Economics Commons^™

Organic Production Of Livestock And Livestock Products In Nebraska, Elliott James Dennis

Extension Farm and Ranch Management News

First paragraph:

USDA “Certified Organic” is a form of production that has received considerable public attention in the last 10 years, particularly among small, beginning and/or minority farmers. Spiking retail prices for red meat and poultry have seemingly accelerated consumer’s interest in organic locally produced products. Consumers demonstrate their desire for these products by paying premiums when purchasing meat products. Producers receive premiums by either directly marketing live animals to consumers that are custom harvested or marketing animals to meat wholesalers. The primary difference is the way premiums are captured. Producers doing custom harvesting capture the full premium whereas producers …

Surviving Variable Yields And Prices, Kara Zimmerman, Cory Walters, Jessica Groskopf, Matt Stockton, Kate Brooks

Cornhusker Economics

A marketing strategy focusing on prices from the most re-cent past, indirectly gives little or no weight to all of the other possible price outcomes. While it is intuitive that the most recent prices are more likely to play a role in our decision-making process, there are other price events that can happen. The seasonal price path from the 2019/2020 crop year was nothing like we have recently experienced. Sup-pose we entered the 2020’s marketing decision using a seasonal approach that considers only the average price series over the past 5 years (2015-19 average), Figure 1. The seasonal average indicates …

Livestock Indemnity Program: A Case For Managing Risk With Good Recordkeeping, Jay Parsons

Cornhusker Economics

Keeping good records is an important risk management tool for agricultural producers. Good records provide accurate, complete and consistent information that leads to better decision making. Good records also keep the farm or ranch operation in a good position to participate in USDA programs when those opportunities are available.

The Livestock Indemnity Program (LIP), one of the USDA disaster assistance programs administered by the Farm Service Agency (FSA), is an example of how good recordkeeping can be rewarded. LIP provides compensation to eligible livestock producers who have suffered livestock death losses in excess of normal mortality due to adverse weather, …

The Economy, The Stock Market, And A Bucket Of Chicken, Tim Meyer

Cornhusker Economics

Economists, unlike MDs and lawyers, are never able to sidestep professional questions. Whether it is at parties, or waiting to pick up kids from school, the “economy” is al-most as common as the weather for small talk. Fortunately, most economists are eager to opine on the current state of affairs, and almost as many are willing to guide laypeople to a truer understanding of what the “economy” actually is. This article will provide a definition of the economy, the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and their importance. It will conclude by addressing the difference between the overall economy and the performance …

An Economic Analysis Of Using Retired Vessels To Create Artificial Reefs In Costa Rica, Josué González

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

ABSTRACT

The Republic of Costa Rica is a Central American country with only 0.03% of the world’s landmass, but 5% of the world’s biodiversity, making it a leading ecotourism destination. Ecotourism is one of the main sources of revenue for the country, but the degradation of coastal reefs has resulted in a significant loss of financial income for developing areas. As a result, many of these areas are searching for methods to revert the degradation of coral reefs.

Artificial reefs play an important ecological role in marine ecosystems due to their complexity and size. They help in the development of …

Market Trends In Food Consumption Expenditures Away From Home Prior To The Covid-19 Pandemic, Rebecca Weir

Undergraduate Economic Review

U.S. food consumption expenditures away from home increased from 19 percent of total food expenditures in 1955 to 48 percent in 2015. Simultaneously, female participation in the labor force grew by 52.7 million women from 35 to 57 percent, signifying increased opportunity cost for women to prepare meals at home. This research uses an ordinary least squares regression to examine socioeconomic factors influencing the rise in U.S. food consumption expenditures away from home in 2018. Results inform food production and service industries’ marketing strategies, and set the stage for whether a new pattern emerges in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

2020 Nebraska Ballot Issues – Election Results, J. David Aiken

Cornhusker Economics

This publication provides educational information regarding the two constitutional amendments recommended by the Unicameral to Nebraska voters and the four citizen ballot initiatives on the November 2020 general election ballot.

