Agricultural Economics Commons^™

The Local Food Supply, Willingness To Pay And The Sustainability Of An Island Destination, Cathrine Linnes, Jeffrey Thomas Weinland, Giulio Ronzoni, Joseph Lema, Jerome Agrusa

Hospitality Faculty Research

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine the trend toward purchasing locally grown food and evaluate if tourists visiting hawai’i are willing to pay more for locally produced foods that are more ecologically sustainable.

Design/methodology/approach: A research questionnaire was developed in order to investigate the attitudes and behaviors of tourists from the continental united states visiting hawai’i in purchasing locally grown food in hawai’i. the final sample includes 454 valid survey responses collected via momentive, a market research services company.

Findings: According to the findings of this study, there are economic prospects to expand the use of locally …

Active Consideration Of Health And Nutritional Quality Of Food Choices, Christopher R. Gustafson

Cornhusker Economics

Everyone can be positively influenced by effective interventions promoting healthier food choices. A handful of recent papers have documented positive impacts on dietary quality resulting from interventions that remind people to consider health through prompt messages or subtle priming in supermarkets and in controlled, online experiments. These studies have focused on the impact of reminders on nutritional quality rather than explaining how reminders work. An exception, Arslain, Gustafson, and Rose (2021), collected data on multiple elements of individuals' choice processes to trace the impact of reminders on decisions, showing that reminder messages led people to consider a healthier set of …

Assessing Consumer Demand, Producer Profitability, And The Environmental Impacts Of Conservation Agriculture Adoption In Sub-Saharan Africa, Willy Byamungu Mulimbi

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation explores three aspects of conservation agriculture (CA) in the Sub-Saharan African region (SSA). The first article examines the demand side of CA and explores whether urban maize (Zea mays L.) consumers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) would be willing to pay a premium for CA-produced maize flour. The second article estimates the effects CA provides to adopters and their farms in smallholder farming systems in the DRC, focusing on changes in soil properties and cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) yields. The final article uses a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) approach to monetize the environmental impacts of adopting …

Societal Sustainability: Projects To Address The Three Dimensions Of A Sustainable Future, Braden K. Bateman

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Sustainability is an important, commonly discussed societal goal regarding assurance of resources for the world to be able to enjoy a prosperous future. Three primary dimensions of sustainability include environmental, economic, and social sustainability, and objectives for various projects can be aimed at any of the three dimensions to pursue societal sustainability. Solar installations, which can be used to pursue environmental and economic sustainability, convert abundant sunlight to electricity, displacing fossil fuel use that contributes harmful greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. The regulatory environment at the state level has a significant impact on the feasibility of solar projects. At present, …

What Is The Value Of Ethanol To Nebraska Corn Producers?, Austin Harthoorn

Department of Agricultural Economics: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

In this thesis, we examine the role of local ethanol plants on net price received by Nebraskan corn growers, with net price comprised of the grain buyer’s bid onsite less the transportation cost incurred through delivery. As each farm operation is uniquely located between different sets of grain buyers, an ethanol plant impacts each grower’s net price to a different degree, depending on location. Exploring this, we use grain bid and transportation cost data based on actual ethanol plants, grain elevators, and sample farm locations in Nebraska, estimating the diversely located corn grower’s net prices received from surrounding grain buyers. …

Cecl For Financial Institutions: An Analysis Of The Scale Method, Jared Stauffer

Department of Agricultural Economics: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Released by the Federal Reserve Bank in June of 2021, the Scaled CECL Allowance for Loss Estimator (SCALE) is meant to assist community banks implementing the new Current Expected Credit Loss (CECL) accounting standard. The efficacy of this method is important to community banks and financial institutions considering the use of SCALE to estimate expected future losses. Using quarterly Call Report data, two separate analyses of the SCALE method are conducted. First for qualifying community banks and second for Farm Credit Services of America, an agricultural credit association within the Farm Credit System. For the first quarter of 2022, both …

