Agricultural Economics Commons^™

Profit Efficiency And Smallholder Sugarcane Out-Growers Under Contract Farming In Tanzania: Does Location Matter?, Thobias Nsindagi, Jennifer K. Sesabo

Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences

Tanzania is among countries that value the sugarcane sector as one of the potential crops for poverty alleviation. The sector provides direct employment to about 14,000 people, and it is an outlet for the produce of over 30,000 farming households (Nkonya & Barreiro Hurle, 2012). Likewise, it provides direct earnings and savings amounting to about US$28m annually (Sugar Board of Tanzania (SBT), 2007). However, sugarcane out-growers in Tanzania have been getting low prices relative to unit costs (Matango, 2006). This has generated substantial debate about the need and level of government support. Like other developing countries, contract farming (CF) has …

Six Key Components Of A Farm Or Ranch Business Plan, Jay Parsons

Cornhusker Economics

Developing a good farm or ranch business plan can have many benefits. In an earlier Cornhusker Economics article, I outlined six good reasons to develop a business plan (Parsons 2015). It helps to get your business organized and moving in the right direction. It lets your lender know you have a plan to succeed, which opens up your access to capital. It also helps you organize your thoughts, clarifying the goals and objectives you wish to achieve. In summary, putting together a written business plan increases the likelihood of your business achieving success (Scarborough 2011).

Engineering Eden: The World's Attempt To Outsmart Water Scarcity, Kaitlin A. Sullivan

Capstones

Countries around the world are running out of fresh water, 43 already live with water scarcity, requiring more water than they have. In 2015 the global water crisis took first place in The World Economic Forum’s assessment of the risks that will have the most significant impact on economies, environments and people. Water beat out 27 other long-term risks including infectious diseases and weapons of mass destruction. What happened to Crowley County on the plains of Southeastern Colorado is a cautionary tale of borrowed water. It's been called the Detroit of Colorado, decimated by the reliance of a single industry. …

Jerome Powell Is Not The Bad Guy, Timothy Meyer

Cornhusker Economics

One of the maxims often heard in economics, agriculture, and politics is that those who do not learn from history are bound to repeat it. At first glance, this is a pessimistic view of human behavior. However, I believe that in some part it is a reflection of the positive spirit exhibited by many Americans. While it is true some have not bothered to learn from history, others have simply emphasized the positive times while simultaneously limiting the memory of more challenging experiences.

Risk And Return Comparisons Of Pre-Harvest Marketing Strategies, John Leander Turner V

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This paper analyzes risk and returns associated with pre-harvest corn grain marketing strategies for the state of Arkansas. Farming is characterized by a volatile environment. Numerous risks are taken by producers in order to provide commodities that are bought and sold by various parties in the supply chain. Price, yield, and production costs vary daily and can have large variation between years. Risk and Return Comparisons of Pre-harvest Marketing Strategies examines the effectiveness of using pre-harvest marketing strategies to enhance returns and to mitigate inherent price risk in the Memphis cash corn market. Thirteen strategies are compared to the October …

Imperfect Produce Pricing: Relationships Between Price Percent Discount And Demographic Traits Of Customers, April Foster

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This research sought to understand the impact of price reductions on consumer spending behaviors related to the purchase of imperfect produce. Additionally, the correlation between consumers’ demographics and their willingness to purchase imperfect produce at various price points was evaluated. The data was viewed with mindfulness toward reducing food loss as a function of the world food crisis. More specifically, the purpose of this study was to describe the relationship between Washington County, Arkansas consumers’ demographic traits and the percent discount at which they are willing to alter their behavior to purchase specific imperfect produce items. Using the Theory of …

Assessing Rice Consumers’ Preferences And Willingness To Pay In Haiti, Cleeford Pavilus

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In the last 30 years, rice has become the number one food staple in Haiti, and rice imports have outpaced domestic production to supply the country’s increasing rice demand. Policy makers support the claim that increasing local rice supply will not only reduce the dependency on imported rice but also upheave the national economy. However, there is a lack of information on Haitian consumers’ preferences for rice to aid the development of the local rice supply chain. This research aims to bridge that gap by assessing Haitian consumer preferences and willingness to pay for selected rice quality characteristics. The results …

Do We Need More Futures Contracts In Commodity Markets?, Fabio Mattos

Cornhusker Economics

In the last couple of months, there has been news about a new futures contract for soybeans. The Financial Times and Reuters, among others, reported that the CME Group, the world’s largest futures exchange, is considering launching a futures contract based on Brazilian soybeans. The discussion seems to have started after trade issues between the United States and China resulted in a 25 percentage-point tariff on U.S. soybeans exported to China. As Chinese buyers try to avoid the tariff by purchasing grain from other suppliers, notably Brazil, a new price dynamics between U.S. and Brazilian soybeans could be emerging. This …