Seasonal Forecast Based Preharvest Hedging, Eric D. Hunt, Cory Walters, Toni Klemm, Iyore Eronmwon

Cornhusker Economics

Given the immense effect of weather on agriculture, skillful weather forecasts are of importance to agricultural producers for effective decision making. Weather forecasts affect operational decisions such as whether or not to irrigate (where applicable), when to apply fertilizer, when to spray herbicide and pesticide, and certainly the timing of planting and harvesting. At the seasonal time scale, say in the spring, just before planting, weather forecasts may be used for strategic decision making on outcomes, say from preharvest hedging (hereafter referred to hedging), that will not be realized until the fall or harvest. Historically, the lack of skill in …

Pork In The Future: The New Futures And Options Contracts On Pork Cutout, Fabio Mattos

Cornhusker Economics

The CME Group has announced its plan to launch futures and options contracts on pork cut-out. The new contracts are scheduled to start trading on November 9, 2020. The exchange has al-ready been offering futures and options contracts on lean hogs and now adds another contract that the industry can use for risk management. While the existing futures contract on lean hogs is based on prices paid for hogs in the U.S., the new con-tract on pork cutout is based on prices paid for wholesale cuts of pork.

Greenhouse Gas Emission Efficiencies Of World Countries, Levent Kutlu

Economics and Finance Faculty Publications and Presentations

Greenhouse gas emissions have increased rapidly since the industrial revolution. This has led to an unnatural increase in the global surface temperature, and to other changes in our environment. Acknowledging this observation, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change started an international environmental treaty. This treaty was extended by Kyoto protocol, which was adopted on 11 December 1997. Using the stochastic frontier analysis, we analyze the efficiencies of countries in terms of achieving the lowest greenhouse gas emission levels per GDP output in the years between 1990–2015. We find that the average greenhouse gas emission efficiencies of world countries …

The Economic Impacts Of Social Activism In Food Markets, Anubrata Deka, Emie Yiannaka, Konstantinos Giannakas

Cornhusker Economics

Private politics, usually led by nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and social activists, focuses on changing the behavior of private economic agents through social pressure rather than through government action (although government action is also possible) (Baron, 2003). The food sector has been experiencing increased social pressure from social activist organizations to achieve diverse goals, ranging from improving food safety and food fortification to increasing transparency in food markets. A primary reason for the increase in organized activism in the food sector is the proliferation of the provision of credence attributes which are attributes unobservable through search or experience (consumption and use). …

Corruption And Cooperative Organizations, Konstantinos Giannakas, Murray E. Fulton

Cornhusker Economics

Although the literature is limited, there is evi-dence that corruption in cooperatives and inves-tor-owned firms (IOF) is widespread in develop-ing and transition economies where corruption generally is common. Cooperative corruption is also found closer to home. Two recent examples from the United States include the Ashby Farm-ers’ Cooperative Elevator in Minnesota where the general manager stole from the cooperative and the Tri-County Electric Cooperative in South Carolina where board members enriched them-selves with perks and benefits. In Canada, the PACE Credit Union was placed under the regula-tor’s control in 2018 after two senior executives were discovered to have received secret …

Distillers Grains Pre, During, And Post Covid-19: Ongoing Recovery And Structural Demand Implications, Daniel Gertner, Elliott James Dennis

Cornhusker Economics

Prior to the shutdowns caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, distillers grains and other co-products of ethanol production played a crucial role in maintaining the rev-enue stream of dry mill ethanol plants (Irwin 2020). With low crude oil prices over the last half of the decade and corn prices holding steady over the same period of time, the margin for error in the ethanol industry was thin. More than a third of Nebraska’s ethanol plants either temporarily or permanently closed in 2019 (MacroTrends 2020); (York News Times 2019). To prevent similar outcomes, ethanol plants focused on diver-sifying their operations to produce …

Elaia 2020/2021, Stephen Case

ELAIA

Volumes 3/4, 2020/2021

Ensuring A Post-Covid Economic Agenda Tackles Global Biodiversity Loss, Pamela Mcelwee, Esther Turnout, Mireille Chiroleu-Assouline, Jennifer Clapp, Cindy Isenhour, Tim Jackson, Eszter Kelemen, Daniel C. Miller, Graciela Rusch, Joachim H. Spangenberg, Anthony Waldron, Rupert J. Baumgartner, Brent Bleys, Michael W. Howard, Eric Mungatana, Hien Ngo, Irene Ring, Rui Santos

Teaching, Learning & Research Documents

Report that explores how governments can help mitigate ecosystem and species loss through their COVID-19 stimulus and recovery plans.