Discrete Choice Experiments In Agricultural And Food Economics: Two Essays On Information Provision Modalities, Uncertainty Adjustment, And Hypothetical Bias, Monsoïa Arsène Juste Agossadou

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Stated discrete choice experiments are extensively used in applied economics to study preferences and valuation for new products, as well as costs and benefits of new policies and programs. Moreover, information provision experiments widely use the method to examine information effects on different outcomes. This thesis explores two methodological issues in discrete choice experiments: (i) information provision modalities and (ii) hypothetical bias. The first study examines the effect of information modality by testing the effect of using combined text script and audio clip (treatment) versus only text script (control) to convey information in discrete choice experiments. Specifically, the study elicits …

Causal Forest Approach For Site-Specific Input Management Via On-Farm Precision Experimentation, Shunkei Kakimoto

Department of Agricultural Economics: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Estimating site-specific crop yield response to changes to input (e.g., seed, fertilizer) management is a critical step in making economically optimal site-specific input management recommendations. Past studies have attempted to estimate yield response functions using various Machine Learning (ML) methods, including the Random Forest (RF), Boosted Random Forest (BRF), and Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) methods. This study proposes use of the Causal Forest (CF) model, which is one of the emerging ML methods that comprise “Causal Machine Learning.” Unlike previous yield-prediction-oriented ML methods, CF focuses strictly on estimating heterogeneous treatment effects (changes in yields that result from changes in input …

Analyzing Flexibility As A Risk Management Strategy In Agricultural Systems, Jedidiah Hewlett

Department of Agricultural Economics: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Agricultural businesses deal with uncertainty of all kinds. Uncertainty arising from variability in resources, markets, human factors, and regulatory policy can be sources of significant risks. Acquiring or building flexibility in an operation is one of the ways suggested to manage risk and uncertainty—reducing the impact of negative outcomes and increasing the benefit of positive outcomes. Although flexibility has been repeatedly encouraged for businesses, the definition of flexibility and its value remains ambiguous after more than 80 years of research. Flexibility is often described as a multi-dimensional ability to effectively deal with change in the business operating environment. Flexibility can …

Who Owns This? Ways That Property Can Be Owned And Transferred In Nebraska, Jessica Groskopf, J. David Aiken

Cornhusker Economics

Discusses ways that property can be owned and transferred in Nebraska in the context of farm management in Nebraska, United States.

Use Of Livestock Risk Protection Insurance For Cattle Continues To Grow, Jay Parsons

Cornhusker Economics

When used as a regular part of a market risk management plan, livestock risk protection (LRP) insurance can help protect profits in years where markets turn for the worse. The recent changes to the program have made LRP insurance more appealing to cattle producers and sales of LRP have subsequently increased dramatically. Strong price increases may make LRP unnecessary, but it is difficult to predict when the price increases will end. LRP insurance is a safety net, reducing downside price risk by providing a floor on national price expectations while also allowing producers to take advantage of higher national prices …

Comparing The Performance Of Cooperative Plans For Equity Accumulation And Retirement, Jeffrey S. Royer

Cornhusker Economics

Equity allocated to members plays a crucial role in financing agricultural cooperatives. Although retained earnings not allocated to members have become an increasingly importantsource of equity in recent years, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) data show thatallocated equity still accounted for 55.5 percent of the $47.5 billion in total equity held in U.S.cooperatives in 2020. [1] Allocated member equity differs from unallocated equity fromretained earnings in that it is owned by individual members and there is an expectation thatit will be redeemed in cash when it is eventually replaced by newer allocations. A recent study has examined the comparative performance …

The Farm And Ranch Hired Labor Market, Larry Van Tassell

Cornhusker Economics

The historical causality between increased agricultural mechanization and reduction in farm labor is a well-known relationship. The reduction in both family and hired farmworkers on U.S. farms from 1950 to 2000 is presented in Figure 1. In 1950, the nearly 10 million farm labor force was composed of 23.5% hired farm workers. In 2000, the last year this data was available, farm labor had reduced to 3.19 million workers and was comprised of 35.4% of those workers being hired. The reduction in total farm workers and the trend of reduced farm labor and a relative increase in hired farm labor …