Profitability Of Developing Beef Heifers On Stockpiled Winter Forages, Zachary David Mcfarlane, Chris Boyer, J. Travis Mulliniks

Journal of Applied Farm Economics

We estimate the profitability of developing heifers on one stockpiled cool-season grass and two stockpiled warm-season grasses during the winter months by comparing distributions of net present value (NPV) over an 11-year useful life. Furthermore, distributions of payback period and the break-even price for each calf over the heifer’s production life were generated for each forage species. These results are compared across forages as well as to a simulated drylot system for heifer development. Data comes from a grazing experiment in Tennessee, where heifers grazed big bluestem and Indian grass combination (BBIG), switchgrass (SW), or endophyte-infected tall fescue (TF) pastures. …

Nebraska Cooperative Extension Association Scrapbook: Officers And Annual Meeting Programs 1967-1999

Nebraska Cooperative Extension Association Materials

THIS IS HOW IT BEGAN .... 1967: Extension Groups Merge

Charter Year Directors L-R Don Kubik John Burbank Genevieve Lawrence Roland Cooksley Roberta Sward, Treasurer Vick McClure, Pr'esident I ' Deloris Clouse, Secretary Jack Timmons, Vice President Bill Pederson JoAnn Luzio Madeline Pedersen Margaret Staley

1971 L-R Robert Klein, President Jane Munson, Secretary Helen Solt, Vice President Duane Kantor, Treasurer

1974 L-R Carol Van Nordheim, Secretary Ralph Anderson, Treasurer Phil Cole, Vice-President Twyla Lidoloh, President

1975 L- R Al Wellman , Treasurer Marlyn Low, Vice- President Phil Cole, President Carol Van Nordheim. Secretary

1978 L-R Jayne Bierman, Decker President Don …

The Local Food System Vitality Index: A Pilot Analysis To Demonstrate A Process For Measuring System Performance And Development, Jairus J. Rossi, Timothy A. Woods, Alison F. Davis

Agricultural Economics Faculty Publications

Identifying successful development priorities for local food systems (LFSs) is a challenge for pro­ducers, LFS advocates, Extension agents, and policymakers. Consumer perceptions and prefer­ences regarding what constitutes an active, healthy, and vibrant LFS often differ within and between diverse communities. Producers, development entities, and others would benefit from rapid assessment processes that provide detailed information on consumer preferences and potential market opportunities within their LFS.

In this paper, we introduce the analytic possi­bilities of our Local Food System Vitality Index (LFSVI). Using data collected from a pilot survey in Lexington, Kentucky, we rapidly assess the per­formance of 20 different components …

Utilizing Municipal Compost And Equine Stall Waste As Potential Economic Alternatives In An In-Ground Pot-In-Pot Production System, Ashley Robert, Alyx Shultz

Posters-at-the-Capitol

For Western Kentucky farmers, one viable income source could be a pot-in-pot nursery production. One of the highest costs of production in this system was the planting media that the plants were grown in. Economical alternatives to high-priced, non-renewable peat-based mixes were important to consider. Unique to this region, were two renewable soil amendments that may help farmers to widen their profit margin in a pot-in-pot system. This research looked at the economic viability of locally sourced horse stall waste and municipal compost as soil amendments to a traditional bark and peat based mix. Initial cost projections were favorable for …

Agricultural Production From The High Plains Aquifer Is Worth Over $3 Billion Per Year, Richard K. Perrin, Lilyan E. Fulginiti, Federico Garcia

Cornhusker Economics

Recent research (Garcia, Fulginiti and Perrin, 2018) has shown the that the extra agricultural production from irrigation across the High Plains Aquifer (HPA) was worth about $3.5 billion in 2007, $2 billion of which was produced in Nebraska. The aquifer water is valuable!

The Economics Of The Capitalization Rate For Farmland, Jeff Stokes, Jim Jansen

Cornhusker Economics

There are three approaches that real estate appraisers use to value real property, namely, the market or sales comparison approach, the income approach, and the cost approach. The sales comparison approach is the primary way that residential real estate is appraised with the cost approach thrown in for good measure. For income producing properties, which includes commercial real estate as well as farm real estate, all three approaches are frequently used. When there are minimal improvements on farmland, the sales comparison and income approaches often provide competing estimates of value that must be reconciled so that an appraiser can render …

2018 – 2019 Kentucky Agricultural Economic Situation And Outlook, Kenneth H. Burdine, Todd D. Davis, Jerry Pierce, William M. Snell, Timothy A. Woods, Jeffrey W. Stringer

Agricultural Situation and Outlook

This publication covers the situation and outlook for 2018-2019 in the following areas:

• U.S. Agricultural Economy;
• Kentucky’s Agricultural Economy;
• Selected Commodity Profiles - Cattle; Poultry; Hogs; Equine; Dairy; Corn; Soybeans; Wheat; Tobacco; Fruits, Vegetables and Greenhouse; and
• Forestry.

