Economics Commons^™

Driver Liability For Farm And Ranch Operations, Jessica Groskopf

Cornhusker Economics

One major concern of farming and/or ranching operations is the liability of semi-trucks and equipment when they are involved in a traffic accident.

Mistakes In Difficult Conversations, Allan Vyhnalek

Cornhusker Economics

Farm families that work together across the family tree and across generations seem to encounter difficulty from time to time when separating “family” from “business.” Having clear, consistent, and honest communications will go a long way towards reducing the troubles that can arise in difficult conversations. This article addresses those troubles.

South Dakota Farmers’ Perceived Extreme Weather Frequency And Adaptation Measures, Tong Wang, Jim Ristau

South Dakota Farm Survey

Researchers at South Dakota State University (SDSU) conducted surveys of eastern South Dakota (SD) commodity crop producers with the support of the South Dakota Corn Utilization Council. Using publicly available addresses of government program participants, a random sample of 3,000 producers were sent the survey in 2018. 650 were ineligible and 708 responded to the survey for a response rate of 30%. In 2021, the same producers who took the survey in 2018 were asked to take a follow up survey. 94 were ineligible, and 350 responded for a 59% response rate. Producers could take the survey online or via …

South Dakota Farmers’ Perceived Value Of Carbon Credits, Tong Wang, Jim Ristau

South Dakota Farm Survey

Researchers at South Dakota State University (SDSU) conducted surveys with South Dakota commodity crop producers in the eastern part of the state in both 2018 and 2021. Producers could take the survey online or via mail and were asked questions about their farm, farming practices including usage of soil and water conservation practices, challenges and benefits to using conservation practices, and their attitudes about the environment. Using publicly available addresses from the Farm Service Agency of government program participants, a random sample of 3,000 producers were sent the survey in 2018. 650 were ineligible, and 708 responded to the survey …

South Dakota Farmers’ Usage Of Integrated Crop & Livestock Management, Tong Wang, Jim Ristau

South Dakota Farm Survey

Researchers at South Dakota State University (SDSU) conducted producer surveys in the eastern part of South Dakota in both 2018 and 2021. Producers could take the survey online or via mail and were asked questions about their farm, farming practices including usage of soil and water conservation practices, and their values. Using publicly available addresses from the Farm Service Agency, a random sample of 3,000 producers were sent the survey in 2018. 650 were ineligible, and 708 responded to the survey for a response rate of 30%. In 2021, the same producers who took the survey in 2018 were asked …

South Dakota Farmer Survey Chemical Use On Cropland, Tong Wang, Jim Ristau

South Dakota Farm Survey

Researchers at South Dakota State University (SDSU) conducted surveys with South Dakota (SD) commodity crop producers in the eastern part of the state in both 2018 and 2021. Producers could take the survey online or via mail and were asked questions about their farm, farming practices including usage of soil and water conservation practices, challenges, and benefits to using conservation practices, and their attitudes about the environment. Using publicly available addresses from the Farm Service Agency of government program participants, a random sample of 3,000 producers were sent the survey in 2018. 650 were ineligible, and 708 responded to the …

South Dakota Farmers’ Usage Of Cover Crops, Tong Wang, Jim Ristau

South Dakota Farm Survey

Researchers at South Dakota State University (SDSU) conducted producer surveys in the eastern part of South Dakota in both 2018 and 2021. Producers could take the survey online or via mail and were asked questions about their farm, farming practices including usage of soil and water conservation practices, and their values. Using publicly available addresses from the Farm Service Agency, a random sample of 3,000 producers were sent the survey in 2018. 650 were ineligible, and 708 responded to the survey for a response rate of 30%. In 2021, the same producers who took the survey in 2018 were asked …

South Dakota Farmers’ Usage Of Conservation Tillage, Tong Wang, Jim Ristau

South Dakota Farm Survey

Researchers at South Dakota State University (SDSU) conducted producer surveys in the eastern part of South Dakota in both 2018 and 2021. Producers could take the survey online or via mail and were asked questions about their farm, farming practices including usage of soil and water conservation practices, and their values. Using publicly available addresses from the Farm Service Agency, a random sample of 3,000 producers were sent the survey in 2018. 650 were ineligible, and 708 responded to the survey for a response rate of 30%. In 2021, the same producers who took the survey in 2018 were asked …

