Agriculture Commons^™

#Porkandpigs: An Online Media Listening Analysis Of Public Perception Of The U.S. Swine Industry, Alexandra E. Fisk, Michael L. Smith, Brian T. Richert, Nicole Olynk Widmar

Department of Agricultural Economics Faculty Publications

With the majority of the U.S. swine industry being generally bounded by social licensing, there is a growing need to understand social perspectives to better adapt to consumer demands. Online and social media data are rich datasets that researchers are leveraging to tackle economic and societal challenges. The information that can be gleaned from online media regarding public perceptions makes it an important tool for producers to understand driving topics of interest to the public. This study utilized a prominent online and social media listening and data analytics platform to identify and quantify online and social media mentions related to …

What Motivates The Choice To Custom Hire Pest Management Spraying Services?, Braeden Van Deye, Trey Malone

Department of Agricultural Economics Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND

This article presents a model of how farmers choose to custom hire for pest control. The decision-making process is illustrated through a discrete choice experiment conducted via a pilot survey of soybean growers in Michigan, Illinois, and Indiana. Farmers responded to a hypothetical pest infestation by choosing between custom operators, spraying on their own, or leaving the field to its fate.

RESULTS

Among farmers who choose to spray, the mean willingness to pay for marginal increases in timeliness (as defined as the chance of late spraying) ranges from 37 to 52 cents per acre. We also find that farmers …

Editorial: Sustainable Aquaculture Production For Improved Food Security, Kwasi Adu Obirikorang, Kwamena Quagrainie, Jemimah Etornam Kassah, Mathis Von Ahnen

Department of Agricultural Economics Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Strategies For Land-Grant Universities To Foster Public Trust, John D. Anderson, Trey Malone, Jay Akridge

Department of Agricultural Economics Faculty Publications

This review article explores the role of land-grant Extension amidst an escalating epistemic crisis, where misinformation and the contestation of knowledge severely impact public trust and policymaking. We delve into the historical mission of land-grant institutions to democratize education and extend knowledge through Cooperative Extension Services, highlighting their unique position to address contemporary challenges of information disorder and declining public confidence in higher education. Land-grant universities can reaffirm their relevance and leadership in disseminating reliable information by reasserting their foundational principles of unbiased, objective scholarship and deep engagement with diverse stakeholders. This reaffirmation comes at a critical time when societal …

Compost Comparison In High Tunnels, Elizabeth Maynard, Marian Rodriguez-Soto, Rebecca Koetz

Midwest Vegetable Trial Reports

Compost is frequently used in market garden production systems, both in the field and in high tunnels. This trial was conducted in northern Indiana to evaluate four composts for use in high tunnel tomato production, with primary emphasis on their value as sources of macronutrients. The results reported here document effects of the composts on tomato yield, leaf tissue nutrient concentrations, and soil nutrients at the end of one growing season.

Forage Crops Interseeded In Pumpkins, Elizabeth Maynard, Rebecca Koetz, Marian Rodriguez-Soto

Midwest Vegetable Trial Reports

Pumpkins are grown on more than one-third of Indiana vegetable farms. There is increasing interest in producing grassfed livestock for local sales and integrating livestock into annual cropping systems. Cattle are known to eat unharvested pumpkins that remain in the field after harvest, and success in undersowing cover crops in pumpkins has been reported in the literature and by producers. This trial in northern Indiana evaluated the performance of different forage cover crops in a market pumpkin system. Results showed there is potential for interplanting forage crops or winter cover crops between pumpkin rows in July or August. When planted …

Selected Indiana Government Statistical Agencies And Their Data, Bert Chapman

Libraries Faculty and Staff Presentations

Provides coverage of Indiana state government agencies statistics and selected Tippecanoe County, Indiana local government statistical publications. Presentation describes state agencies such as the Indiana Departments of Agriculture, Education, Health, Local Government Finance, and State Budget Agency. Examples of historical and current data are presented.

