Agricultural Economics Commons^™

Workforce Trends To Watch In 2023, Cheryl A. Burkhart-Kriesel

Cornhusker Economics

The rise of quiet quitters, digital nomads, and shaky employee trust are some of the major workforce trends that need watching in 2023, according to a recent article published by the Harvard Business School. Coupled with an uncertain economy and a tight labor market, business owners can view these potential trends as either challenges that pull their business down or opportunities that offer a competitive advantage. To leverage these toward business growth and increased productivity, it takes an understanding of how these trends emerged and how they could be an asset in an ever-changing business environment.

Covers: quiet quitters, digital …

Rising Interest Rates: What They Mean For You And The Economy, Timothy Meyer

Cornhusker Economics

Discusses rising interest rates what they mean for agricultural workers and the economy.

Potassium Fertilizer Rate Recommendations: Does Accounting For Soil Stock Of Potassium Matter?, Kimberly B. Oliver, Michael P. Popp, Di Fang, John D. Anderson, Nathan A. Slaton, Gerson L. Drescher, Trenton L. Roberts, Jada Thompson

Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness Faculty Publications and Presentations

Profitability, yield, and fertilizer use are compared across three different potassium (K) fertilizer rate recommendation ideologies. Existing agronomic, “build and maintain” rate recommendations (KE) are compared to profit-maximizing rates with and without taking long-run soil-test K (STK) implications into account. Regardless of starting STK, K use equilibrated over the course of 3 years irrespective of ideology. Since taking long-run STK into account did not alter ending STK and only led to a miniscule yield effect, we encourage producers to use annual profit-maximizing K rates that were 3–11% lower than KE rates and generated more profit with minimal yield loss.

Estimating The Demand For Groundwater: A Second-Stage Hedonic Land Price Analysis For The Lower Mississippi River Alluvial Plain, Arkansas, Kent Kovacs, Sheby Rider

Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness Faculty Publications and Presentations

We estimate the benefits of the saturated thickness (water-bearing porous material) of the alluvial aquifer in Arkansas through an application of the hedonic price model to the sale of agricultural land. There is evidence from the first-stage analysis of diminishing returns from increasing saturated thickness. Using a survey of farmer operators’ preferences and socioeconomic characteristics, we recover the underlying demand function for saturated thickness in a second-stage analysis. Shifts in the demand function reveal that produced/social capital can be a substitute or a complement to saturated thickness, and human capital is a substitute for saturated thickness.

2023 Nebraska Crop Production Budgets Higher Costs And Risks, Glennis Mcmclure

Cornhusker Economics

The Nebraska crop budgets are available for the 2023 production season. The 84 budgets indicate cost of production increases. Estimated average economic or total costs per bushel for 2023 corn production are expected to be at least 23% to 25% greater than last year. Soybeans are estimated to be 13% to 19% more in economic costs per bushel, with wheat production costs having jumped over 20% compared to last year and running as high as 63% higher over the last two years combined. Cost scenarios for individual producers can vary based on their timing of input purchases and price variabilities.

Wayne E. Sabbe Arkansas Soil Fertility Studies 2022, Nathan A. Slaton, Mike Daniels

Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station Research Series

Rapid technological changes in crop management and production require that the research efforts be presented in an expeditious manner. The contributions of soil fertility and fertilizers are major production factors in all Arkansas crops. The studies described within will allow producers to compare their practices with the university’s research efforts. Additionally, soil-test data and fertilizer sales are presented to allow comparisons among years, crops, and other areas within Arkansas.

Quantifying Wheat Blast Disease Induced Yield And Production Losses Of Wheat: A Quasi-Natural Experiment, Khondoker Abdul Mottaleb, David P. Hodson, Timothy J. Krupnik, Kai Sonder

Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness Faculty Publications and Presentations

Applying the difference-in-difference (DID) estimation procedure, this study quantifies the wheat blast (Magnaporthe oryzae pathotype Triticum) induced losses in wheat yield, quantity of wheat sold, consumed, or stored, as well as wheat grain value in Bangladesh in 2016 following a disease outbreak that affected over 15,000 ha. Estimates show that the blast-induced yield loss was 540 kg ha⁻¹ on average for households in blast-affected districts. Estimated total wheat production loss was approximately 8,205 tons worth USD 2.1 million in during the 2016 outbreak. Based on these insights, we discuss the need for long-term assured investment and concerted research …

The Impact Of Organized Activism On Technology Sharing, Ahmed Chennak, Amalia Yiannaka

Cornhusker Economics

What factors influence a firm's decision to share its technology with competitors? While patent licensing has received considerable attention in the literature, studies have typically focused on the optimal licensing contract for product and process innovations in various market settings. A key finding of this literature is that the optimal licensing strategy depends on the type of the patentee; that is, whether the patentee is a producer in the market (insider patentee) or not (outsider patentee). Little attention has been given, however, to the role the general public can play on firms' incentives to share their innovations through licensing contracts …

Heifers On Feed Indicate Long-Term Liquidation Still Occurring, Elliott James Dennis

Cornhusker Economics

This article was first published in the Livestock Marketing Information Centers' (LMIC) In the Cattle Markets newsletter on January 9, 2023.