South Dakota Farmers’ Usage Of Diversified Crop Rotations, Tong Wang, Jim Ristau

South Dakota Farm Survey

Researchers at South Dakota State University (SDSU) conducted producer surveys in the eastern part of South Dakota in both 2018 and 2021. Producers could take the survey online or via mail and were asked questions about their farm, soil and water conservation practices, and their values. Using publicly available addresses from the Farm Service Agency, a random sample of 3,000 producers were sent the survey in 2018. 650 were ineligible, and 708 responded to the survey for a response rate of 30%. In 2021, the same producers who took the survey in 2018 were asked to take a follow up …

Dollar Stores And Supermarket Survivability In Non-Metropolitan Us Communities, Cami Farmer

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

With the growing popularity of dollar stores, concerns have surfaced over the potential relationship between dollar stores and the closures of grocery stores. Healthy food accessibility for consumers, particularly those in rural areas, has additionally become of great interest. This thesis aims to investigate the potential relationship of dollar store presence and grocery store closures. Data used included County Business Patterns, Rural Urban Continuum Codes, American Community Survey, and authorized SNAP retailer data. The spatial distance between grocery stores and the number of dollar stores at various radii were calculated. Following the computation of the number of dollar stores surrounding …

A Proposal For Insurance To Address Offsite Injuries Accompanying Dicamba Usage, Terence J. Centner

Cornhusker Economics

Soybean producers are familiar with the special dicamba products first sold in 2017 for use on Xtend soybeans to control glyphosate-resistant weeds. Dicamba can be applied as a post-emergent spray to kill weeds that germinate after soybeans have been planted. With the control of these weeds, producers reap increased yields. However, the use of dicamba products led to significant offsite injury to vegetation including non-dicamba-resistant soybeans. Damages to neighbors’ properties from dicamba usage strained the social relations of people living in many rural communities.

Is There Room In The United States Diet For Goat Meat? Analysis Of The 2019 National Goat Meat Survey, Everett Marcus Martin

MSU Graduate Theses

Demand for goat meat has steadily increased in the past decade, but few studies have been conducted addressing goat meat attributes and demographic factors on consumers’ willingness to buy goat meat products. Analyzing a national consumer survey on goat meat preference, a logit modeling is used addressing factors affecting willingness to buy three goat meat products: grass-fed, locally grown, and organically raised. Results indicate that quality and freshness attribute characteristics significantly affect consumer willingness to buy grass-fed, organic, and locally grown goat meat.

Tax Planning For High Income, Tina Barrett

Cornhusker Economics

Agriculture has always been an industry with cyclical income trends. Prior to 2003, the average farm income reported in our annual data would typically go up and down each year -- having a good year and then a bad year and then a good year again. Since then, the trend has been more about longer periods of good, followed by multiple years of down income, etc. These longer stretches also see more extremes and this makes tax planning even more important and more difficult. More important because we are likely not making a decision that only affects one year and …

The Coronavirus Pandemic And International Trade, E. Wesley F. Peterson

Cornhusker Economics

The Coronavirus pandemic has disrupted economic activities around the world. Many businesses had to cease operations and furlough or lay off their workers. The World Bank (2021) has reported that global economic output fell by 3.4% in 2020. The good news is that the massive infusion of financial support from many governments in high-income countries meant that the worst economic effects of the pandemic were mitigated, and a rapid recovery has begun to make up for the pandemic-related losses. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) predicts that the global economy will grow by 5.9% in 2021 recovering the 2020 losses and …

Challenges Of Making Financial Decisions And Avoiding Fraudulent Schemes, Fabio Mattos

Cornhusker Economics

Last month there was an article in the local newspaper about a man accused of defrauding commodity investors for several years in Nebraska. This person is a commodity pool operator (CPO), who is an individual or organization that operates a commodity pool and solicits funds for that pool. A commodity pool is an enterprise in which funds contributed by a number of clients are combined for the purpose of trading futures contracts, options contracts, among other types of financial products. Generally speaking, a CPO manages an investment fund focused on commodity products.