A Call For Better Understanding Household Complexity In Environmental Social Science, Rebecca Nixon, Brooke Mcwherter, Anna Erwin, Jonathan Bauchet, Zhao Ma

Department of Agricultural Economics Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Documenting Food Insecure U.S. Children In The Wake Of The Pandemic, Courtney Bir, John Lai, Nicole Olynk Widmar

Department of Agricultural Economics Faculty Publications

Many households experienced significant negative economic impacts from job or work opportunity loss during the COVID-19 pandemic, including loss of income, loss of employer-provided health insurance, possible housing insecurity, and increases in food insecurity. Results from a sample of 929 U.S. households show that 53% of households with children reported some indications of food insecurity in 2020. The food security score divergences between households with and without children are stark, with food insecurity being worse among households with children. Food insecurity for households with children was exacerbated by pandemic-era disruptions; the societal costs of these food insecurity challenges are only …

Software Solutions In Agri-Food Supply Chains: A Current View For Sustainability Reporting, Ryan Loy, Logan L. Britton, Trey Malone

Department of Agricultural Economics Faculty Publications

Environmental impact reporting has become a lynchpin for global agri-food supply chain decision-making. This importance has become heightened as governing bodies such as the European Union pass traceability legislation in an effort to reduce Scope 3 emissions. Despite this heightened importance, few studies have explored the role of supply chain management software in achieving sustainability goals within the agribusiness sector. This article provides a current perspective on ongoing supply chain and logistics software issues that might restrict the effectiveness of sustainability reporting. We argue that agribusinesses may struggle to achieve sustainability targets effectively without proficiency in supply chain software. This …

Economic Contribution Of U.S. Aquaculture Farms, Ganesh Kumar, Shraddha Hegde, Jonathan Van Senten, Carole Engle, Noah Boldt, Matthew Parker, Kwamena Quagrainie, Benedict Posadas, Frank Asche, Madan Dey, Suja Aarattuthodi, Luke A. Roy, Russell Grice, Quentin Fong, Michael Schwarz

Department of Agricultural Economics Faculty Publications

Economics is the study of the allocation of scarce resources to meet human wants and needs and has a critical role to play in addressing challenges related to environmental sustainability, community resilience, and food security. In the context of aquaculture, the key to such a discussion is understanding the linkages of aquaculture farming businesses with other economic sectors and how policy decisions that affect aquaculture result in economic ripples throughout local, regional, and national economies. The only previous national estimates of the economic contributions of U.S. aquaculture are nearly 30 years old. The current study was based on comprehensive data …

A Regional Analysis Of Climate Change Effects On Global Snow Crab Fishery, Jingjing Tao, Kwamena Quagrainie, Kenneth A. Foster, Nicole Olynk Widmar

Department of Agricultural Economics Faculty Publications

The snow crab fishery faces increasing vulnerability to environmental factors, yet the literature on the relationship between climate change and snow crab harvest remains limited. This study estimates snow crab harvest functions using climate change indicators with unbalanced panel data of snow crab production from the eastern Bering Sea (Alaska), the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence (Canada), the Sea of Japan, and the Barents Sea (Norway-Russia). The relationship between snow crab biomass, stock, and catch is analyzed and the endogeneity of stock in the harvest function is also addressed using climate change indicators as instrumental variables (IVs). The results show …

Online Media Sentiment Analysis For Us Oysters, Taylor L. Bradford, Kwamena Quagrainie

Department of Agricultural Economics Faculty Publications

Sentiment analysis, a form of data analytics, utilises information from online discussions, reviews, and social media posts to assess consumer sentiments. This study utilised data collected from social media using online listening procedures to assess online sentiments on oysters from January 2019 through December 2022. The analysis utilises machine learning algorithms to extract consumer sentiments, opinions, and demands from online chatter from different online domains. The online sentiments are determined as positive, negative, or neutral based on their word choice, tone, and context. The information provided gives insights into perception, which is valuable information for oyster producers, seafood industry stakeholders, …

