Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Representative Economic Budgets For Nebraska Cow Herds, Glennis Mcclure, Jay Parsons

Cornhusker Economics

In 2017, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Institute of Agricultural and Natural Resources (IANR) and Nebraska Extension made a commitment to implement a multidisciplinary Beef Systems Initiative (BSI). BSI is administered by the Center for Grassland Studies and is comprised of six projects designed to develop and support implementation of beef production systems that optimize feed resource use, natural resource conservation, and producer success in Nebraska through improved management of perennial grasslands and systems of integrated crop-beef cattle production. In addition to BSI, a parallel project funded by the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research (FFAR) is studying the best practices …

Consumers Support A Slowing Economy, Eric Thompson

Business in Nebraska

Nebraska will record moderate economic growth during the forecast period but will lag U.S. growth. Like the national economy, growth Nebraska’s goods producing sector will struggle. Farm incomes will be flat from 2020 to 2022 after improving this year. Manufacturing employment also is expected to drop. However, most other sectors will expand, including services, finance and construction. Projected growth rates for 2020 to 2022 are presented in Table 1.

Employment will grow by 0.6% to 0.8% per year, below the national rate. Non-farm income will grow between 3.7% and 3.8% each year. This growth readily exceeds inflation and population growth, …

Accrual Accounting And The Farm Business, Part Ii, Tim L. Meyers

Cornhusker Economics

My last Cornhusker Economics article, Accounting Assumptions and the Farm Business (10-16-19) set the foundation for a specific evaluation of the conceptual framework accrual accounting offers the farm or ranch manager. The article addressed cash accounting and hinted at its shortfalls which were rectified by accrual accounting. This article will explain conceptual frameworks, and two accrual accounting principles; namely the revenue recognition principle and the matching principle.

During one of my graduate school experiences, I encountered a professor who seemed to be in love with conceptual frameworks. I chose a framework and tried to use it as instructed, but it …

The Impact Of Veterans Treatment Courts On The Community, Daniela Mettos, Amanda Leingang

Cornhusker Economics

With the United States’ ongoing presence in the Middle East and the ever-present possibility of future conflict, the commitment to tend to the unique needs of veterans returning from combat is an essential one. The number of veterans suffering from mental health issues, substance abuse disorders, and physical trauma continues to rise. With this comes an increased risk of Intimate Partner Violence (IPV), drug and alcohol abuse, and repeating criminal behavior, all of which increase the likelihood that veterans will find themselves involved in the criminal justice system at some point following their combat service.

Utilizing effective, reliable, and focused …

Further Thoughts On The Brazilian Grain Market, Its Competitiveness And Its Challenges, Fabio Mattos

Cornhusker Economics

In previous articles in this space (on 6/20/2018 and 6/19/2019), I talked about recent developments and challenges for Brazilian grain markets. We discussed that one of the main obstacles for Brazilian competitiveness is the country’s logistics system. In those articles, we focused more on transportation and how higher marketing costs are explained by the poor infrastructure in Brazil and the modes of transportation used to haul grain to export ports. Today we will talk a bit more about this point, and then address another dimension of the logistics challenge in Brazil.

As previously discussed, the major agricultural area in Brazil …

Effects Of Irrigation And Climate On The High Plains Aquifer, Richard Perrin, Felipe Silva, Lilyan E. Fulginiti, Karina Schoengold

Cornhusker Economics

The High Plains Aquifer (HPA), sometimes known in Nebraska as the Ogallala Aquifer, is an enormous resource underlying 112 million acres across parts of eight states, from South Dakota to Texas.

Our research has previously estimated that irrigation water drawn from the HPA adds at least $2 billion worth of additional crops per year in Nebraska alone, and $3.5 billion across the entire HPA1.

In the years ahead, world population growth will surely increase the pressure for irrigation from the stock of water in the HPA. But pumping that water from the aquifer can increase the depth to groundwater which …

Appraisal Or Evaluation? The Impact Of Cap Rates On Financing, Jeff Stokes

Cornhusker Economics

Loan underwriting has long been a crucial function of financial institutions. The C’s of credit (character, capacity, capital, conditions and collateral) are taught in many college-level finance and banking courses and the process is even mentioned in popular movies such as “It’s a Wonderful Life.” The process is also recognized as being costly in terms of time and money. Regulations are promulgated and enforced to assure the safety and soundness of lending institutions. Nevertheless, there are situations when the risk to safety and soundness are so small that less extensive underwriting procedures may be appropriate. Benefits to lenders and borrowers …

Informing The (Willfully) Uninformed, Syed Imran Ali Meerza, Emie Yiannaka, Christopher Gustafson, Kate Brooks

Cornhusker Economics

Antimicrobial Resistance: The Role of Food and Agriculture or Nature White Noise -- which would you rather watch?