Initiative 427: Nebraska Medicaid Expansion, J. David Aiken

Cornhusker Economics

This article summarizes information regarding Initiative 427–the Medicaid expansion question on the November 6, 2018 ballot. It reprints the actual ballot language and the Nebraska Secretary of State’s summary of arguments for and against Initiative 427.

Background. Originally Medicaid covered the elderly, the disabled, children in low-income families, and low-income pregnant women. In 2010 Medicaid coverage was expanded by Congress to include the working poor. In 2012 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the provision of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) requiring states to expand Medicaid was unconstitutional. This made it a state option whether or not to expand Medicaid. …

Using 3 Dimension Health Vegetation Index Point Clouds To Determine Hlb Infected Citrus Trees, Joseph Cerreta, Ashley Hanson, Julianna E. Martorella, Stacy Martorella

Journal of Aviation/Aerospace Education & Research

Three-dimensional NDVI point clouds can be an innovative method for detecting Huanglongbing (HLB) disease in citrus trees. In February 2018, an Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) captured narrow-band multispectral images to detect healthiness variations of infected citrus trees. A 30-acre section of a citrus grove in Florida with a known HLB infection was examined to determine if three-dimensional Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) point clouds can indicate healthiness variations in HLB-infected citrus trees and how three-dimensional NDVI point clouds compared to two-dimensional NDVI reflectance maps for detecting healthiness variations in HLB-infected citrus trees. Wilcoxon Sign Rank testing compared Whole-Tree Vegetation Indices …

Quantitative Appraisal Of Non-Irrigated Cropland In South Dakota, Shelby Riggs

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

This appraisal attempts to remove subjectivity from the appraisal process and replace it with quantitative analysis of known data to generate a fair market value of the subject property. Two methods of appraisal were used, the income approach and the comparable sales approach. For the income approach, I used the average cash rent for the region, the current property taxes for the subject property, and a capitalization rate based on Stokes' (2018) capitalization rate formula to arrive at my income-based valuation. For the comparable sales approach, I utilized Stokes' (2018) research in optimization modeling to estimate a market value for …

Farm Programs, Payments And Prospects, Bradley D. Lubben

Cornhusker Economics

The USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) began issuing payments to producers in October for Price Loss Coverage (PLC) and Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) programs for the 2017 crop year. While these farm program payments had provided substantial cash flow to help buffer falling market price and farm income projections in the past three years, the current programs will provide relatively little cash flow for now and for the coming year. Only the ad hoc trade assistance payments and the outlook for new farm programs and decisions in 2019 may provide potential relief from the current outlook.

Applying Interconnected Game Theory To Analyze Transboundary Waters: A Case Study Of The Kura-Araks Basin, Marianna Khachaturyan, Karina A. Schoengold

Cornhusker Economics

A number of environmental problems are international in nature, including many water management issues. Rivers, for example, do not recognize political boundaries. Therefore, pollution generated in one country can affect neighboring countries, while water extraction in an upstream country can affect water flow and water availability in a downstream country. The situation creates an interdependency among countries, which might lead to disputes over the management of transboundary water. Therefore, coordination among the countries is necessary for effective management of these transboundary resources.

The focus of a recently published study (Khachaturyan and Schoengold, 2018) is the transboundary Kura-Araks Basin (see Figure …

Doing Well By Doing Good In The Fight Against Malnutrition And Hunger, Konstantinos Giannakas, Amalia Yiannaka

Cornhusker Economics

Technological innovation and the conduct of innovating firms are key weapons in the fight against hunger and the pursuit of food security around the world. Agricultural biotechnology seems uniquely equipped, if not destined, to spearhead the effort to combat malnutrition and hunger around the world by conferring significant agronomic benefits to producers and by having the ability to enhance both the resistance of plants to environmental stresses and the quality and nutritional value of food. Research that was recently published by the Center of Agricultural and Food Industrial Organization- Policy Research Group at the University of Nebraska Lincoln analyzes the …

Analysis Of An Agent-Based Model For Integrated Pest Management With Periodic Control Strategies, Timothy Comar, Elizabeth Rodriguez

Annual Symposium on Biomathematics and Ecology Education and Research

No abstract provided.

