecca J. Vogt, Cheryl A. Burkhart-Kriesel, Randolph L. Cantrell, Bradley Lubben

Nebraska Rural Poll

Many rural Nebraskans say they already recycle a lot and face no barriers. However, many rural Nebraskans cite lack of programs and difficulty getting materials to drop-off sites as barriers to recycling. Persons living in or near smaller communities are more likely than persons living in or near larger communities to say their community doesn’t offer recycling. However, most rural Nebraskans say their community offers either curbside pickup or drop-off recycling for all of the materials listed with the exception of glass bottles.

Most rural Nebraskans are in favor of building the Keystone XL pipeline, but think it should be …

Quality Of Life In Nonmetropolitan Nebraska: Perceptions Of Well-Being And Church Life: 2012 Nebraska Rural Poll Results, Rebecca J. Vogt, Cheryl A. Burkhart-Kriesel, Randolph L. Cantrell, Bradley Lubben, Philip Schwadel

Nebraska Rural Poll

Most rural Nebraskans are positive about their current situation. And, they continue to be generally positive about their future situation. Over one-half (51%) of rural Nebraskans think they are better off than they were five years ago and just under one-half (45%) think they will be better off ten years from now. Certain groups remain pessimistic about their situation. Persons with lower household incomes, older persons, and persons with lower educational levels are the groups most likely to be pessimistic about the present and the future.

When asked if they believe people are powerless to control their own lives, most …

Foreign Land Investments In Developing Countries, E. Wesley F. Peterson

Cornhusker Economics

In 2009, the government of Liberia leased 220,000 hectares (543,4000 acres) of land to a Malaysian company, Sime Darby, which intends to develop the land for palm oil and rubber production. While the company has promised that its operations will create jobs and comply with all environmental standards, local farmers have expressed concerns about environmental degradation and slow payments to workers (Siakor and Knight).

In recent years land deals in low-income countries involving foreign firms and governments have increased substantially. The World Bank estimated that there were large scale land deals to purchase or lease 56 million hectares of land …

Tempering The Over-Use And Abuse Of Common-Pool Resources, Marianna Khachaturyan, Gary D. Lynne

Cornhusker Economics

Elinor Ostrom, a professor at Indiana University, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences (first woman to ever receive it) in 2009, sharing it with Professor Oliver Williamson. The prize was awarded “for her analysis of economic governance, especially the commons.” She “challenged the conventional wisdom by demonstrating how local property can be successfully managed by local commons without any regulation by central authorities or privatization”. Also, full privatization, i.e., assigning individual property rights rather than shared, common property rights, is also not essential. She summarizes her contribution in the finding “that humans have a more complex motivational structure …

Agriculture And Food In Crisis: Conflict, Resistance, And Renewal [Book Review], Charles A. Francis

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Edited by Fred Magdoff and Brian Tokar. 2010. Monthly Review Press, New York, New York, United States. 348 p. Paperback, cloth US$ 75.00, paper US$ 18.95, ISBN-13 978-1-58367-226-6.

That doubling of food production over the next four decades will be needed to adequately nourish our human population is not news, but the incredible steps essential to achieve that goal and their political and social implications are less well reported. In this series of 16 essays edited by Fred Magdoff and Brian Tokar, several thoughtful specialists in global food issues explore the historical, biological, economic, energy, political and social dimensions of …

Farm Lease Termination, J. David Aiken

Cornhusker Economics

Many farm leases, especially those between family members, are not written but are verbal "handshake" agreements. Because nothing is in writing, the parties may have different recollections of their agreement, making lease disputes more difficult to resolve. The most common legal issue associated with verbal farm leases is how a lease may legally be terminated. For unwritten leases, six months advance notice must be given to legally terminate the lease. In contrast, the termination of a written lease is determined by the terms of the written lease. If nothing is specified, a written lease terminates automatically on the last day …

What Cost, Biomass For Fuel?, Richard K. Perrin, Kassu Wamisho, Dereje B. Megeressa

Cornhusker Economics

Biomass has a prominent role in discussions of future United States energy supplies. Why? Because it could reduce our dependence on foreign petroleum supplies, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions compared to using petroleum or other fossil fuels.

What is meant by biomass for fuel? Generally, the term is used to designate either crop residues such as corn stover or dedicated energy crops such as switchgrass and poplar trees. Technically of course, grains themselves are biomass and they can be used for fuel as well.

Agricultural Productivity In China: National And Regional Growth Patterns, 1993-2005, Hazhi Tong, Lilyan E. Fulginiti, Juan Sesmero

Department of Agricultural Economics: Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.