Agricultural Economics Commons^™

Traceable And Scalable Food Balance Sheets From Agricultural Commodity Supply And Utilization Accounts (2010–2022), Xin Zhao, Maksym Chepeliev, Neus Escobar, Matthew T. Binsted, Pralit Patel, Page Kyle, Marshall A. Wise

Department of Agricultural Economics Faculty Publications

The Food Balance Sheets (FBS), compiled by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), serve as a cornerstone dataset for studies on agricultural development, food security, and dietary health, providing a broad overview of global and regional food systems. However, its limited transparency and scalability hinder its application in empirical analysis and multisector dynamic modeling. Here, we present a traceable Food Balance Sheets (T-FBS) dataset, developed from detailed Supply Utilization Accounts (SUA) using a novel Primary Commodity equivalent (PCe) aggregation approach. This framework enables the aggregation of commodity flows along supply chains while ensuring consistency and balance across multiple dimensions. The …

Additionality Of Solar Tax Incentives Under Community Choice Aggregation In Ohio, Michael L. Smith, Carson Reeling, Michael D. Wilcox

Department of Agricultural Economics Faculty Publications

In the State of Ohio, the electric regulatory landscape permits local governments to become energy suppliers to residents and small businesses through community choice aggregation (CCA). Some CCAs provide enrollees 100% renewable electricity. Concurrently, the federal government offers an income tax credit (ITC) for the purchase of a solar array. With policy incentives, it is important to ensure they encourage behavior beyond the baseline scenario without the ITC. This is known as “additionality.” Renewable aggregation programs may crowd out the benefits of the ITC, violating additionality. This paper assesses additionality of the ITC in the context of Ohio’s CCA programs. …

Online Media Sentiment Analysis Of Shrimp And Salmon In The United States, Jingjing Tao, Kwamena K. Quagrainie

Department of Agricultural Economics Faculty Publications

There is a growing interest in the U.S. seafood and aquaculture market; however, studies utilizing online information to understand this market are limited. This study employs online media analytics to obtain insights into consumer perceptions and potential demand signals for shrimp and salmon in the U.S. Our results show that platform X is the preferred medium for shrimp and salmon discussions, with shrimp's physical quality and salmon's environmental impact being the two major perception drivers. Additionally, autoregressive modeling is conducted to explore the dynamics of net sentiments. Farmed shrimp and salmon consistently exhibit lower net sentiments compared to their wild …

Failure Of The Farm Bill Process In 2023—A Perspective From Social Media Activity, Roman Keeney, Nicole Olynk Widmar, Austin Berenda

Department of Agricultural Economics Faculty Publications

In September 2023, the current farm bill was allowed to expire. This marked the fourth consecutive farm bill to see its authorization lapse before replacement legislation was signed into law. The failure in 2023 is notable as significant trade and covid shocks revealed needed reforms in farm and food safety nets. We develop a unique online and social media dataset and metrics to examine 2023 online activity to understand drivers of online farm bill discussion and implications for the future of the traditional farm bill political coalition. These findings echo the increasing concern about future farm bills amid a broadening …

Leveraging Social Ties To Financial Gains: Exploring The Impact Of Social Capital In Rural Development, Mallory L. Rahe, Andrew J. Van Leuven, Trey Malone

Department of Agricultural Economics Faculty Publications

Social capital, defined as networks of individuals linked through bonding or bridging relationships, plays a crucial but poorly conceptualized role in place-based development. The word “capital” implies an underlying value of the social connections throughout a community, and this study explores how these social relationships are used to initiate, plan, access financial capital, and implement economic development projects in rural areas. We avoid county-level aggregation bias and use a divergent pathway case study of projects across eight communities to examine how social ties are used during rural development in places with both high and low financial capital. Both types of …

The Recreational Value Of Birding And Crane Abundance, Richard T. Melstrom, Alex Nielsen, Carson Reeling

Department of Agricultural Economics Faculty Publications

We estimate the economic value of birding, which is an important ecosystem service produced by bird populations in recreation areas. Our research identifies the link between values and species richness as well as the abundance of the sandhill crane (Grus canadensis), which migrates each year through our study area. Sandhill crane stopovers at state and federal wildlife areas can attract many birders. We estimate this nonmarket value using the zonal travel cost method and data from the eBird project on wildlife areas in Indiana. We compare crane counts based on eBird with those from the Indiana Department of Natural Resources …

#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 …

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® …

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 …

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.