Intercropping In Semi-Arid India: An Analysis Of Risks And Trade Offs, Jack Pringle

Annual Symposium on Biomathematics and Ecology Education and Research

No abstract provided.

Market Facilitation Program: Impact On Nebraska Corn And Soybean Producers, Anil Giri, E. Wesley F. Peterson

Cornhusker Economics

In July 2018, President Trump imposed a first round of 25-percent tariffs on Chinese electronics and high-tech equipment including automobiles, computer hard drives, and LEDs. The tariffs were imposed on roughly $34 billion worth of imported goods. In August 2018 additional 25-percent tariffs were imposed on $16 billion worth of Chinese exports to the United States and in September tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese exports to the United States were added. (Bradsher, 2018). The Trump Administration has also imposed automobile, steel and aluminum tariffs on imports from Canada, the European Union and other countries.

In response to the …

The Growing Sustainable Seaweed Industry: A Comparison Of Australian State Governance Directing Current And Future Seaweed Cultivation, Meagan E. Currie

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Seaweed is a critical part of natural marine ecosystems. In addition to supporting the marine environment, seaweeds are a significant global resource with nutritional, industrial and pharmaceutical applications. Seaweed also has the capacity to remediate excess nutrients in the water caused by agricultural or aquacultural waste of other organisms. Seaweed has demonstrated large potential as a remediation tool in land based polyculture and offshore Integrated Multi Trophic Aquaculture (IMTA) systems.

Seaweed is already worth over US$7 billion as a global industry, but as of 2013 over 93% of global seaweed is produced in Asia (Lorbeer, 2013, p. 718). Australia imports …

Local Food Entrepreneurship Support, Needs And Gap Analysis, Karin E. Allen, Ruby Ward

All Current Publications

This study looks at the current needs as well as resources available to identify gaps in services and provide recommendations about how programs could be improved or added in support of the Utah food production system. An in-depth background on FICs is presented, followed by a brief description of Utah’s food climate. The methodology used and the analysis, followed by .final recommendation is included.

Consumer Perceptions Of Egg-Laying Hen Housing Systems, Daniel S. Ochs, Christopher A. Wolf, Nicole Olynk Widmar, Courtney Bir

Department of Agricultural Economics Faculty Publications

The egg industry has transitioned, or is in the process of transitioning, from conventional cages to alternative hen housing systems in response to legal changes in many states across the United States (US). However, consumers find it is increasingly difficult to understand the details behind those labels and specific attributes conveyed. There are multiple hen housing options with a wide range of costs and impacts on hens, workers, and the environment. This research furthers the understanding of US public perceptions and attitudes related to hen housing systems and corresponding animal welfare, worker, economic, and environmental effects. Results reveal that the …

Farm Location Influence On The Optimal Crop Insurance And Pre-Harvest Hedging Level, Cory Walters

Cornhusker Economics

Improving farm financial health can come from improving the understanding of the market forces influencing the optimal crop insurance contract and preharvest hedging risk management tools. The biggest challenge for farmers is the difficulty of assessing risk since experiencing risk, is by default, rare. Additionally, farmers receive advice about which crop insurance plan they should purchase or how much pre-harvest hedging they should do from sources, such as farm magazines, that likely do not consider the differences in individual risk exposure. Following the advice of such sources could result in producers being inadvertently exposed to more risk. A producer’s location …

Justice Served Fresh: Associations Between Food Insecurity, Community Gardening, And Property Value, Micajah Daniels, Courtney Coughenour Ph.D

McNair Poster Presentations

Numerous stakeholders in Nevada have used a variety of efforts to combat the growth of food insecurity facing Nevadans. The purpose of this research project is to understand the association between food insecurity, community gardens, and property value. Following the wealth of scholarship on these topics and data collected from community garden agencies in Southern Nevada, the research questions for this project include: (1) Where are community gardens located in SNV? (2) What efforts community gardens agencies are doing to address food insecurity (most interested in their efforts using community gardens)? (3) What are the perceptions of supports and barriers …

The Corn/Soybean Rotation And Profitability, Matthew Stockton, Devin Broadhead

Cornhusker Economics

One of the most basic questions farmers must answer on an annual basis is what to plant. In some cases this is simply a choice among cultivars in others it is a choice among different crop types. In Nebraska the choice may vary considerably since many different crop types are grown. This discussion focuses on the factors that affect profitability, which are created by both biology and economics, and how that might be used to make the best crop rotation selection between corn and soybean cropping systems.