Agriculture Commons^™

The Impact Of Climate Change In Bangladesh On The Rice Market And Farm Households, Mst Ashrafun Nahar

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Bangladesh is trying to achieve self-sufficiency in domestic rice production but climate change effects on agricultural production makes it challenging to attain the goal. The country is highly vulnerable to the effects of climate change since it is the major cause to rise in sea level, more warm summer, and happening food and cyclone in the country.

This study develops an Aggregate Farm Household Model to analyze the impact of potential land loss and yield reduction from climate change on production, consumption, prices, welfare, and the ability of government to achieve self-sufficiency in rice production. The model is calibrated to …

Characterization Of Broiler Lines Divergently Selected For Breast Muscle Color, Sara Katherine Orlowski

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

An increase in the consumption of poultry has generated an increase in demand for higher yielding broilers. This has led to an increase in atypical meat and issues with appearance. Color is a direct result of a pH decline as meat goes through rigor mortis with meat generally becoming lighter. If the pH declines too rapidly or too slowly, meat quality can suffer. Physical properties of meat can be altered by pH. A fast pH decline results in pale meat with decreased tenderness. A slow pH decline can result in darker meat with a reduced shelf-life. With a known relationship …

Spread Trading In Corn Futures Market, Ryan D. Napier

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The non-linear relationship between old crop – new crop year spreads in corn futures market and stock-to-use (S-U) ratios published by the United States Department of Agriculture is analyzed. Using a non-linear logarithmic smooth transition regression (LSTR) model, we capture asymmetric market behaviors in high and low S-U regimes. Capturing this relationship and understanding the non-linear aspects of the relationship is of interest of grain merchandizers and speculators in the market. A spread trading strategy is simulated for the sample period, January 1985 through April 2015, to determine if the non-linear relationship is a profitable arbitrage opportunity in the market.

Consumer Willingness To Pay For Genetically Engineered Edamame, Elijah John Wolfe

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the effect of GM labeling on consumer willingness to pay (WTP) for edamame. It also investigated how people reacted to different messages and whether the order of receiving positive or negative information about GM technology impacted their willingness to pay (WTP). The study had three components: (1) a sensory test of GM and non-GM labeled products; (2) a non-hypothetical experimental auction to assess WTP for GM, non-GM and unlabeled products; and (3) a questionnaire to collect demographics and other information from the participants. Results of the sensory evaluation revealed no statistically significant difference between GM and non-GM …

Nutritional Deficiencies During The Harvest Season According To Household Consumption And Level Of Nutritional Knowledge: A Case Study Of Northern Mozambique, Maggie Jo Hansen

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Mozambique is classified as a low income country, the lowest development classification defined by the World Bank. It is underdeveloped in food security, agricultural production, and nutritional status, and research shows its residents are not foreign to poverty and malnutrition. Low protein, starchy foods (maize, rice, wheat, cassava) comprise the majority of the Mozambican diet; these starchy foods are the most available for consumption. Although availability impacts diet, educational barriers may also threaten the knowledge of nutrition and perceptions of healthy foods. Illiteracy and lack of education are extreme challenges to disseminating nutritional education efforts in the rural Nampula region. …

Meat Quality And Sensory Analysis Of Broiler Breast Fillets With Woody Breast Muscle Myopathy, Jessica Solo

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Recently, the poultry industry has encountered an emerging muscle myopathy known as woody breast (WB), which is characterized by hardness throughout the Pectoralis major muscle. Two experiments were performed to assess sensory characteristics and acceptability of WB meat and to determine the effect of broiler age on meat quality factors in varying severities of WB. Fillets were categorized as normal (NORM), moderate (MOD), or severe (SEV) WB. In Experiment 1 (Exp. 1), descriptive (n=9 trained panelists) and consumer (n=74 panelists) sensory analysis was conducted with NORM and SEV fillets at hot and cold serving temperatures (HOTNORM, COLDNORM, HOTSEV, COLDSEV). In …

Soybean Planting And Risk-Return Tradeoffs In The Mid-Southern United States, Weston Weeks

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis is comprised of two studies on the effects of soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.) planting date (PD) and maturity group (MG) selection on producer expected returns. Having to replant soybean after early-season planting because of poor stand establishment is costly for producers. Replanting costs have increased in the last ten years as seed and other input costs for soybean have increased. Using five years of field trial results from two locations in Arkansas, the yield response to early and late season plant population density has been estimated to determine yield and future revenue potential for the purpose of …

Economic Feasibility Of Aquaponics In Arkansas, Leah Ashley English

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Concerns regarding population growth and resource scarcity have led to a recent renaissance of food production research. Over the past few decades, scientists have discovered new and innovative methods for growing food that, cumulatively, may hold the key to efficiently and sustainably feeding an ever-increasing world population. One method, known as aquaponics, has shown promise as being a sustainable solution for producing food locally in all parts of the world. Although many studies have shown aquaponic food production to be technically feasible, there are relatively few studies concerning the economic feasibility of aquaponics in various regions. To determine whether aquaponics …

