Agricultural and Resource Economics Commons^™

The Travel Cost Model, George R. Parsons

George R. Parsons

Economic Contributions Of The Yellowstone River To Park County, Montana, Jeremy L. Sage

Institute for Tourism and Recreation Research Publications

On August 19, 2016, Montana’s Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks (FWP) instituted a temporary emergency closure on a large extent of the Yellowstone River and its tributaries between the northern Yellowstone National Park boundary near Gardiner, MT and Laurel, MT, about 183 miles downriver. The closure applied to all water based recreation uses on the affected rivers and streams. FWP’s actions followed the identification of the presence of an invasive parasite known to cause proliferative kidney disease in mountain whitefish. FWP’s decision to institute the temporary closure was based not only on the observed presence of ...

Measuring The Relative Importance Of Different Agricultural Inputs To Global And Regional Crop Yield Growth Since 1975, Erik Nelson, Clare Bates Congdon

Economics Department Working Paper Series

We identify the agricultural inputs that drove the growth in global and regional crop yields from 1975 to the mid-2000s. We find that improvements in agricultural technology, increased fertilizer use, and changes in crop mix around the world explained most of the gain in global crop yields, although impacts varied across the latitude gradient. Climate change over this time period caused yields to be only slightly lower than they would have been otherwise. In some cases cropland extensification had as much of a negative impact on global and regional yields as climate change. To maintain the momentum in yield growth ...

An Econometric Analysis Of The Nebraska Livestock Friendly County Program, Brian Mills, Azzeddine Azzam, Kathleen Brooks, David Aiken

Online Journal of Rural Research & Policy

This article examines whether the Nebraska Livestock Friendly County Program (LFCP) has resulted in cattle and hog expansion in the state as intended. The analysis draws on the theory of long-run competitive equilibrium to specify econometric models that identify the determinants of cattle and hog farm numbers. Using county level census data, the econometric models were estimated with heteroscedasticity-consistent standard errors and corrected for multicollinearity using the variance inflation factor procedure. Results show an effect of LFCP on both cattle and hog expansion.

Water, Growth And The Endangered Species Act, Holly Doremus

Holly Doremus

24 pages.

Water, Growth And The Endangered Species Act, Holly Doremus

Holly Doremus

24 pages.

Assessing The Ability Of Rural Electric Cooperatives To Retire Capital Credits, Jeffrey S. Royer

Faculty Publications: Agricultural Economics

This paper assesses the ability of rural electric cooperatives to retire member equity under three strategies: (1) replacing equity with term debt to provide for an immediate one-time retirement of capital credits, (2) reducing the rate at which equity is accumulated and relying more on term debt to finance asset growth so margins can be used to accelerate the retirement of capital credits, and (3) adjusting the electric rate to generate additional margins for retiring capital credits. Analyses suggest that the average distribution cooperative could employ these strategies to expand capital credits retirement substantially without weakening its financial condition.

Perceptions Of Well-Being In Nonmetropolitan Nebraska: 2016 Nebraska Rural Poll Results, Rebecca Vogt, Cheryl Burkhart-Kriesel, Randolph Cantrell, Brad Lubben, Larry R Mcelravy Jr

Publications from the Center for Applied Rural Innovation (CARI)

Certain indicators have pointed to overall economic growth in Nebraska. The state’s unemployment rate has remained among the lowest in the nation and wages have increased. However, net farm income continued to decline last year and employment growth in the state has been largely concentrated in the metropolitan counties. Given the challenges and uncertainties of recent years, how do rural Nebraskans believe they are doing and how do they view their future? How satisfied are they with various items that influence their well-being? Have these views changed over the past 21 years? This paper provides a detailed analysis of ...

Using An Equilibrium Displacement Model To Simulate The Impact Of An Environmental Meat Tax On Grain And Livestock Markets, Regan Gilmore

UCARE Research Products

Research Question

What are the potential effects of imposing a hypothetical environmental tax on meat consumption, including beef, pork, and poultry, on the livestock and grain markets in the United States from farm to fork?

Faculty advisor: Azzeddine Azzam

The Optimality Of Using Marginal Land For Bioenergy Crops: Tradeoffs Between Food, Fuel, And Environmental Services, Adriana M. Valcu-Lisman, Catherine L. Kling, Philip W. Gassman

Economics Publications

We assess empirically how agricultural lands should be used to produce the highest valued outputs, which include food, energy, and environmental goods and services. We explore efficiency tradeoffs associated with allocating land between food and bioenergy and use a set of market prices and nonmarket environmental values to value the outputs produced by those crops. We also examine the degree to which using marginal land for energy crops is an approximately optimal rule. Our empirical results for an agricultural watershed in Iowa show that planting energy crops on marginal land is not likely to yield the highest valued output.

Regional Dynamic Price Relationships Of Distillers Dried Grains In U.S. Feed Markets, Matthew Fulton Johnson

Masters Theses

Distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS) is now a mainstream substitute in U.S. animal feed rations. DDGS is rich in fat and protein content and serves as a competitive feed source in livestock markets. The objective of this study is to identify dynamic price relationships among DDGS, corn, soybean meal, and livestock outputs in context of specific livestock sectors and their geographic location. Four locations associated with a predominant livestock sector are selected for analysis by measuring density and relative proportion of a livestock sector’s grain consumption at the county level. A vector error correction model is applied ...