The Adaptation Of Export-Scale Urban Farmers Amid The Covid-19 Pandemic In Bandung Metropolitan, Kinanti Indah Safitri, Oekan Soekotjo Abdoellah, Budhi Gunawan, Parikesit -, Yusep Suparman, Akhmad Zainal Mubarak, Margareth Pardede

The Qualitative Report

These days, urban agriculture is more than a hobby. It has expanded into a local commercial business, even to an export scale. However, urban farmers who have commercialized their products must adapt to the COVID-19 pandemic situation, which has impacted many aspects of global life. This research used a mixed-method approach. We collected quantitative data from 107 respondents on the household commercialization index, income level, and education level of export-scale-urban farmers in the Bandung metropolitan area, West Java, Indonesia. We also used qualitative data to determine how farmers were adapting to difficult situations due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This information …

Perceptions And Readiness Of Foodservice Establishments At The Onset Of The Covid-19 Pandemic In Metro Manila And Region Iv-A, Philippines, Von Ryan M. Ebron, Irma U. Danao, Marie Faye R. Nguyen- Orca, Anna Teresa O. Orillo, Joyce P. Parco

Journal of Economics, Management and Agricultural Development

The study evaluated the perceptions and readiness of food business operators about COVID-19 through an online survey with respondents from Metro Manila and Region IV-A. Generally, they are knowledgeable about COVID-19 and its transmission, as reflected in their scores. The same is true about their attitude towards “new normal” practices. Years of operation, asset size, and continued operations and delivery services showed significant positive correlation with attitude scores. The resilience of some food business operators may be attributed to having more resources that enabled them to carry the added costs of what the new normal foodservice practices entailed. New normal …

International Rice Outlook: International Rice Baseline Projections 2021–2031, A. Durand-Morat, S. Bairagi

AAES Research Reports and Research Bulletins

The war in Ukraine and the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic are pushing input costs to record levels. Although rice prices have increased some in the last several months, production costs have increased more than proportionally, undermining rice profitability.

We project global rice production will surpass global rice consumption for most of the coming decade, with a small deficit developing by the end of the projected period.

The projected growth in production is almost exclusively due to productivity gains since the global rice area is projected to increase only marginally by 2029–2031.

The projected growth in global rice consumption …

Economic Contribution Of The Agricultural Sector To The Arkansas Economy In 2020, Leah English, Jennie S. Popp

AAES Research Reports and Research Bulletins

Agriculture and associated agricultural activities are major contributors to the Arkansas economy. Agriculture is defined as the sum of agricultural production and processing activities, unless otherwise specified, and includes crop and animal production and processing, agricultural support industries, forestry and forest products, and textile goods. Agriculture contributes to the economy through direct agricultural production and value-added processing, leading to economic activity in other parts of the economy.

This report is the fifteenth in a series that examines agriculture’s economic contribution to the Arkansas economy. The total economic contribution of agriculture (direct, indirect, and induced effects) on value added, employment, and …

Arkansas Corn And Grain Sorghum Research Studies 2021, Victor Ford, Jason Kelley, Nathan Mckinney Ii

Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station Research Series

The 2021 edition of the Arkansas Corn and Grain Sorghum Research Studies Series includes research results on topics pertaining to corn and grain sorghum production, including weed, disease, and insect management; economics; sustainability; irrigation; post-harvest drying; soil fertility; mycotoxins; cover crop management; and research verification program results. Our objective is to capture and broadly distribute the results of research projects funded by the Arkansas Corn and Grain Sorghum Board. The intended audience includes producers and their advisors, current investigators, and future researchers. The Series serves as a citable archive of research results.