Primary Reasons For Not Attending Farmers' Market. Do Market Features And Consumer Characteristics Matter?, Autumn Milliner

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The number of farmers’ markets has been growing, but consumer attendance does not appear to rise at the same rate. The overall purpose of this study was to investigate primary reasons for not attending. Specific objectives were: (1) describe the consumer characteristics of individuals who do not attend farmers’ markets (2) investigate the consumer characteristics and market amenities that influence a consumer’s choice to not attend a farmers market (3) estimate the variables that impact a consumer’s level of interest in subscribing to a CSA and (4) assess and estimate the relationship between consumer characteristics and their willingness to pay …

Economic Vulnerabilities Of Fishing-Dependent Households Around Laguna Lake, Philippines, Rosalina Palanca-Tan

Economics Department Faculty Publications

The study characterizes the mainly subsistence fishing communities surrounding Laguna Lake and provides empirical evidence of the economic deprivation that they are experiencing using survey data. Following a multi-dimensional approach, the paper focuses on consumption expenditures as the prime indicator of economic well-being – together with assets ownership, financial behavior, and social engagements. Regression analyses are conducted to identify the factors underlying consumption and to determine how different forms of household capital (physical, financial, and social) and fishing activities affect the capacity to generate income or livelihood. The study finds that: 1) food consumption (mainly rice) accounts for half of …

Crop Yield Growth Along The 41st Parallel: Contributions Of Environmental Vs. Human-Controlled Factors, Federico Trindade, Lilyan E. Fulginiti, Richard K. Perrin

Cornhusker Economics

Increasing crop yields in an area we recently studied has helped keep farmers competitive and helped to keep the world’s growing population fed. But how much of that yield increase has been due to more favorable climate versus human-controlled factors such as higher input use, irrigation, better genetics, etc.?

‘Coronated’ Consumption In The Viral Market, Soonkwan Hong

Markets, Globalization & Development Review

The universal exposure to the virus has disrupted institutions, redefined values, and reshaped systems, including the market. Idling, uncertainty, and liquidity encapsulate the ever-precarious individual lives and the reflexive socio-politico-cultural changes. These conditions and consequences nonetheless create paradoxical opportunities in the viral market. The new meaning of connectivity that promotes high-viscosity relationships and high-visibility identities will transform the market to better acknowledge and support humans and the new sociality.

Community Development In The Time Of Covid-19, Daniela Mattos

Cornhusker Economics

The global pandemic has driven the whole country into an unprecedented crisis. As the months passed and the death toll climbed, the pandemic did some-thing else: it unveiled deep inequities within the country. Those getting sick and dying were disproportionately low-income racial and ethnographic minorities, most of them essential workers. According to the lat-est data from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the virus has overly affected Black people and Latinos (https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/covid-data/covidview/index.html). Communities of color are also over represented among essential workers who are generally unable to work from home and more likely to come into contact with the …

Assumptions (Mistakes) That Parents Make With Estate Plans, Allan Vyhnalek

Cornhusker Economics

The main goal of many parents when writing their estate plan is for their children to continue to be a family. With this goal in mind, parents make many assumptions to “keep the peace” when planning their estate. If the family has a key fight then family activities, like holiday gatherings, no longer happen. Let’s look at these assumptions and make some observations about each. The overall goal is to think through our actions with the intent that the family stays together.

Without an estate plan, the assets are divided ac-cording to the laws of the state of Nebraska. That …

Uncertainties Abound In Nebraska Livestock Market Forecasts, Elliott James Dennis

Extension Farm and Ranch Management News

About one of the only things certain about forecasts this year has been the great deal of uncertainty. Numerous “novel” situations have confronted the industry making it difficult to estimate price magnitudes rather than just price direction. Clustered plant closures, government quarantine restrictions, and increasing at home phone consumption are just a few of the major issues the beef industry has had to tackle in the last six to eight months. Some things have returned to “normal” such as packing plant capacity and food service demand. Others are still in ongoing recovery.

