Agribusiness Commons^™

The Impact Of Organized Activism On Technology Sharing, Ahmed Chennak, Amalia Yiannaka

Cornhusker Economics

What factors influence a firm's decision to share its technology with competitors? While patent licensing has received considerable attention in the literature, studies have typically focused on the optimal licensing contract for product and process innovations in various market settings. A key finding of this literature is that the optimal licensing strategy depends on the type of the patentee; that is, whether the patentee is a producer in the market (insider patentee) or not (outsider patentee). Little attention has been given, however, to the role the general public can play on firms' incentives to share their innovations through licensing contracts …

Heifers On Feed Indicate Long-Term Liquidation Still Occurring, Elliott James Dennis

Cornhusker Economics

This article was first published in the Livestock Marketing Information Centers' (LMIC) In the Cattle Markets newsletter on January 9, 2023.

Combining the historical quarterly percentage of heifers on feed and cattle inventory report can provide an indicator of how many heifers will be held back for replacement in the 2023 report.

Hedging Your Average Crop Price Using Seasonals, Cory Walters, Richard K. Preston

Cornhusker Economics

In this article, we connect what the industry says and what producers say to improve the disconnect and the decision-making environment associated with hedging. We accomplish this by inspecting the distribution of producer prices with and without hedging in the fall as the distribution contains both yearly outcomes (producer concern) as well as the average outcome (another point of view). Computer models are used to lift the mystery surrounding the role of hedging. Computer models help understand complex processes, allowing for a better decision environment, leading to improved financial standing and stability. Our model reproduces the risk profile that individual …

Role Of Social Network On Technology Adoption: Application To Nebraska Producers In The Face Of Undesirable Vegetation Transitions, Sabrina Gulab, Holly K. Nesbitt, Simanti Banerjee, Theresa Floyd, Karina A. Schoengold

Cornhusker Economics

Conclusion

Producers need to have access to information regarding new conservation practices and technologies to ensure land management in the face of ecological threats in general and vegetation transitions (VTs) in the context of our study. This study investigates the role of an individual producer's social network on the willingness to seek information about technologies and management practices and the likelihood of new technology adoption with special attention to risk attitudes and producer spillover effects. Our results provide evidence that network composition and information obtained through a producer's social network don't influence an individual's willingness to seek information about new …

Importance Of Good Communications For Generational Ag Business Transfers, Allan Vyhnalek

Cornhusker Economics

Adapted from Right Risk, volume 10, Issue 10, October 2022.

Effective communication within a farm or ranch family, especially when multiple generations are operating and managing the business, is the underpinning of all other decisions made in a family business. It is critical that farm and ranch families identify areas of contention and develop communication skills that will allow them to negotiate satisfying outcomes. This may involve basic skills training, including communication, problem solving, and decision making.

Historical Corn Price Evolution Implications For Pre-Harvest Hedging, Cory Walters, Richard K. Preston

Cornhusker Economics

Commodity markets evolve through information provided by participating buyers and sellers and throughout this process the conditions in which commodity markets work are revealed. Producer pre-harvest commodity marketing can be further developed by incorporating information on how commodity markets work, leading to better farm financial performance.

We investigate how commodity markets have historically evolved from spring to fall. While changes in future prices appear random in any given year, observing average daily prices over 32 years could uncover a seasonal tendency. In the past 32 years, the average daily price tends to be higher in the spring than the fall, …

New Cooperative Approaches: Successes And Opportunities, Charlotte Narjes

Cornhusker Economics

The National Cooperative Business Association CLUSA International states that there are 40,000 co-ops in the United States that range in size. Examples of cooperatives include the local Ace Hardware (purchasing cooperative) to Land O' Lakes. Cooperative businesses operate across virtually all industries, or sectors. The most common cooperative in Nebraska is the agricultural cooperative. According to the Nebraska Cooperative Council ag facts, in June 2020 there were 401 cooperatives located across the state providing jobs and services in many rural communities. In addition, there are over 64,400 farmers and ranchers that are voting members of Nebraska cooperatives with many members …

On The Market For "Lemons": When Low Quality Does Not Drive High Quality Out Of The Market, Konstantinos Giannakas, Murray E. Fulton

Cornhusker Economics

In a research article published in Nature's Humanities and Social Sciences Communications (available at https://www.nature.com/articles/s4l 599-020-00658-w) we identify the conditions under which the introduction of a low -quality product does not drive its high-quality counterpart out of the market but, instead, ends-up coexisting with it. Using a theoretical framework of heterogeneous consumers and producers in the context of a market for quality- ( or vertically-) differentiated products supplied by producers differing in their production efficiency, we show that the equilibrium quality configuration in a market depends on both the unobservability of product quality by consumers and the relative costs …

Don't Let The Past Sink Your Future, Timothy Meyer

Cornhusker Economics

Decision scientists have many algorithms for making decisions. These algorithms can be qualitative and subjective, such as following a 7-step process, to highly quantitative procedures like minimax regret, or linear programming. These techniques are very different from each other, but in one way they are very similar; they never, ever suggest the manager become emotional and use past decisions to guide the future.