Evaluating The Impacts Of Respondent Errors In Arms: A Case Of Farm Service Agency Loans, Louise Nicole Mcminn

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Many studies have used the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Agricultural Resource Management Survey (ARMS) to research various aspects involving the agricultural sector in the United States. Since nonresponse and inaccurate reporting may cause significant bias in statistical analysis, research was conducted to determine the magnitude of response error on the farm debt section of the ARMS Phase III. A multinomial logit model identified demographic, structural, and financial characteristics of FSA Farm Loan Program (FLP) borrowers who refused to indicate if they had end of year farm debt, or who accurately or inaccurately classified their farm operations as having end …

Perceptions Of Agricultural Leadership Academic Programs At 1862 Land-Grant Universities, Jackson Cole Alexander

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study sought to characterize perceptions of agricultural leadership programs in colleges of agriculture, food, life, human, or environmental sciences at 1862 land-grant institutions. Twenty-six academic programs were identified with a major, minor, graduate degree, specialization, concentration, or certificate in agricultural leadership. Programs were identified through analyzing the APLU and USDA NIFA websites, searching academic college websites, and contacting deans and departments heads. Objectives included identifying programs, describing the need for programs, describing evolution that has taken place within the discipline, describing faculty recommendations for future development and growth in the field, and examining why faculty believe programs are relevant. …

A Regional Approach To Analysis Of Food Security Framework And Policies Of The Economic Community Of West African States (Ecowas), Hannah Elizabeth Shear

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Food security is always a concern for consumers, but especially for those in West Africa, where the population of food insecure people has continued to grow over the past decade despite attempts by initiatives such as the World Food Program and the establishment of Millennium Development Goals. The people of West Africa are subject to repetitive natural disasters and are often in political upheaval. Many economic policies have been established to mitigate the impact that production disasters have on the consumers; one of these policies is the utilization of regional food reserves.

In 2010, the Economic Community of West African …

Modifying A Cow-Calf Biophysical Simulation Model For Analyses Of Alternative Enterprises, Jennifer L. Lutes

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Cow-calf producers in the United States, tasked with providing beef calves for the beef industry, have had a multitude of difficulties to overcome in recent years. Producers in northwest Arkansas were negatively impacted by high hay prices coupled with low beef cattle market prices due to severe drought experienced in portions of 2010, 2011, and 2012. During this time they also faced high grain prices, due to a record low harvest, combined with portions of the corn harvest diverted from human and animal feed to ethanol production. Tight lending policies of this time, reminiscent of the housing market crash in …

The Impact Of A Ballot Education Program On Arkansas Voters, Kristin Netterstrom Higgins

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The University of Arkansas Division Of Agriculture’s Public Policy Center has educated Arkansas voters about statewide ballot issues for 10 years. The ballot issue education program, was evaluated during the 2014 election cycle to determine the program’s impact on voters. This descriptive study sought to describe program participants, to determine knowledge transfer of county agents, to describe knowledge acquisition of program participants, and to measure whether people who attended Cooperative Extension Service presentations made informed choices on Election Day. Researchers found that program participants were mostly older, educated, White women. There were increases in knowledge among participants who read fact …

Identifying Leadership Perceptions Of Desired Competencies Of Agricultural Sales Students And Agricultural Sales Industry Professionals, Sarah Beann Wright

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The two articles presented in this thesis used both quantitative and qualitative research methods to evaluate competencies among agricultural business students and agricultural sales professionals respectively. In the first study, students enrolled in the Fall 2014 agribusiness sales course at [State] University (n = 97), participated in a pre and post evaluation comprised of leadership assessments to determine the change in introversion and extroversion, task-oriented and relationship-oriented, and finally strength characteristics over the time period of an academic semester. Students presented to be from a variety of leadership backgrounds. Posttest results reported students being both high task (62.89%) and high …

Cost-Benefit Analysis And Potential Spillover Effects Of Farmer Field Schools In Sub-Saharan Africa: The Case Of Cocoa, Francis Tsiboe

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis consists of two studies analyzing the first phase of the Cocoa Livelihood Program (CLP-I), a current World Cocoa Foundation (WCF) development project, sponsored by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and aimed at improving the livelihood of small scale cocoa producers in Sub-Saharan Africa. The first study uses a difference-in-differences econometric model to estimate yield enhancements attributable to farmer field schools which CLP implements. The results show a 32%, 34%, 50% and 62% increase in cocoa yield for Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, Nigeria and Cameroon, respectively. These yield enhancements have the potential to increase income by 26%, 29%, 48%, …