Who knows what “normal” or “standard operating procedure” …

Comparing Profitability And Management Factors Across Operation Type: Independent Vs. Contract Growing, Elliott James Dennis

Extension Farm and Ranch Management News

First paragraph:

There is strong local and national interest in adding hog barns to existing row crop operations. Declining on farm income over the past several years has accelerated this interest. Grain operations cite diversifying farm income, adding another family to the farm operation, and/or replacing commercial fertilizer expense as the primary reasons for adding a hog barn.

A Historical Perspective On The Holcomb Fire: Differences And Similarities To The Covid-19 Situation And Other Significant Market Events, Elliott James Dennis

Extension Farm and Ranch Management News

Copyright 2020, the author. Used by permission.

The Impact Of Covid-19 On Nebraska’S Nonprofits, John C. Beghin

Cornhusker Economics

This article describes the impact of COVID-19 on nonprofit organizations in Nebraska based on evidence gathered in two business surveys coordinated by a research consortium. The consortium is made of the State of Nebraska, the Nebraska Chamber of Commerce, the University of Nebraska (UNO, UNL) and several local project partners. Additional information was provided by the Nonprofits Association of the Midlands (NAM), through two surveys of its member-ship and interviews with core staff at NAM, to corroborate the survey results. The business surveys took place in April and June 2020 gathering response of 646 (April) and 137 (June) nonprofit entities. …

Financial Health Of Grain Operations After Adding A Hog Barn, Elliott James Dennis

Extension Farm and Ranch Management News

There is strong local and national interest in adding hog barns to existing row crop operations. Declining on farm income over the past several years has accelerated this interest. Grain operations cite diversifying farm income, adding another family to the farm operation, and/or replace commercial fertilizer expense as the primary reasons for adding a hog barn.

While there is industry demand to increase hog contract growing, these agreements can possess significant benefits and risks to producers. This is the second of a four part series which will discuss some financial and legal implications of adding a hog barn to an …

Hog Barn Density And Location In U.S. And Nebraska, Elliott James Dennis

Extension Farm and Ranch Management News

There is strong local and national interest in adding hog barns to existing row crop operations. Declining on farm income over the past several years has accelerated this interest. Grain operations cite diversifying farm income, adding another family to the farm operation, and/or replace commercial fertilizer expense as the primary reasons for adding a hog barn.

While there is industry demand to increase hog contract growing, these agreements can possess significant benefits and risks to producers. This is the first of a four part series which will discuss some financial and legal implications of adding a hog barn to an …

Evidence For Height And Immune Function Trade-Offs Among Preadolescents In A High Pathogen Population, Angela R. Garcia, Aaron Blackwell, Benjamin C. Trumble, Jonathan Stieglitz, Hillard Kaplan, Michael Gurven

ESI Publications

Background

In an energy-limited environment, caloric investments in one characteristic should trade-off with investments in other characteristics. In high pathogen ecologies, biasing energy allocation towards immune function over growth would be predicted, given strong selective pressures against early-life mortality.

Methodology

In the present study, we use flow cytometry to examine trade-offs between adaptive immune function (T cell subsets, B cells), innate immune function (natural killer cells), adaptive to innate ratio and height-for-age z scores (HAZ) among young children (N = 344; aged 2 months–8 years) in the Bolivian Amazon, using maternal BMI and child weight-for-height z scores (WHZ) as …

Multi-Peril Crop Insurance Basics, Matt Stockton, Duran Rudnick, Chuck Burr

Cornhusker Economics

The Federal crop insurance corporation (FCIC) https://www.rma.usda.gov/Federal-Crop-Insurance-Corporation and https://www.everycrsreport.com/reports/R45193.html offers three types and eight levels of taxpayer subsidized multi-peril crop insurance (MPCI) policies, sold for four different unit types. The unit types are designed to define the nature of the farm area being insured. There are four types of insurable units, optional, basic, enterprise and whole farm. Each of these units has differences in costs per acre and is likely to create variations in indemnities. For example, a highly localized severe hail storm on a single field covered using basic units would likely have an indemnity, versus not likely to …

Drought Decisions: Profit Maximizing Decisions During And After Drought Conditions, Robert Tigner, Elliott James Dennis

Extension Farm and Ranch Management News

In summary, using available price risk management tools can effectively reduce some of the market price risk variability that is inherent in agricultural production that are caused by either production or price risk.