A recent study by researchers in the Department of Agricultural Economics at the University of Nebraska- Lincoln gave participants that choice. Nearly 40 percent of respondents avoided learning about antimicrobial resistance and chose the white noise video. The goal of the study was to shed light on the role that certain individual characteristics, such as knowledge, perceptions and attitudes, play on information avoidance behavior. In the study, information avoidance behavior is examined in the context of antimicrobial resistance.

The standard view in …

Purchasing Products To Make A Difference: A Study Of Corporate Social Responsibility, Gender, And Cosmetic Purchasing Behavior By College Students, Allegra Blomenberg

Honors Theses

The purpose of this study was to investigate gender differences that exist in the way corporate social responsibility (CSR) is perceived by college students and how this affects cosmetic purchasing behavior. Two other objectives included finding what drives millennial cosmetic purchasing behavior as a whole and the ways in which millennials are informed of companies’ corporate social responsibilities. Through analyses of interview data from fourteen college-age millennials, the study showed that non-binary participants more positively perceived CSR and actively bought from responsible brands. The male participant perceived CSR positively but had never been sure to purchase products from a brand …

An Illustration Of Farm Program Decisions And Impacts, Bradley D. Lubben

Cornhusker Economics

When the 2018 Farm Bill was signed last December, producers could look ahead to implementation and the coming decision between enrollment under the Agricultural Risk Coverage (ARC) program or the Price Loss Coverage (PLC) program. While the ARC and PLC programs carried over from the 2014 Farm Bill with relatively modest changes, the substantial drop in market prices and outlook since 2014 pointed toward a widespread shift in enrollment away from ARC and toward PLC due to the increased relevance of the price safety net.

However, with this year’s extreme weather events, concerns over crop production, and hopes for improved …

Accounting Assumptions And The Farm Business, Tim L. Meyers

Cornhusker Economics

Farmers in Nebraska and the surrounding area have been slow to adopt accrual accounting methods. This is no surprise; the alternative, cash accounting, is simple, provides a real-time analysis of the cash position of the firm, and works well with income tax preparation. However, cash accounting has no methodology for the special timing of agricultural production or specific processes to evaluate profitability, liquidity, or solvency. Accrual accounting, GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles), and finally the FFSC (Farm Financial Standards Council) rectify these shortcomings. Adoption of GAAP, and subsequently the FFSC “tweaks” will allow farmers and ranchers in Nebraska to make …

Maryland Nutrient Management Policies, J. David Aiken

Cornhusker Economics

Nonpoint pollution control. The federal Clean Water Act (CWA) regulates point sources of water pollution (such as municipal and industrial wastewater discharges to river and streams) but not nonpoint sources (NPSs), like farm runoff. EPA has provided financial incentives to states to develop and implement NPS programs but does not regulate NPSs itself. Clean water groups have sued to force states to implement wasteload allocation under the CWA on streams not meeting water quality requirements and to require cities and idustries to clean up their wastewater discharges to improve water quality. States can elect to regulate NPSs under this total …

Does Targeting Healthy Food Labels To Populations At High Risk Of Diet-Related Diseases Increase Label Effectiveness?, Christopher Gustafson

Cornhusker Economics

The decades-long increase in obesity in the U.S. has inspired multiple policies aiming to improve individuals’ food choices, which play an important role in diet-related diseases. Early policies—which have continued to be implemented and refined—took the view that providing consumers with information would give them the tools needed to choose a healthy diet. Both nutrition facts panels, which are provided on the side or back of nearly all packaged food products in the U.S, and calorie labeling in restaurant chains with 20 or more locations seek to address a lack of information among consumers.

While nutrition information is a necessary …

The Difference Between Maximum Profit And Maximum Production, Matt Stockton

Cornhusker Economics

Nitrogen fertilizer (N) is commonly used as a production input to increase crop yields. It is included as one of the six Testing Ag Performance Solutions (UNL TAPS) program decision choices and contributes much to productivity as well as costs. Its use however is not without controversy. The over-application of N gets into the groundwater and nearby waterways becoming a pollutant. Excessive use does little or nothing to increase revenue but can inflate costs, thereby reducing profit. For these reasons and others, using the right amount of N has become a popular and important topic among those that use and/or …