Reducing Global Food Loss And Waste Could Improve Air Quality And Lower The Risk Of Premature Mortality, Alessandro Gatto, Maksym Chepeliev

Department of Agricultural Economics Faculty Publications

While the global food system substantially contributes to environmental degradation and climate change, significant amounts of lost or wasted foods along the food supply chain actively contribute to global air pollution and related health risks. In this study, we use an environmentally-extended input–output model to quantify air pollution embedded in global food loss and waste (FLW) and investigate how FLW reduction policies can mitigate air pollution linked to food consumption, decreasing associated premature mortality risks across global regions. While estimating a positive impact of FLW reduction policies on decreasing air pollution levels (from −1.5% of SO2 emissions to −10.2% of …

Changes In Adult Well-Being And Economic Inequalities: An Exploratory Observational Longitudinal Study (2002–2010) Of Micro-Level Trends Among Tsimane’, A Small-Scale Rural Society Of Indigenous People In The Bolivian Amazon, Ricardo Godoy, Jonathan Bauchet, Jere R. Behrman, Tomás Huanca, William R. Leonard, Victoria Reyes-García, Asher Rosinger, Susan Tanner, Eduardo A. Undurraga, Ariela Zycherman

Department of Agricultural Economics Faculty Publications

Knowing what happens over time to the lifeways of people in contemporary small-scale non-industrial societies of the rural Global South matters because it helps assess changes in the quality of life of underrepresented groups. It has been hard to answer the question because longitudinal information is rarely collected in such settings. A longitudinal dataset of nine years (2002–2010) from a horticultural-foraging society of Indigenous People in the Bolivian Amazon (Tsimane’) is used for an exploratory analysis of micro-level trends in indicators of well-being and economic inequalities. We selected 13 Tsimane’ villages (from ∼ 100) that varied in proximity to town …

Us Climate Policy Yields Water Quality Cobenefits In The Mississippi Basin And Gulf Of Mexico, Shan Zuidema, Jing Liu, Maksym Chepeliev, David R. Johnson, Uris Baldos, Steve Frolking, Christopher J. Kucharik, Wilfred M. Wollheim, Thomas Hertel

Department of Agricultural Economics Faculty Publications

We utilize a coupled economy–agroecology–hydrology modeling framework to capture the cascading impacts of climate change mitigation policy on agriculture and the resulting water quality cobenefits. We analyze a policy that assigns a range of United States government’s social cost of carbon estimates ($51, $76, and $152/ton of CO2-equivalents) to fossil fuel–based CO2 emissions. This policy raises energy costs and, importantly for agriculture, boosts the price of nitrogen fertilizer production. At the highest carbon price, US carbon emissions are reduced by about 50%, and nitrogen fertilizer prices rise by about 90%, leading to an approximate 15% reduction in fertilizer applications for …

A Decision Aid To Help Farmers Find The Minimum Cost Fertilizer Combination, Gregory Ibendahl

Journal of Applied Farm Economics

Fertilizer recommendations are typically given as the pounds of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium needed per acre. Many crop budgets also list the fertilizer costs in terms of the N, P, and K. This can cause a problem for farmers as they must purchase their fertilizer in products that in some cases contain multiple nutrients. These multinutrient fertilizers make it difficult or impossible to calculate a price per unit of a nutrient. Thus, finding the minimum cost fertilizer combination by using a price per nutrient approach may not work. This paper shows how a linear programming approach will always give the …