Incentives For Best Management Practice Adoption Among Beef Cattle Producers And Effects On Upland Sediment Loss: A Case Study In Southeastern Tennessee, Laura Jane Medwid

Masters Theses

Federal programs incentivize livestock managers to adopt best management practices (BMPs), such as rotational grazing, water tank systems, stream crossings, and pasture improvement to prevent or reduce soil erosion. This thesis addresses the challenge of integrating socio-economic data on rotational grazing (RG) adoption behavior with hydrologic/biophysical models to analyze the association between incentives, BMP adoption, and changes in soil erosion. Using primary survey data of livestock producers in an East Tennessee watershed, the study estimates willingness to adopt BMPs among livestock producers. The propensity to adopt one or multiple management technologies, given an incentive, is estimated with a multivariate ...

Estimating The Economic Value Of Water For Agriculture And Other Industries In Tennessee, Stephanie Michaela Owen

Masters Theses

Tennessee’s currently abundant water resources could eventually become stressed as population continues to rise, climate change impacts water resources, and as agricultural producers continue to increase irrigation. These stresses could impact the productivity of the agricultural sectors and other economic sectors as competition for limited water resources increases. Farmers, policymakers, and researchers alike could benefit from quantifying the economic value of water to help formulate cost-effective and sustainable water use practices. This analysis establishes the water withdrawals (also referred to as “water use”) per dollar of output for competing economic sectors and uses those values in an Input-Output Linear ...

The Value Of Soil Testing For Potassium Fertilizer In Tennessee Cotton Production, Xavier Lee Harmon

Masters Theses

This thesis presents two separate studies focusing on the value of soil test information for potassium (K) fertilization of upland cotton. The objective of the first study was to determine the value of soil test information for available K in upland cotton production using the linear response plateau (LRP) and linear response stochastic plateau (LRSP) functions. This study uses dynamic programming to solve for optimal K fertilizer rates that maximize NPV when K carryover was and was not considered by a producer. This study extends the existing literature by comparing the value of soil testing information using a stochastic and ...

Factors Influencing Product Liability Insurance Adoption Among Tennessee Fruit And Vegetable Farmers, Matthew Robert Edwards

Masters Theses

Foodborne illness outbreaks linked to the consumption of fresh produce expose fruit and vegetable growers to uncertain legal and compensatory costs associated with product liability actions. Product liability insurance protects farmers against the risk of financial loss from product liability actions and may create opportunities for market expansion, but insights from recent focus groups suggest that Tennessee farmers may perceive this insurance coverage as cost prohibitive. This study evaluates the factors influencing adoption of product liability insurance among Tennessee fruit and vegetable producers. Using data from a 2013 survey of Tennessee fruit and vegetable farmers, factors influencing the adoption decision ...

Willingness To Pay For Electric Vehicles And Their Attributes, Michael K. Hidrue, George R. Parsons, Willett Kempton, Meryl Gardner

Meryl Gardner

This paper presents a stated preference study of electric vehicle choice using data from a national survey. In our choice experiment, 3029 respondents chose between their preferred gasoline vehicle and two electric versions of their preferred gasoline vehicle. Using the response data we valued five electric vehicle attributes: driving range, charging time, fuel cost saving, pollution reduction, and performance. Driving range, fuel savings, and charging time led in importance to respondents. Individuals were willing to pay (wtp) from $35 to $75 for a mile of added driving range, with incremental wtp per mile decreasing at higher distances. They were willing ...

Policy Considerations Related To Further Intervention In The Farm Credit System, Neil E. Harl

Neil Harl

The Farm Credit System Is a major participant in extending credit to and brokering losses from the agricultural sector during the current adjustment process. This article focuses on the problems faced by the system as a cooperative lender with relatively little diversity in its loan portfolio. Assistance to the system should be accompanied by organizational and structural changes that address the fundamental reasons for its vulnerability. Conditions suggest three basic choices: (1) preservation of the system in recognizable form, (2) decentralization to the district level, or (3) a shift toward a wholesaling function. One realistic alternative would involve a combination ...

Implications Of Changes (Structural And Market) On Farm Management And Marketing Research, George R. Allen, Lester S. Kellogg, G. Edward Schuh, Vernon W. Pherson, Reynold P. Dahl, Rex F. Daly, Dale E. Hathaway, Neil E. Harl, Earl O. Heady, A. Gordon Ball, Glenn L. Johnson, Dale O. Anderson, Lowell D. Hill, John C. Redman, Robert W. Rudd, B. F. Jones, A. Allen Schmid, Karl A. Fox, George D. Irwin, R. L. Kohls, John E. Lee Jr., Thomas T. Stout

Neil Harl

This conference was really an outgrowth of an earlier conference on Structural Changes in Commercial Agriculture (CAED Report 24) held in Chicago, April 12-14, 1965. While the earlier conference emphasized structural changes in the agricultural industry and their implications for education and extension, the 1967 conference focused on research.

The Structural Transformation Of The Agricultural Sector, Neil E. Harl

Neil Harl

A major concern as we move into the Twenty-first Century is the structure of the agricultural sector. By structure, is meant considerations of size and scale as well as who is to manage, control and finance farming and agribusiness operations.

Economic Impact And Impacts Of Continuing To Proceed As We Are Now, Neil E. Harl

Neil Harl

A major concern as we move into the Twenty-first Century is the structure of the agricultural sector. By structure, is meant considerations of size and scale as well as who is to manage, control and finance farming and agribusiness operations.