Biological Lags And Market Dynamics In Vertically Coordinated Food Supply Chains: Hpai Impacts On U.S. Egg Prices, James L. Mitchell, Jada M. Thompson, Trey Malone

Department of Agricultural Economics Faculty Publications

It is well known that livestock production involves long biological lags. Failure to account for these biological lags can result in the misspecification of supply chain relationships and adjustments to market shocks, which can have significant implications for policy decisions. An example is the 2022 Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) event that caused high mortality rates in domestic poultry supply chains and reduced egg production. We use the 2022–2023 HPAI event to highlight the implications of misspecification of disease dynamics in agri-food systems. Specifically, we examine the impact of HPAI on U.S. egg prices in 2022–2023. To do this, we …

Net-Zero Transition In Ukraine: Implications For Sustainable Development Goal 7, Maksym Chepeliev, Oleksandr Diachuk, Roman Podolets, Andrii Semeniuk, Galyna Trypolska

Department of Agricultural Economics Faculty Publications

In this study, we use a TIMES-Ukraine energy system-wide model to explore net-zero transition in Ukraine. The assessment considers the potential implications of the ongoing war in the country and analyzes how the achievement of ambitious mitigation goals could impact the indicators related to the Sustainable Development Goal on energy, SDG7 (Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy). Results suggest that the net-zero transition would help improve several SDG7 indicators, including increased share of renewables in total final energy consumption, and increased energy affordability in the long run. However, in the medium run, increasing energy prices and rising …

Implications Of The Net Zero Transition Scenarios On Sdg Indicators: Linking Global Energy System, Cge And Atmospheric Source-Receptor Models, Maksym Chepeliev, George Giannakidis, Amit Kanudia, Dominique Van Der Mensbrugghe

Department of Agricultural Economics Faculty Publications

This study contributes to a better understanding of synergies and trade-offs between climate mitigation and sustainable development goals, covering 17 indicators across various SDGs. Our assessment employs a multi-model framework, which includes a global computable general equilibrium model (ENVISAGE), an energy system model (KINESYS) and an atmospheric source-receptor model (TM5-FASST). This combination of modeling tools allows us to provide a detailed representation of the energy-related SDG indicators while accounting for their interactions with climate mitigation and socio-economic dimensions. We find that out of 17 analyzed SDG indicators, seven experience co-benefits from implementing mitigation efforts (including improved environmental footprints, energy efficiency …

Effects Of Alternative Hermetic Bag Storage On Fermented And Dried Cocoa Bean (Theobroma Cacao L.), Kenneth Foster, Lina M. Suarez-Guzman, Diana C. Meza-Sepulveda, Dieudonne Baributsa, Carlos A. Zurita

Department of Agricultural Economics Faculty Publications

Cocoa beans, derived from the Cacao Tree (Theobroma cacao L.), are a cash crop among smallholder farmers in tropical regions. After harvest and processing, maintaining cocoa bean quality is critical to access lucrative markets. This paper examines the impact of hermetic storage on insect damage, mold, moisture content, and water activity of fermented and dried cocoa beans under farm conditions in collaboration with a farmer association of Belén de Umbría in Colombia. Three types of hermetic storage systems were assessed for a period of 12 months: Purdue Improved Crop Storage (PICS) bags, including both 2- and 3-layer variants, and Ecotact® …

Evaluation Of Critical Weed-Free Period For Three Sweetpotato (Ipomoea Batatas) Cultivars, Emmanuel G. Cooper, Stephen L. Meyers, Jeanine Arana, Katherine Jennings, Ashley Adair, Kevin D. Gibson, William G. Johnson