The Role Of Farm Size In Crop Insurance, Sankalp Sharma, Cory Walters

Cornhusker Economics

The role of farm size in crop insurance has been a reoccurring U.S. political issue with multiple attempts at legislation proposing to limit premium subsidies to large producers. For instance, in 2015 bill S.2244, amongst other items, proposed to cap crop insurance premium subsidies at $40,000 per year1. The most recent attempt was made by the current administration in mid-2017, where they introduced the same premium subsidy cap of $40,000 per year. The first mention of the $40,000 figure emerged from a report sanctioned by the Government Accountability Office in 2012 (GAO-14-700, 2014)2. Eventually no premium subsidy caps were included …

Potential Economic Impact Of The Goshen/Gering-Ft. Laramie Tunnel Collapse, Jessica J. Groskopf

Cornhusker Economics

Goshen and Scotts Bluff Counties reside in the High Plains and receive less than 16 inches of average annual precipitation. This low precipitation makes surface-water irrigation a critical component of modern agriculture in this area. Farmers in these counties produce irrigated alfalfa hay, corn, sugar beets, and dry edible beans, as well as other hay and crops.

Surface-water refers to water derived from melted snow that is delivered through a series of dams and canals from the mountains of Colorado and Wyoming along the North Platte River. This infrastructure, often referred to as “The North Platte Project,” was built by …

Ag Lenders Panel Provides Insight Into Beef Systems Initiative, Jay Parsons, D. D. Redfearn, M. E. Drewnoski

Cornhusker Economics

In 2017, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Institute of Agricultural and Natural Resources (IANR) and Nebraska Extension made a commitment to implement a multidisciplinary Beef Systems Initiative (BSI). The BSI is administered by the Center for Grassland Studies and is comprised of six projects designed to develop and support the implementation of beef production systems that optimize feed resource use, natural resource conservation, and producer success in Nebraska through improved management of perennial grasslands and systems of integrated crop-beef cattle production. In addition to the BSI, a parallel project funded by the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research (FFAR) is studying …

Managing Farm/Ranch Transfer To Next Generation, Allan Vyhnalek

Cornhusker Economics

The first step to have the next generation come back to the farm or ranch is to get them there. The next step is to keep them there. This requires thought about how to transfer management and ownership of the operation over a period of time. Four phases of transfer have been identified and are discussed in this article.

The first phase is Testing. Before transferring management and ownership, the current owner needs to feel like the younger generation is ‘tested’ or able to effectively help with the operation. One older farmer said to me, “I think my sons want …

Accounting For Risk: Agricultural Land Leases And Natural Disasters, Jim Jansen, Jeff Stokes

Cornhusker Economics

According to recent findings from the USDA Agricultural and Resource Management Survey, agricultural land rent totaled $2.44 billion in Nebraska for 2018. The survey found rent as the third largest farm and ranch production expense (USDANASS 2019). Natural disasters limiting the ability of farmers or ranchers to fully utilize rented land pose a financial risk to these operators.

The 2019 floods and related natural disasters lave left many landlords and tenants across Nebraska wondering how resulting damages will influence their agricultural properties . Contractual lease arrangements may have not fully accounted for these natural disasters. This article provides guidance on …

2018 Nebraska Top Efficient Farms, Tina N. Barrett

Cornhusker Economics

A quarter doesn’t buy much these days so it’s easy to dismiss the value, but when 25 cents is what separates the cost of production per bushel of corn between two groups, the difference in net return starts to add up.

In 2018 the net farm income average of all farms included in the Nebraska Farm Business, Inc. group was $94,121. That was a surprisingly high number, but when compared to the net income of $261,059 for the group called the Top Efficient Farms, it shows there is a significant difference. The Top Efficient Farms group is a selection of …

Measuring Impacts Of Uncertainty, Irreversibility, And Loss Aversion On The Adoption Of Crop Canopy Sensors Among Nebraska Corn Producers, Brooks Ronspies

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

Understanding barriers to adoption of Precision Agricultural Technologies (PATs) is important to the growth of agricultural productivity, efficiency, and sustainability. This thesis proposes and evaluates a model for estimating the impact of uncertainty, irreversibility, and loss aversion on producers’ adoption of crop canopy sensors in order to explain adoption behavior that contradicts previous expectations about the conditions necessary for technology adoption. The model is evaluated using estimated statistical distributions of price and field characteristics designed to match observations of actual corn and nitrogen prices, and of conventional and crop canopy sensor based nitrogen application. Results from this model using expected …

Ag Lease Termination And Hunting Rights, J. David Aiken

Cornhusker Economics

There are many questions regarding the differences between written and unwritten agricultural land leases for cropland and for pasture. This Q&A explores some of the more important differences, focusing on lease termination requirements and the status of hunting rights on leased cropland and pasture. How are cropland leases terminated in Nebraska? That depends on the type of cropland lease. If it is a written lease, the lease terminates according to its terms. If the lease does not address how the lease is terminated, it automatically terminates without notice on the last day of the lease (no six- months notice requirement). …