Past decisions and events should guide decision-making. They help managers assign probabilities as well assessing performance. Viewing these events and situations as permanent paths is where sunk costs become problematic.

Includes discussions of four scenarios.

The Storm In World Fertilizer Markets Continues, John C. Beghin

Cornhusker Economics

This article updates the recent article on world fertilizer markets by Beghin and Nogueira (2021), which noted the perfect storm affecting global fertilizer markets through high demand, droughts affecting fertilizer supply, high fossil energy prices, COVID 19-related supply-chain disruptions, and trade policies, all conspiring to elevate fertilizer nominal prices to levels not seen since 2008. In the last 10 months, the Ukraine-Russia war and associated trade sanctions have exacerbated the disruptions in fossil energy, grain, vegetable oil, and fertilizer markets already present in 2021. On the more hopeful side, some United States trade policy developments will help reduce US fertilizer …

Setting The Stage For The Next Farm Bill Debate, Bradley D. Lubben

Cornhusker Economics

The 2018 Farm Bill is set to expire in September 2023. New farm bill legislation will be needed by then if authority is to be extended for a wide range of programs from farm support to conservation, nutrition assistance, credit, trade promotion, rural development, research and education, and more.

The agricultural committees in Congress have already held initial hearings and many agricultural and other interest groups have noted their policy priorities. However, formal debate on a new farm bill is not expected to begin in earnest until early 2023 when a new session of Congress convenes.

While the formal debate …

Disagreements And Proper Respect In Farm/Ranch Succession, Allan Vyhnalek

Cornhusker Economics

Adapted from "Does Disrespect Have a Place in Your Ag Legacy?" Volume 6, Issue 1, February 2021, Ag Legacy, by Caleb Carter, consultant to the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics in the University of Wyoming College of Agriculture and Natural Resources.

Briefly covers disagreements and proper respect in farm/ranch succession.

Flexible Cropland Lease Arrangements Across Nebraska In 2022, Jim Jansen, Jeffrey Stokes

Cornhusker Economics

Survey results shown and discussed in this report are findings from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln's 2022 Nebraska Farm Real Estate Market Survey. Complete results from the survey may be found at the Nebraska Farm Real Estate website: http://cap.unl.edu/realestate.

Who Owns This? Ways That Property Can Be Owned And Transferred In Nebraska, Jessica Groskopf, J. David Aiken

Cornhusker Economics

Discusses ways that property can be owned and transferred in Nebraska in the context of farm management in Nebraska, United States.

Use Of Livestock Risk Protection Insurance For Cattle Continues To Grow, Jay Parsons

Cornhusker Economics

When used as a regular part of a market risk management plan, livestock risk protection (LRP) insurance can help protect profits in years where markets turn for the worse. The recent changes to the program have made LRP insurance more appealing to cattle producers and sales of LRP have subsequently increased dramatically. Strong price increases may make LRP unnecessary, but it is difficult to predict when the price increases will end. LRP insurance is a safety net, reducing downside price risk by providing a floor on national price expectations while also allowing producers to take advantage of higher national prices …

2020 Cares Act – Financial Supports For Small Business, Marilyn R. Schlake

Cornhusker Economics

Whether a business is impacted by weather-related disasters, road construction or sudden economic downturns, having a plan to mitigate the impacts can be crucial to the immediate and long-term survival of the business. Unforeseen circumstances, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, may require owners to re-evaluate their business models, cut operating costs and seek outside financial supports – all to keep cash flowing and the business open. To help small businesses during the pandemic, the Coronavirus Aid Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act was signed into law on March 27. It contains $349 billion in relief for American small businesses and …

Diet And Health Care Cost, Sarah Rehkamp, Azzeddine Azzam, Christopher Rand Gustafson

Cornhusker Economics

In the article "Putting Your Car Where Your Mouth Is: Diets and Carbon Emissions," published in the April 23, 2014 issue of Cornhusker Economics, we compared the environmental damages in terms of CO₂ emissions associated with the U.S. diet relative to the Japanese, Mediterranean (represented by Greece), French, and Nordic (represented by Finland) diets. In this article, we compare the health care cost associated with the U.S. diet and the same four alternative diets. The theme of both articles is sustainable consumption, and specifically sustainable diets.

As a first step to finding the relationship between diet and health …

Recession And Recovery: Jobs In Nebraska: 2008 To 2012, Randolph L. Cantrell

Cornhusker Economics

A commonly used resource for tracking changes in jobs and income at the county level is the Regional Economic Information System (REIS) data base produced annually by the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA). REIS data are derived from tax filings by employers, employees and the self-employed. The data base has been relatively unchanged (except for a reorganization of industry codes) since 1969. Reporting is always for the tax year two-years previous to the release date, so the data are more about historical than current conditions. However, REIS is generally seen as reliable and does provide a trend line that now …