Effect Of In Ovo Feeding Of Dextrin-Iodinated Casein On Hatch, Growth And Gene Expression In Broilers., Shaymaa Mostafa Ibrahim Abousaad

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Six experiments were conducted to determine effects of in ovo feeding of dextrin (Dext, 18% maltodextrin, 10% potato starch dextrin) and iodinated casein (IC) on hatch and growth performance in broilers. In each experiment, approximately 15,000 eggs (2500 eggs per group) were treated at 18.5 to 19 d of embryonic development. Three studies indicated that hatch weights were higher in chicks receiving Dext or Dext containing IC at 240 or 480 µg/mL and only one study indicated negative effects of Dext or 240 µg IC/mL saline on hatch weight. In one growth study, broilers provided Dext or Dext with IC …

Food Waste At Retail, Erin G. Killeen Davis

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Food waste at retail represents forgone sales and embodies store management and disposal costs. Fresh produce is the largest contributing sector to food waste at retail and bulky, seasonal products are an added challenge when stores experience a high waste event. In order to improve, retailers need to better understand the costs of food waste, as well as how management strategies can impact these costs.

Using pumpkins as an example of bulky, seasonal products, a twofold research project was conducted to better understand contributors to, and costs of food waste at the retail level. In part one, using data from …

Life Cycle Assessment Of Alternative Swine Management Practices, Prathamesh Avadhut Bandekar

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Life Cycle Assessments (LCAs) are quantitative analyses of complex systems for evaluation of impacts and risk associated with management decisions. LCAs can be effective tools for determining comparative advantages of management strategies across specific impact concern. In this study, life cycle assessments of pork production management alternatives was performed. The alternative management practices included in this study were production of entire males (boars), use of pens for gestation housing, immunocastration, production without growth promoting antimicrobials, production without growth promoting and preventive antimicrobials, and production without ractopamine. These LCAs evaluated the impact of each management strategy on greenhouse gas emission (GHG), …

Physiological And Nutritional Characterization Of High Yield Soybean, Ryan John Van Roekel

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] grain yields greater than three times the national average have been reported in yield contests. Characterization of soybean in a maximum yield environment is necessary to provide empirical data to support those yield claims and to provide an understanding of the physiological processes at that yield level. From 2011 to 2013, research characterized biomass and N accumulation rates, radiation use efficiency (RUE), leaf N dynamics, the rate of harvest index increase (dry matter allocation coefficient, DMAC), seedfill period (SFP), and grain yield components from Mr. Kip Cullers' contest fields and in small plots at the …

Poultry Production Messaging: A Content Analysis Of Three National Newspapers From 1994 To 2014, Stuart Estes

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Consumers are increasingly concerned with the use of antibiotics and hormones in poultry production, and the news media is the primary way consumers gain knowledge about this subject. This study assessed articles about antibiotic and hormone use in poultry production from the New York Times, USA Today, and the Wall Street Journal from 1994 to 2014. This study employed a content analysis methodology to assess selected articles (n = 139) for key messaging about antibiotic and hormone use in poultry production, article tone, article framing, and article journalistic quality. Data gathered from key messages were assessed for emergent themes that …

Ex Ante Analysis Of Price And Trade Effects For The Rice Sector In The Transatlantic Trade And Investment Partnership, William Lawrence Jacobs

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In 2013, trade negotiations began between the United States and the European Union to create a free trade agreement with the goal of phasing out tariffs for all but the most sensitive products. To aid negotiators in analyzing potential agriculture agreements, the objective of this study is to quantify policy impacts of a potential trade liberalization of rice. This study will also be a useful analysis for various participants in the rice market to make educated business decisions.

This study utilizes the spatial partial equilibrium model RICEFLOW to project the differences in market prices, production volumes, trade volumes, and consumption …

Addressing Genetic Pollution From Pollen Drift On A Heterogeneous Landscape, Mattia Ciro Mancini

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Genetically modified (GM) crops are crops in which single or multiple genes have been introduced artificially in order to obtain certain characteristics that are difficult to obtain through conventional breeding. Even though farmers have the right to freely choose what types of crops to grow, pollen mediated gene flow from GM crops to non-GM crops can limit the possibility for crops to coexist on a same landscape, resulting in economic losses that depend on the institutional arrangements and the type of property rights in place. Although it is well known that spatial variability affects the degree of cross-contamination between GM …

The Economic Viability Of Cocoa Crop Insurance In Ghana, Justin D. Mckinley

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study was motivated by the fact that Ghanaian cocoa producers face lower yields than other main cocoa producing counties which in turn increases food insecurity for smallholder producers. In addition, low yields experienced by Ghanaian producers is a driving factor for forest degradation and deforestation as cocoa producers encroach further into previously undisturbed forests in efforts to increase their incomes. There are currently production methods to achieve higher yields readily available in Ghana; however, many producers choose not to adopt these methods because they are seen as too risky, or simply cannot adopt them due to financial/credit constraints. A …

