Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Sustainable Agriculture Education And Civic Engagement: The Significance Of Community-University Partnerships In The New Agricultural Paradigm, Kim L. Niewolny, Julie M. Grossman, Carmen J. Byker, Jennifer L. Helms, Susan F. Clark, Julie A. Cotton, Krista L. Jacobsen

Horticulture Faculty Publications

Universities and colleges across the United States are making innovative strides in higher education programming to catalyze a more sustainable era of agriculture. This is clearly exemplified through the formation of community-university partnerships as critical illustrations of civic engagement (CE) for sustainable agriculture (SA) education. This paper explores the praxis of CE for SA education by focusing on the ways in which five land-grant universities (LGUs) with undergraduate programs in SA have developed and put into practice community-university partnerships. Drawing upon these programs and supportive literature, this article specifically attempts to describe the role and significance of CE for SA …

Financial Development And Economic Growth In Kentucky Counties, John D. Conley

Theses and Dissertations--Agricultural Economics

There is a broad literature on the finance-growth nexus in the macroeconomics literature. Is there evidence for the finance-growth nexus at the sub-national region? If so, can macroeconomic finance and growth methods be extended to sub-national regions? Joseph Schumpeter argued that banks promote economic growth by choosing which projects to fund, by mobilizing underutilized capital, by managing risk and by monitoring managers.

This dissertation proposes a modified Martin and Ottaviano (2001) model that allows for borrowing to form new firms or to expand existing firms. The model shows that if borrowing across regional lines is costly, above and beyond the …

Characteristics Of Kentucky Agricultural Operations Participating In Nrcs Conservation Programs, Carmen T. Agouridis

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

The Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) designs and promotes a wide variety of conservation practices and programs that enhance the environment by reducing soil erosion, improving water quality, and enhancing and creating wildlife habitat. The impact of these practices and programs is largely dependent on the voluntary participation of landowners. Thus, central to the success of the NRCS conservation programs is an understanding of the characteristics of landowners and operations participating in these programs.

Using operator and operation characteristics from the 1997, 2002, and 2007 Censuses of Agriculture and controlling for county fixed effects, this study 1) identifies significant characteristics …

The Impacts Of Foot-And-Mouth Disease On International Pork Trade – An Extension Of Gravity Model, Shang-Ho Yang

Theses and Dissertations--Agricultural Economics

Food safety scares affect consumption behavior, and food safety and animal health issues are increasingly impacting international agricultural trade. Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) is a highly contagious viral-type disease, and has raised not only the concerns of animal health issue but also food safety issue. Over 58 countries in the world have experienced FMD outbreaks, and pork exports and imports among these countries are largely impacted. This dissertation focuses on how global pork trade is affected by FMD.

This dissertation consists of three parts: first, this study specifically focuses on the market of U.S. pork exports. Results show that disease-affected pork …

Water Quality Trading Markets For The Kentucky River Basin: A Point Source Profile, Ronald Childress Jr.

Theses and Dissertations--Agricultural Economics

This study assessed the feasibility and suitability of a Water Quality Trading (WQT) program within the Kentucky River Basin (KRB). The study’s focal point was based on five success factors of a WQT program: environmental suitability, geospatial orientation, participant availability, regulatory incentive, and economic incentive. The study utilized these five success factors, geographical characteristics, and Discharge Monitoring Reports (DMR) to assess the feasibility of a WQT program.

The assessment divided the KRB into five eight digit Hydrologic Unit Codes (HUC), North, Middle, and South Fork, Middle Basin, and Lower Basin, to determine regional impacts caused by the nutrient PSs. Individual …

Male Farmers Coping With Loss Of Spouse: Impacts On Farming Operation And Family Life, Daniel O. Wilson

Theses and Dissertations--Community & Leadership Development

Losing a spouse is as devastating an experience anyone will ever deal with in his or her life. Research, however, shows that men have a harder and longer time coping with the loss of a spouse than women. When the widower’s profession is farming, there are no resources to specifically help that individual with their loss. The purpose of this research was to gain insight into the lives of widowed farmers with particular focus on transitions in their farming operation and their family life. Through their stories, we learn what is happening before the loss of the female spouse on …