Agriculture Commons^™

Rural Movers Studies ... People Are Moving For Community Attributes And Jobs, Marilyn R. Schlake

Cornhusker Economics

University of Minnesota researchers conducted a Rural Movers Study to determine the motivations of people who moved within one to five years to rural Minnesota communities. Their findings are not unlike earlier research conducted at the University of Nebraska in 2008. The Rural Movers Study showed that 31 % of respondents moved due to a job or job offer. However, this was not one of the primary reasons individuals moved. For those individuals who did not move for employment, 76% wanted to find a good environment for raising their children, 67% moved to be closer to relatives, 64% looked for …

Adapting Network Theory For Spatial Network Externalities In Agriculture: A Case Study On Hemp Cross-Pollination, Jeffrey S. Young, Tanner J. Mccarty

Faculty & Staff Research and Creative Activity

Growers have increasingly expressed frustration over the negative externalities created by their neighbor's production practices. These spatial agricultural network problems include issues such as cross-pollination and herbicide drift. We develop novel methods for estimating parameters that allow us to adapt and apply general network diffusion models to these spatial agricultural network problems. Doing so allows us to calculate externality damage within a region and calculate cost-effective policies for alleviating that externality. We empirically illustrate, motivate, and test this approach by applying it to hemp. We find that network structure is an important factor in externality size and cost-effective policy response …

March 1st Filing Deadline, Tina N. Barrett

Cornhusker Economics

One of the many special tax provisions that has applied only to qualified farmers is the relief from estimated tax requirements. A qualified farmer, who is a calendar year taxpayer, can avoid the estimated tax payment penalty by either: 1) Filing an estimated tax payment by January 15th that is either 2/3 of your expected tax for the current year or 100% of last year's tax, whichever is less, or 2) Filing and paying 100% of the tax by March 1'1.

Ten Considerations For Solar-Powered Irrigation In Utah, Ngonidzashe Mufute, Matt Yost, Burdette Barker, Kalen Taylor, Mark Nelson, Randall Violett, Jody Gale

All Current Publications

This fact sheet outlines considerations for using solar-powered irrigation in Utah:

• Solar powered irrigation (SPI) is becoming more cost effective and practical to consider on the farm as the cost of alternative sources of energy are rising.
• Irrigators can now benefit from incentives such as tax credits to help offset costs.
• Investing in solar provides more independence from price fluctuations and energy shortages.
• Considerations for SPI systems include energy demand of the irrigation system, type and value of crops grown, available incentives and support, cost and accessibility of alternative energy sources, and multiple uses of the …

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.

The Impact Of Policy Design On Willingness To Pay For Ecosystem Services From Prairie Strips, Karina Schoengold, Badri Khanal, Taro Mieno, Lisa Schulte Moore

Cornhusker Economics

Ecosystem services from farmland conservation are public good benefits. The value of these benefits is primarily measured using methods that determine the willingness to pay (WTP) for those benefits. Prairie strips, a farmland conservation practice, provide ecosystem services such as improved water quality, soil health, and biodiversity (Schulte et al., 2017). The state of Iowa is a major corn producer and contributes significant amounts of nitrogen and phosphorous to the Gulf of Mexico (Alexander et al., 2008). The development of conventional agricultural systems has also resulted in a significant loss of biodiversity, including a dominant land cover of tallgrass prairie. …

Value Of Gain On Winter Backgrounded Cattle, Elliott James Dennis

Center for Agricultural Profitability

Survey work from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln shows that producers can use a combination of price risk management and different lengths in their production system as a hedge against adverse price movements. Putting on weight during the winter and selling in March-April or selling in the late summer are the two common backgrounding production systems in Nebraska. Within these two systems, total weight gain can be influenced by the type of feed given. Table 1 shows group-level trial data for these two types of systems in Nebraska. Gain can either be fast or slow in either the winter stocking 2022-23 …

How Effective Are The Russian Sanctions?, Wesley Peterson

Cornhusker Economics

Russia's invasion of Ukraine has led to extensive economic, financial, trade, and other types of sanctions directed at individual Russians and the Russian economy. The long-term negative effects of the war on the Russian economy may be even more severe and the broader impacts of the conflict mean that it will have serious repercussions for future global economic, political, and diplomatic relations.

The Impact Of Low Stocks-To-Use Ratio And The Ukraine-Russia Conflict On The Distillers-To-Corn Price Ratio, Elliott James Dennis

Center for Agricultural Profitability

Distillers’ grains play an important role in both maintaining ethanol plant profit margins and providing affordable, nutritious feed to livestock feeding operations. Distillers’ grains are produced as necessary by-products of the fuel ethanol production process and therefore rely on an input grain – most commonly corn in the United States – and fuel ethanol in their production (USDA ERS 2021). As a result, the primary tenets of the supply structure in the distillers’ grains market In the United States are fuel ethanol and corn, while livestock operations in need of feed products comprise the majority of distillers’ grain demand structure.

S7e7: How Can Business Savvy Help Maine Farmers Succeed?, Ron Lisnet, Erin Percival Carter

The Maine Question

Like opening any business, starting and operating a farm can be challenging without any in-depth entrepreneurial knowledge or skills. To help strengthen support for farmers’ business skills, University of Maine faculty members Erin Percival Carter and Stephanie Welcomer established the Business, Agriculture, and Rural Development (BARD) technical assistance training program in the Maine Business School.