Crop Insurance Premium Subsidies Influence On Family Farms, Cory Walters, Azzeddine Azzam, Taylor Kaus

Cornhusker Economics

The U.S. current taxpayer-subsidized crop insurance program represents a culmination of a series of legislative acts, beginning in 1980 with the Federal Crop Insurance Act, followed by the Federal Insurance Reform Act in 1994, and the Agricultural Risk Protection Act (ARPA) in 2000. All acts aimed at encouraging producer participation through increased premium subsidies and enhanced coverage options. Increased subsidization was effective in increasing participation, as more than 90% of corn acres were covered by some form of crop insurance by 2020. For 2021, premium subsidies in Nebraska for all crop insurance policies ranged from just over $36,000 in Hooker …

Finding Hidden Members In Your Community, Cheryl Burkhart-Kriesel

Cornhusker Economics

It is not uncommon for rural Nebraska coffee shop talk to touch on the topic of who is involved or not involved in the community. Typically, the conversation comes to the conclusion that the same people seem to be doing everything. The topic could relate to a civic group, community event, or even an elected office in the community. There are no new faces and no new ideas as well as there is no one there to allow for a leadership transition. Have you ever heard this conversation? Have you participated in it?

Optimal Regulatory Response To Food Fraud, Syed Imran Ali Meerza, Konstantinos Giannakas

Cornhusker Economics

Food fraud refers to the deliberate substitution, addition, tampering, or misrepresentation of food for economic gains. In this context, food fraud can be divided into two broad categories: food adulteration and mislabeling. While food adulteration can be defined as the intentional substitution or addition of substances in a food product to reduce its costs of production, mislabeling refers to acts of misrepresentation of the type or quality of food products. Food fraud is motivated by economic gains and is enabled by the fact that information about the nature of credence goods is typically asymmetric – while product suppliers know the …

Evolving Protein Demand And Income Elasticity, Tim Meyer

Cornhusker Economics

Teaching large classes in the Ag Econ department has some unique benefits. One of them is that I have a pulse on the attitudes of a large cross-section of producers. One concern that has been gradually gaining momentum is the threat that plant protein poses against traditional animal protein, namely beef.

Trends in protein demand do not support this specific fear. In general, consumers’ appetite for animal protein continues to grow. This article explains the concept of income elasticity, along with the changing income elasticities of specific meats.

Allowing Consumers To Choose Quantities In Choice Experiments Impacts Consumer Choice, Rationality, And Willingness-To-Pay Estimates, Elliott James Dennis

Cornhusker Economics

Choice experiments are frequently used by industry and academic researchers to examine existing and hypothetical products. These experiments generally fix the quantity purchased and allow product attributes to vary. New choice experiments have explored allowing quantity to be a flexible choice attribute. In a recently published paper, we explored the potential differences and similarities between these two choice experiment frameworks. To illustrate these comparisons and any relative improvements by using a quantity choice framework, we used a between-subject design that assessed U.S. meat preferences.

Farm Program Projections And Management Implications, Brad Lubben

Cornhusker Economics

USDA’s Farm Service Agency annually distributes commodity program payments to enrolled crop producers every October. The payments come either as Agricultural Risk Coverage (ARC) payments or Price Loss Coverage (PLC) payments With higher commodity prices since last fall, the expectations for payments and the reliance on payments as part of the farm’s bottom line are substantially reduced. However, there are still some payments to be made and some important lessons from the current outlook for prices and farm program support.

Readiness For Change, Charlotte Narjes, Marilyn Schlake

Cornhusker Economics

One community is innovative in addressing long-term issues and situations related to quality of life, economic impact, and demographic renewal. Another community is not. What is the difference? What can communities do to be ready for change? What role can Extension play in helping a community address complex situations such as identifying new leaders, being competitive in a digital economy, creating healthy communities, or attracting new populations and retaining exciting community members? One key to success is assessing community readiness for change.

Eu And Us Consumers’ Willingness To Pay For Genome-Edited Apples, John C. Beghin

Cornhusker Economics

New Plant Engineering Techniques (NPETs) refers to new biotechnology tools that allow alterations to a plant’s genome by adding, resequencing, or silencing some of its genes or combined with genes from a crossable plant (so-called cisgenesis). NPETs include genome editing (GenEd) tools, such as Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR), and transcription activator-like
effector nucleases (TALEN). These techniques lead to mutations in plants, which could have been obtained with conventional hybridization and genetic mutation techniques. For that reason, they may be perceived as more natural. These techniques might raise fewer concerns than transgenic techniques incorporating foreign genes into a …

The Potential For Moral Hazard Behavior In Irrigation Decisions Under Crop Insurance, Karina Schoengold, Paloch Suchato, Taro Mieno, Timothy Foster