Department of Horticulture & Landscape Architecture Faculty Publications

Sweetpotato [Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam.] is a staple crop that provides nutritional benefits to humans globally, but it is subject to yield loss when competing with weeds, especially during the early stage of establishment. Yield loss can vary widely based on the cultivar, production environment, weed species, and management techniques. To address this challenge, we conducted field research at the Samuel G. Meigs Horticulture Research Farm, Lafayette, IN, and at the Southwest Purdue Agricultural Center, Vincennes, IN, in 2022 to determine the effect of sweetpotato cultivar on the critical weed-free period. The experiment was a split-plot design, with weed-free interval …

U.S. Government Agency Podcasts, Bert Chapman

Libraries Faculty and Staff Presentations

Presents podcasts from U.S. Government agencies which can be discovered through the U.S. Government Publishing Office's Catalog of Government Publications. Agencies whose podcasts are presented include the National Institutes of Health, U.S. Peace Corps, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Government Accountability Office (GAO), National Park Service, Department of Justice, Federal Reserve System, and U.S. Naval War College.

Flowering Of Spring-Planted Greens, Elizabeth Maynard, Marian M. Rodriguez-Soto, Rebecca Koetz

Midwest Vegetable Trial Reports

Greens for salad or cooking are a significant part of the spring crop mix sold at Indiana farmers' markets. The harvest period for many spring-planted greens is shortened because they flower in response to environmental conditions. This paper reports on flowering response of two varieties of arugula, collards, mizuna, two types of mustard, and shungiku, planted in mid-April through May in northern Indiana.

Effect Of Black Soldier Fly Larvae And Food Substrates On Weed Seed Emergence, Stephen L. Meyers, Jeanine Arana, Luz Cardona Giraldo, Laura Ingwell, Laura Rodriguez, Nathaly Vargas

Department of Horticulture & Landscape Architecture Faculty Publications

Black soldier fly larvae (Hermetia illucens; BSFL) composting is biotechnology used for organic waste management and an alternative to traditional composting. We designed a two-phase experiment to evaluate the effect of BSFL composting on the emergence of the following six weed species: barnyardgrass (Echinochloa crus-galli), common ragweed (Ambrosia artemisiifolia), giant foxtail (Setaria faberi), ivyleaf morningglory (Ipomoea hederacea), redroot pigweed (Amaranthus retroflexus), and velvetleaf (Abutilon theophrasti). The first experiment phase was in the laboratory (laboratory composting phase), which consisted of 100 seeds of each weed species subjected to five composting treatments [two controls (nontreated and standard Gainesville diet alone) and three …

High Tunnel Bell Pepper Spacing Trial, Bronwyn Aly

Midwest Vegetable Trial Reports

The objective of this trial is to determine an optimum spacing for bell peppers grown in a high tunnel production system. Six different spacing treatments were evaluated in this trial. Results from this study suggest that tighter plant spacing increased yield per unit area (100 feet of linear row) but decreased the yield per plant.

Geospatial Analysis Of Agricultural Potential In The United States, Diana Febrita

Graduate Industrial Research Symposium

Traditionally, the agriculture sector is responsible for providing food and crop products. However, the role of agriculture has expanded beyond its traditional function. It is the main sector that contributes to the provision of food, income, employment, environmental protection, and local economic development. Reflecting on the roles of agriculture, understanding the potential of agriculture in the United States is crucial to discovering the prospects and challenges. This study will briefly discuss the agricultural potential in the United States based on the five assets, including natural capital, financial capital, human capital, physical capital, and social capital. To identify the states with …

Evaluating The Environmental Impacts Of U.S. Historical Oil Spill Incidents, Yiming Liu, Hua Cai

Graduate Industrial Research Symposium

Exposure to risks associated with the production and usage of products, particularly oil, poses significant threats to both ecological systems and human health. Notable examples include the Gulf War Oil Spill (1991) and the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill (2010). However, numerous smaller-scale oil spills, which collectively contribute to substantial oil releases, often remain overlooked. To fill this gap, our study first developed a detailed oil spill incidents database, covering 1967 to 2023. We quantified the released amount (RA) of oil spills recorded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Subsequently, we utilized life cycle impact indicators in ReCiPe to …