The BARD program trains UMaine students to serve as consultants for farmers and operators of other small-scale and sustainable agricultural businesses. These students can assist agribusinesses with various aspects of commerce, such as data-management, price-setting, marketing, financial and strategic forecasting, market segmentation, product development, market …

Innovation In Futures Markets: Event Contracts, Speculation, And Hedging, Fabio Mattos

Cornhusker Economics

The CME Group has recently launched a new type of contract whose payoffs are based on specific events. These contracts are called event contracts but are also known as prediction contracts or information contracts. They are short-term contracts that expire at the end of each trading day. Traders can take positions in these contracts as they predict whether the price of a given asset will finish the trading day above or below a set value.

Discusses: How are they traded? Main characteristics of event contracts. Event contracts offered by CME group and event examples on October 21, 2022. Why were …

Economic Contribution Of Agriculture And Food To Arkansas’ Gross Domestic Product 1997-2021, Leah English, Jennie Popp

Research Reports and Research Bulletins

Agricultural production, processing, and retail industries are major contributors to Arkansas’ GDP. Agriculture contributes to the state economy through direct agricultural production, value-added processing, and agricultural retail activities. The Agriculture and Food Sector, which is comprised of agricultural production, processing, and retail industries, promotes economic strength through various interactions with other industries. The use of non-agricultural goods and services as inputs into the agricultural sector promotes diversified growth in Arkansas’ economy and thus plays a vital role in maintaining economic stability throughout the state. This report 1) compares the relative size of the Agriculture and Food Sector in Arkansas with …

Financial Benchmarks For Diversified, Direct-Market Produce Farms, Michael Sciabarrasi

UNH Cooperative Extension

No abstract provided.

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 …

2022 Nebraska Ballot Issues, J. David Aiken

Cornhusker Economics

Three issues will be on the 2022 statewide ballot, one proposed by the Nebraska Unicameral and two added to the ballot by initiative petition. The three issues are: 1) public payments to expand commercial airline service; 2) requiring photo IDs for voting; and 3) increasing the Nebraska minimum wage from $9/hour to $15/hour.

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 L. 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.

Grains, Seeds And Hay Industry Funding Scheme Annual Report 2021/2022, Department Of Primary Industries And Regional Development, Western Australia, Grains, Seeds And Hay Industry Funding Scheme

Agriculture reports

No abstract provided.

Sheep And Goat Industry Funding Scheme Annual Report 2021/2022, Department Of Primary Industries And Regional Development, Western Australia, Sheep And Goat Industry Funding Scheme

Agriculture reports

No abstract provided.

Las Interacciones Entre La Migración Y El Sistema Alimentario Globalizado En Oaxaca, México, Abby Dryden

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

En este artículo tiene como guía tres preguntas: 1. ¿Cómo interactúa el sistema alimentario globalizado con la migración interna en Oaxaca y entre Oaxaca y los Estados Unidos? 2. ¿Qué impacto el proceso de globalización tiene para el sistema alimentario y para las comunidades en Oaxaca? 3. ¿Cómo los temas de seguridad de comida y soberanía de alimentos están impactando Oaxaca? Esta investigación tiene lugar en Oaxaca, México porque estuve viviendo allí por tres meses y es un buen lugar para esta investigación en el contexto de la diversidad allí. Si bien es cierto que existe mucha información sobre el …

“Hadithi Ya Matunda”: The Informal Fruit Economy On Unguja Island: A Study Of The Livelihoods Of Smallholder Producers, Intermediaries, And Sellers, Daisy Kettle

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This is the story of fruit on Unguja Island. It illuminates the livelihoods of farmers, intermediaries, and sellers and each of their roles in the island’s fruit commodity chain. Linkages between these actors are known to play increasingly important roles in agricultural economies across the world due to their ability to create “multiplier effects” through networks of non-farm income opportunities (Wineman, 2020). Through interviews with 19 Zanzibaris who work in this trade network, I learned about the intricacies of these networks. My data revealed that the fruit flow chain on Unguja creates a network of extensive backward and forward economic …

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 …

Nebraska’S Rural Population: Historical Facts And Future Projections, Cheryl A. Burkhart-Kriesel

Cornhusker Economics

Drive down any rural highway in our state and you will quickly conclude that we are a collection of small towns and villages, with a few larger cities thrown in. Some of them are thriving while others are not. You might ask yourself, why the difference? To fully appreciate this current situation, you need to think back to how our state developed.

Our state has 530 incorporated places with 89% of these communities having fewer than 3,000 people. Nebraska is not alone in this fact, with our neighboring states of Kansas, Oklahoma, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Iowa in the …

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.

Summaries Of Arkansas Cotton Research 2021, Fred Bourland

Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station Research Series

While the basic growth and development of the cotton plant have not changed significantly in recent history, the business of cotton production is ever-changing. The last two years have seen us plant a crop just about as late as we thought possible, yet extended favorable conditions at season's end have been our salvation, helping to lead us to record yields. The economic environment over the last few years has been such that farmers need to produce record or near-record yields to advance. Unfortunately, production levels at the state yield average barely cover out-of-pocket expenses.

Great uncertainties exist for the upcoming …

Flint Michigan Drinking Water Crisis, J. David Aiken

Cornhusker Economics

Briefly covers the Flint, Michigan drinking water crisis including providing some background, a timeline of events, and key takeaways from the perspective of public policy.

This article was originally prepared for distribution to students in Aiken's AECN 357 environmental and natural resources law course.

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.

Tensions Surrounding Us Beef Exports To China, Elliott James Dennis

Center for Agricultural Profitability

No abstract provided.