Cornhusker Economics

The Federal Crop Insurance Corporation provides one of the most widely adopted risk mitigation tools used by crop producers across the United States. In 2018,
over 90% of corn and soybean acres were insured in most of the Great Plains and Midwestern United States (Farm Bureau, 2019). As with all insurance, there are questions of whether moral hazard behavior occurs with insurance enrollment. In economics, moral hazard refers to cases where someone makes riskier decisions when he or she is protected from the full cost of doing so. For example, someone
with fire insurance on their home may be less …

Evaluating The Impact Of Covid-19 On Nebraska Land Auctions And Implications For Future Farm Real Estate Sales In 2021, Jim Jansen, Jeffrey Stokes

Cornhusker Economics

The Nebraska Farm Real Estate Market Survey and Report 2020-2021 provides insight into recent trends on the market value of agricultural land and cash
rental rates across the state. Each year, the special feature section from this report covers topics on new or emerging issues related to the agricultural land industry in Nebraska. These topics reflect interest expressed by panel members and readership of the Nebraska Farm Real Estate Market Highlights Reports. The special feature section in 2021 evaluates the effects of COVID-19 on Nebraska land auctions over the prior year and implications for this transaction method involving future agricultural …

Whose Journey To Self-Reliance? Participation In The Journey To Self-Reliance And The Land-Grant Imaginary, Lia R. Kelinsky-Jones, Kim L. Niewolny

Journal of International Agricultural and Extension Education

Land-grant university and civil society development actors have long partnered with local and global communities to eliminate food insecurity. Despite the common aim of addressing food insecurity as a wicked problem, their approaches and designs differ in scope and scale. Similarly, levels of local stakeholder participation in agricultural development historically vary reflecting the complexity in relinquishing hierarchal decision-making power. In this pilot study, we investigated how participation is framed within the United States Agency for International Development’s (USAID) policy, “The Journey to Self-Reliance”. Subsequently, we sought to understand the implications of this framing on land-grant universities’ agricultural development aims in …

Measuring Palatability As A Linear Combination Of Nutrient Levels In Food Items, Jeffrey S. Young

Faculty & Staff Research and Creative Activity

It well known that palatability and nutritional quality of foods and/or diets are viewed as being in tension with one another. While there exist multiple measures of healthiness, there are no such measures for tastiness. This gap limits the degree to which researchers can investigate this tension and its implications for dietary behavior and hence public health and nutrition policy. The scope of future work concerning the dietary behavior of Americans would expand greatly if researchers better understood consumers’ willingness to eat certain foods, which matters as much as recommending those foods for them to eat in the first place. …

To Know The Land With Hands And Minds: Negotiating Agricultural Knowledge In Late-Nineteenth-Century New England And Westphalia, Justus Hillebrand

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Ever since the eighteenth century, experts have tried to tell farmers how to farm. The agricultural enlightenment in Europe marked the beginning of a long arc of new experts aiming to change agricultural knowledge and practice. This dissertation analyzes the pivotal period in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century in Germany and the United States when scientists, improvers, and market agents began to develop comprehensive ways to communicate agricultural innovation to farmers. In a functional approach to analyzing the negotiation of agricultural knowledge through its communication in things, words, and practices, this dissertation argues that the process of change …

Beef Cow Operations During Drought: Dealing With More Than Dry Conditions, Matt Stockton

Cornhusker Economics

The most recent drought conditions have grown to cover a large portion of the west and the central United States, as shown in Figure 1. Those depending on rain continue to watch and hope that conditions will change, while implementing and considering various strategies to preserve their livelihoods. Those who have been in the business for years have seen other occasions when dry conditions limited forage production and created hardship. Each occurrence has varying outcomes, depending on the many factors faced by individuals. While drought may produce the
same dry conditions for many, its effects are individualized. There are as …

Growing Climate Solutions Act Of 2021, J. David Aiken

Cornhusker Economics

On June 24, 2021, the U.S. Senate adopted S. 1251, the
Growing Climate Solutions Act of 2021. Cosponsored by
54 senators, including Nebraska Senator Deb Fischer, S. 1251 seeks to make it easier for farmers and ranchers to participate in voluntary carbon credit markets and to get a fair share of the carbon credit revenue they generate. If
adopted by the U.S. House of Representatives and signed into law by the President, S. 1251 would go a long way in facilitating effective producer participation in U.S. carbon markets.