Total Factor Productivity In Dairy Buffalo Milk Production In Nueva Ecija, Philippines, Zadieshar G. Sanchez, Antonio Jesus A. Quilloy, Nora Dm. Carambas, Mark Dondi M. Arboleda

Journal of Economics, Management and Agricultural Development

This study analyzed the total factor productivity in dairy buffalo milk production in Nueva Ecija, Philippines. Specifically, it aimed to identify the factors that affect dairy buffalo milk production and analyze technical efficiency, scale efficiency, and technological change as sources of TFP growth. Panel data was established by gathering data from randomly selected dairy buffalo milk producers in Nueva Ecija for the years 2017 and 2020. The stochastic frontier analysis was applied to a Cobb-Douglas production function with an inefficiency effects model. It was found that the statistically significant factors of milk production were cows, forage areas, and dairy feeds. …

Do Philippine Stocks Catch Coronavirus? Some Econometric Check-Up On Pandemic Data, 2021-2022, Mark Reniel M. Amarila, Luisito C. Abueg

Journal of Economics, Management and Agricultural Development

Using daily data from March 1, 2021 to March 31, 2022, the USD-PHP exchange rate and pandemic-related variables such as the number of cases, vaccinations, and stringency index in relation to the movements of Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) were investigated. The paper views vaccination as an instrument for reducing economic uncertainty, subsequently providing a positive sentiment for investors and stock market. Ordinary least squares, autoregressive distributed lags, and vector autoregression was used to show some dynamics based on time series data. Particularly, there are indications of reported cases being negatively correlated and statistically significant for PSEi. Further, impulse response …

Member Engagement And Level Of Satisfaction In A Revitalized Co-Operative Enterprise In Iloilo Province, Philippines, Ma. Rhona P. Beriales

Journal of Economics, Management and Agricultural Development

A co-operative is a member-centered association of individuals with the goal of advancing their economic and social interests. This paper examined member engagement dynamics in a revitalized community-based co-operative in terms of members’ perceived value, member patronage and participation. The study also explored the effect of member engagement to the revitalized co- operative operations and member satisfaction. Using a mixed-methods approach, the study involved a survey of 175 respondents chosen purposively from the co-operative members of good standing. Results showed that members joined the co-operative for economic and personal growth, except for the older members’ goal which was for socialization. …

Farmer-Led Small-Scale Irrigation Systems Management In Highland Vegetable Farming In The Cordillera Region, Philippines, Cheryll C. Launio, Marivic O. Abyado

Journal of Economics, Management and Agricultural Development

Much has been said about large-scale and pump irrigation systems but not much published research is available on small-scale farmer-led irrigation systems supporting highland farming. This study described the management of irrigation sources and farmer-led irrigation systems, and conveyance and distribution technologies supporting highland farming. Data were based on FGDs in 30 barangays and a survey of 279 farmers in three highland provinces. Findings show that 91% of farmers use irrigation from springs, rivers, and creeks; 70% of the conveyance and distribution facilities are farmer-initiated and managed, and micro-irrigation technologies such as sprinklers and drip irrigation are accessible. National irrigation …

Western Australian Regional Development Trust Annual Report 2021-22, West Australian Development Trust

Western Australian Regional Development Trust Annual Reports

The Trust is an independent statutory advisory body to the Minister, established under the Royalties for Regions Act 2009 (Act).

The functions of the Trust are to provide advice and make recommendations to the Minister:

• for the purposes of sections 5(2) and 9(1) of the Act; and
• on any other matter relating to the operation of the Fund that is referred to it by the Minister.