Assessing Net Returns To Blueberry Production Using A Decision Support Tool, Sokha Sok

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to develop and assess the profitability of four highbush blueberry farming systems in the south: organic field production, conventional field production, organic high tunnel production and conventional high tunnel production. Four baseline budget scenarios, one for each system, are developed for a 15 year production period. The results suggest that under expected production and price conditions for Northwest Arkansas, while all four production systems generated positive present value of net returns, the conventional field production produced the highest present value of net returns across the 15 years. The breakeven years of production were 7 …

European Consumers' Attitudes Towards Cisgenic Rice, Anne-Cécile Delwaide

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The enhancement of existing plant breeding techniques, such as cisgenesis, allows plant breeders to enhance an existing cultivar quicker and with little to no genetic drag. Cisgenesis is the genetic modification of a recipient plant with natural gene(s) from a sexually compatible plant. Unlike transgenesis, which is the genetic modification of a recipient plant with gene(s) from any non‐plant organism, or from a donor plant that is sexually incompatible with the recipient plant, the results of cisgenesis could occur naturally over time. Currently, both cisgenic and transgenic products are classified as genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and are labeled as such …

Consumer Acceptance And Willingness To Pay For Genetically Modified Rice In China: A Double Bounded Dichotomous Choic Contingent Valuation Survey Calibrated By Cheap Talk, Jing Jin

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Considering population growth, limitations on land and water resources, and contamination to the ecosystem due to agricultural activities, current rice production in China is facing pressure to fulfill national demand. Self-sufficiency of rice has been a long-held political objective of the Chinese government and it is national goal to maintain the equilibrium between the national production and consumption or even achieve a supply surplus in rice. With the developing bio-technology of genetic modification (GM), scientists believe that using genetically modified cultivars may ease the pressure mentioned above. However, both the government and the people are very cautious about large-scale cultivation …

Price Discovery And Futures Spreads For U.S. And Chinese Rice Futures Market, Wei Yang

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Rice, the primary staple food for more than half the world's population, is the second world's most consumed food grain. In recent years, world rice price has increased and become more volatile especially in the period 2007-2010. Rice price volatility has a huge impact on Asian countries, especially countries in Southeast Asia where rice is a staple food for millions of households. Private market tools to manage price risk and discover price such as futures markets have been analyzed and assessed as possible solutions to coping with rice price volatility issue. Two primary functions of agricultural commodities futures markets are …

Population Genetics, Distributions And Phenology Of Bombus Latreille, 1802 And Xylocopa Latreille, 1802 (Hymenoptera: Apidae), Amber Dawn Tripodi

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This work addresses multiple knowledge gaps in bee ecology, population health and phylogeography in order to provide insights into the changing distributions of native bees. A comparison of Arkansas bumble bee records mirrors range-wide surveys, with records of stable species (Bombus bimaculatus Cresson, 1863 and B. impatiens Cresson, 1863) increasing three-fold, and records of the declining B. pensylvanicus (DeGeer, 1773) dropping to 60% of historical levels. However, nationally-recommended conservation-genetics tools did not mirror these results on a regional level. Stable and declining species had equivalent genetic diversity in samples from Arkansas and Tennessee (H_S range: 0.46-0.63). Diploid males, …

Characteristics Of Agricultural Communications Undergraduate Programs, Morgan Michelle Large

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study was designed to characterize agricultural communications undergraduate programs nationwide. A total of 41 undergraduate agricultural communications programs were identified via the National ACT database, Internet searches, and previous academic program research. Objectives included creating an accounting of existing programs, a description of those programs, identifying trends in program demographics, curriculum development and identifying top programs. This study employed a census approach and used a mixed methods design. A mixed-methods survey instrument was used to collect the data. The survey included questions to gain both qualitative and quantitative data to meet this study's objectives. The quantitative data were analyzed …

Millennial Alumni Perceptions Of Communications Media Utilized By The Dale Bumpers College Of Agricultural, Food And Life Sciences, Amanda Nicole Anthony

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Alumni relationship cultivation serves as the foundation of higher education and must be maintained to keep graduates and alma maters connected. To evaluate the success of communications media in reaching recent graduates, classified as Millennials, this study sought to determine Millennial alumni perceptions of media distributed by the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences (Bumpers College) from 2012 through 2014. Assessed communications media included The Graduate and AR Culture magazines, The Graduate e-newsletter, tailgate and mocktail party invitations, College website, and social media presences. Active and inactive Millennial alumni (N = 20) responses were gathered through …