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, …

Designing Single-Family Residences: A Study Of The Positive Impact Of Interior Design In Creating New Home Value, Shawn M. Falcone

Interior Design Program: Theses and Other Student Work

This study seeks to demonstrate that interior designers should be included as primary stakeholders in the home construction market. The market demand for new single-family homes in America is a relative constant. The primary stake and role that land developers, architects, draftsman, home builders, bankers, appraisers, real estate agents, and buyers have in the home construction market is clear. What is less clear is the role in value an interior designer has in the home construction market. This thesis examines the impact designers have on home value when their expertise is utilized in space planning (i.e.: layout, function, room utilization, …

The Value Of Grazed Corn Residue For Crop And Cattle Producers, Jay Parsons, D. D. Redfearn, M. E. Drewnoski

Cornhusker Economics

The Western Corn Belt has historically been corn and wheat cropping systems with cattle integrated on nearby grasslands. Recent agricultural production data ranked Nebraska, South Dakota, Kansas, and North Dakota in the top 10 states for both corn and beef cattle production in the United States. In 2017, these four states had about 20% of the beef cow inventory in the United States with Nebraska alone having 1.9 million beef cows (USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service, 2018). Forage-based livestock production is a fundamental component of these agricultural economies. However, a large quantity of grasslands in this region were converted into …

Nebraska Monthly Economic Indicators: July 24, 2019, Eric Thompson

Leading Economic Indicator Reports

The Leading Economic Indicator – Nebraska (LEI-N) 1 fell by 0.29% during June of 2019. The decline in the LEI-N, which is designed to predict economic activity six months into the future, implies slowing economic growth in Nebraska towards the end of 2019. The leading indicator declined due to an increase in initial claims for unemployment insurance and a drop in both airport passenger enplanements and manufacturing hours. In addition, business expectations, which had been strong throughout the year, moderated during June. Respondents to the June Survey of Nebraska Business reported plans for only a modest increase in employment at …

2019 Nebraska Property Tax Issues, J. David Aiken

Cornhusker Economics

Nebraska property taxes are the tenth highest in the United States, sales taxes are the ninth lowest, and both income taxes and total state taxes are in the middle. Property taxes account for 38% of total state and local tax collections in Nebraska, the highest of any tax. Sales taxes are 29% of total tax collections, and income taxes are 26%. If property taxes, sales taxes and income taxes were equalized as sources of state and local revenue, property taxes would need to be reduced over $600 million.

Sixty percent of property taxes go to K-12 education funding. Nebraska state …

The World Is In Better Shape Than Most People Think, Wesley Peterson

Cornhusker Economics

Steven Pinker (2018, page 40) reports that “… large majorities in eleven developed countries said ‘the world is getting worse’ and in most of the last forty years a solid majority of Americans have said the country is ‘heading in the wrong direction.’” Recent polls conducted by the Pew Research Center show that Americans are pessimistic about the future (Gramlich, 2019) and that around the world many people are dissatisfied with the way democracy works in their countries (Wike et al., 2019). According to Twenge (2019), the level of happiness in the United States has been trending down for the …

The Economic Evaluation Of Input Use Prescription Maps: Are You Paying To Make Less Profit?, Taro Mieno, Grant Gardner

Cornhusker Economics

Technological advances in data collection and analysis engines have made variable rate input use application much more common. Producers typically purchase software that produces site-specific prescription maps or purchase maps from consultants. The process of generating prescriptions maps is typically black-box, i.e. the process is unknown. Does using these purchased maps lead to more profits for producers?

This article discusses a method of verifying the economic profitability of site-specific prescription maps using an on-farm field experiment and statistical and economic analysis. A 76-acre field in Crawford County, Ohio is used for the study.

The maps on the following page are …

Nebraska Business And Consumer Confidence Indexes: July 3, 2019, Eric Thompson

Leading Economic Indicator Reports

Business confidence fell sharply in Nebraska during June 2019 and consumer confidence dropped modestly. The Consumer Confidence Index – Nebraska (CCI-N) fell to 104.4 in June, above the neutral value of 100 but below the May value of 105.3. The Business Confidence Index – Nebraska (BCI-N) fell to 100.3 in June, at the neutral level and down 13 percent from 113.2 in May. When asked about the most important issue facing their business, 35 percent of respondents chose customer demand while 21 mentioned the quality and availability of labor, 16 percent mentioned competition from other businesses and 9 percent flooding …