In addition to its monitoring and advisory role, the Trust also works to engage and enhance relationships with key regional stakeholders and influencers to promote greater collaboration and innovation in the delivery of regional …

Estimation Of Storage Tank Capacities For Different Roofing Areas For Rainwater Harvesting In Dodoma Urban, Tanzania, Ombeni J. Mdee

Tanzania Journal of Engineering and Technology (TJET)

This study uses a mass balance model and economic analysis technique to present an estimation of roofing areas and storage tank capacity for Rainwater Harvesting (RWH) system. The water-saved benefits were estimated using the monthly rainfall of over 39 years from 1981 to 2020 and five roofing areas. The proposed roof-storage-ratio method presents the minimum requirement of roof area and storage tank size when the ratio value is closer to 1. The benefit-cost ratio and percentage of reliability indicated the optimal roofing areas ranging between 200 and 300 m2 for storage tank capacity between 20 and 25 m3, with a …

2022 Nebraska Agricultural Custom Rates With Statewide Survey Summary, Glennis Mcclure

Cornhusker Economics

With rising operational costs for agricultural machine hire and services, rates reported on the 2022 University of Nebraska-Lincoln Custom Rates Survey were mostly higher than rates reported on the 2020 survey, ranging from 6% to nearly 20% greater on some common custom services. For example, state average custom rates for harvesting corn and soybeans per acre increased to $41.63 and $40.18 from $39.34 and $37.29, respectively, two years ago. Planting row crop average rates across Nebraska range from $20.17 per acre (no coulters, without band applicator) to $23.50 per acre for ridge planting with band applicator,up 6% to 8% from …

High Tunnel Construction Cost Calculation Workbook, Shannon Rauter, Melanie Stock, Brent Black, Dan Drost

All Current Publications

The cost of building a high tunnel fluctuates over time with supply prices. This Excel workbook accompanies the USU Extension fact sheet, "Constructing a Low-cost High Tunnel" by Black, Drost, Rowley, and Heflebower (2011) and allows users to input local supply costs. The workbook then calculates the cost to build a USU low-cost high tunnel with several design options according to high tunnel length and door structure. It also provides an example calculation based on April 2022 pricing for reference.

The 30x30 Program: A Federal Land Grab?, J. David Aiken

Cornhusker Economics

In January 2021, the Biden Administration issued a climate policy executive order.[2] [or EO].[3] Section 216 of the Biden climate EO, Conserving & Protecting our Nation’s Lands & Waters, directed the U.S. Department of the Interior, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the U.S. Department of Commerce (which includes NOAA, the U.S. National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration) to prepare a report “recommending steps that the United States should take, working with state, local, tribal and territorial governments, agricultural and forest landowners, fishermen and other key stakeholders to achieve the goal of conserving at least 30% of our lands and waters …

The Adoption Of Food Safety Practices And The Implications Of Regulation For Small Scale Farms, Elizabeth Canales, Juan Silva, Joy Anderson

Journal of Extension

In this article we examine the adoption of food safety practices among produce growers in the south and discuss implications of food safety regulations in the U.S. Produce growers have adopted standard food safety practices to varying degrees, but there is still an adoption gap, particularly among small scale operations. Market-driven and regulatory food safety enforcement continues to tighten, and this can further hinder market access for small scale producers.

The Coming Global Food Crisis, E. Wesley F. Peterson

Cornhusker Economics

Inflation driven by rising prices for food, energy, and other consumer goods has become a major concern in the United States and other high-income countries. A far more serious issue is the effect of rising food prices on low-income households in many developing countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Global food prices had been rising in 2020 and 2021 as a result of supply shortages caused by adverse weather conditions exacerbated by climate change, war and civil strife in various countries, and economic shocks in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic and the consequent disruption of global supply chains …

Commodity Marketing For High School Students, Fabio Mattos

Cornhusker Economics

Agricultural commodities play a major role in Nebraska’s economy and are central to the life of many families in the state. Learning the main concepts of commodity marketing becomes essential for young Nebraskans considering careers in the agricultural industry or in farming. Therefore, in the last 10 years, the Department of Agricultural Economics has been expanding its curriculum in commodity marketing and merchandising, as has already been discussed in this space a few years ago (“Commodity Trading Room Comes Online at UNL,” 6/29/2016). Following the same ideas, we are now expanding our efforts to offer a program in commodity marketing …