Autonomous Roadside Mower Testing And Evaluation In Digital Twin Environments, Michael Mardikes, Ethan Brown, Timothy Wiegman, Nathan Sprague, Shreyas Supe, J. T. Evans

Graduate Industrial Research Symposium

Modern day roadside mowing operations in Indiana are performed by contractors operating tractors that pull flex-wing mowers. These mowing operations span over 11,000 miles of road across the state and create serious risk for human operators. Autonomous mowers can provide a safer alternative, but a replacement system must demonstrate an acceptable level of trust before large-scale deployment. A high-fidelity digital-twin environment can facilitate the capability to rapidly test and evaluate platforms in their desired application, while enabling zero real-world risk, a wide range of test variables, and repeatability of a test setup. The simulation environment must be at a level …

Modelling The "Bottom-Up" Development Pattern Of Tar Spot Disease In Corn, Brenden Lane, Joaquín Guillermo Ramírez-Gil, Carlos Góngora-Canul, Mariela Sofia Fernandez Campos, Andres Cruz-Sancan, Fidel E. Jiménez-Beitia, Alex G. Acosta-Guatemal, Wily Sic, C. D. Cruz

Graduate Industrial Research Symposium

In 2015, the corn-infecting pathogen Phyllachora maydis (causal agent of tar spot disease) was reported for the first time in the United States. The disease has since spread across the US, causing major yield losses. In 2021 alone, 5.88 million metric tons (231.3 million bushels) of US corn yield were lost to this disease, costing an estimated US$1.25 billion. Though fungicides can protect against these agroeconomic losses, application timing can be difficult to optimize because our understanding of tar spot dynamics is still evolving. The current view is that tar spot typically develops bottom-up through a repeating infection cycle. Because …

Quantifying Demand And Willingness To Pay For Local Food Production, Mario Ortez, Taylor Thompson, Valerie Kilders, Nicole Olynk Widmar

Department of Agricultural Economics Faculty Publications

The location of production and processing has had an increasingly prominent role in discussions regarding food systems today. Acknowledging the increasing importance, we study consumer preferences for and perception of local products with a particular focus on how willingness to pay (WTP) for local origin indication differs across products, types of designations, and rurality of the individual's geographic location. Using data collected through an online survey, we focused on Indiana residents’ preferences for sweet corn and Barbecue (BBQ) sauce with the sample representing both rural and urban consumers across all twelve economic growth regions in the state. Results reveal significant …

Dining Out Behavior In China And The Implications In The Post-Covid-19 Era, Ji Yong Kwon

The Journal of Purdue Undergraduate Research

No abstract provided.

Willingness-To-Pay For Rationed Goods: Bobcat Harvest Permits In Indiana, Nicholas A. Lancaster, Carson Reeling, John G. Lee, Richard T. Melstrom, Joe N. Caudell, Geriann Albers

Department of Agricultural Economics Faculty Publications

We use contingent valuation to estimate hunter and trapper willingness to pay (WTP) for a hypothetical bobcat harvest permit being considered in Indiana. Harvest permits would be rationed, with limits on aggregate and individual harvests. A model of permit demand shows that WTP may be subject to “congestion effects” which attenuate welfare gains from relaxing harvest limits. Intuitively, relaxing limits may directly change an individual’s expected harvest and, hence, WTP. Participation may subsequently change, with congestion offsetting welfare increases. These effects may lead to apparent scope insensitivity that may be endemic in the context of rationed goods.

High Tunnel Broccoli Cultivar Evaluations, Lewis Jett

Midwest Vegetable Trial Reports

Broccoli is a potentially profitable crop for high tunnel production. Updated information on yield and quality of new cultivars is important for producers making planting decisions. This evaluation of 11 cultivars was conducted within a high tunnel in Fall 2023.