Combining the historical quarterly percentage of heifers on feed and cattle inventory report can provide an indicator of how many heifers will be held back for replacement in the 2023 report.

Hedging Your Average Crop Price Using Seasonals, Cory Walters, Richard K. Preston

Cornhusker Economics

In this article, we connect what the industry says and what producers say to improve the disconnect and the decision-making environment associated with hedging. We accomplish this by inspecting the distribution of producer prices with and without hedging in the fall as the distribution contains both yearly outcomes (producer concern) as well as the average outcome (another point of view). Computer models are used to lift the mystery surrounding the role of hedging. Computer models help understand complex processes, allowing for a better decision environment, leading to improved financial standing and stability. Our model reproduces the risk profile that individual …

Home Tap Water In Nonmetropolitan Nebraska, Rebecca J. Vogt

Cornhusker Economics

Water is an important resource in Nebraska. Most of the drinking water in the state (85%) comes from groundwater sources. Public water sources are required to test their water to ensure it is safe. However, private wells are not subject to any safety or quality standards. Given that, what are the main sources of home tap water for rural Nebraskans? Do they test or treat their water? The 2022 Nebraska Rural Poll examined these questions.

Economic Feasibility And Consumer Acceptance Of Strawberry Plants As An Additional Offering In Fall Mum Sales, Alyx Shultz, Eva Bogue, Anna Griggs, Allison Croslin

Posters-at-the-Capitol

As consumers become more health conscious and concerned with food production practices, increased market demand had developed for edible plants with ornamental properties. This action research examined the economic feasibility, production realities, and consumer acceptance of offering garden and alpine strawberries at fall mum sales. Each year $173 million in mums are sold in the United States. By offering potted strawberries for sale alongside mums, Kentucky producers may be able to mitigate their risk as well as generate additional on-farm revenue from a proven consumer base and market. Researchers grew 100 garden strawberries and 100 alpine strawberries and offered the …

Role Of Social Network On Technology Adoption: Application To Nebraska Producers In The Face Of Undesirable Vegetation Transitions, Sabrina Gulab, Holly K. Nesbitt, Simanti Banerjee, Theresa Floyd, Karina A. Schoengold

Cornhusker Economics

Conclusion

Producers need to have access to information regarding new conservation practices and technologies to ensure land management in the face of ecological threats in general and vegetation transitions (VTs) in the context of our study. This study investigates the role of an individual producer's social network on the willingness to seek information about technologies and management practices and the likelihood of new technology adoption with special attention to risk attitudes and producer spillover effects. Our results provide evidence that network composition and information obtained through a producer's social network don't influence an individual's willingness to seek information about new …

The Most Environmentally Sustainable Diet For Adolescents In Terms Of Land Use, Food Waste, And Greenhouse Gas Emissions., Lina Elsehelly

Papers, Posters, and Presentations

The current food system is directly responsible for much environmental damage including severe climate change, biodiversity loss, and land scarcity. This research aims to find some strategies to mitigate these damages through diet by specifically targeting adolescents because they are potential problem-solvers. This period is also when personality and habits are articulated. By focusing on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, land use, and food waste, a more environmentally sustainable diet can be formulated. The key findings of the research can be summarized by reducing ultra-processed foods, choosing sustainably produced food, generally reducing meat consumption from the current rate, substituting red and …

Wa Avocado Life Cycle Analysis (Lca), Christophe D'Abbadie, Saloomeh Akbari

Horticulture research reports

The Western Australian (WA) avocado industry is an important contributor to the state's economy, with a market value of 201 million Australian dollars and a production of 32,239 tonnes in 2019-20. The Shire of Manjimup is a particularly significant contributor to the state's avocado production, accounting for 67% of the total. The Busselton shire accounts for an additional 16%. The remaining 17% is produced in other shires throughout the state (Radhakrishnan et al, 2022).

This report aims to conduct a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of a generic avocado producer based in Manjimup, WA, in order to evaluate the environmental impacts …

The Relation Between Wheat, Soybean, And Hemp Acreage: A Bayesian Time Series Analysis, Joohun Han, John N. Ng'ombe

Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness Faculty Publications and Presentations

The 2018 United States Farm Bill has opened the possibility for farmers to increase their profits through hemp cultivation. The literature suggests hemp has the potential to replace soybeans in soybean–wheat double-cropping because hemp shares key attributes of soybeans as a rotation crop (profitability, potential as an energy crop, and maintenance of soil fertility). Nonetheless, due to a short history of hemp cultivation in the USA, it is difficult to predict a time series relationship between hemp, soybean, and wheat through conventional approaches. In this article, we use Bayesian time series models and data from Statistics Canada and the Alberta …

Three Essays On The U.S. Beef Supply Chain: Production, Marketing, And Price Dynamics, Erdal Erol

Theses and Dissertations--Agricultural Economics

This dissertation contains three essays on select economic components of the U.S. beef industry. The first and second essays concentrate on the different economic problems in beef cattle production. The third essay evaluates the price dynamics and the impact of COVID-19 along the beef supply chain.

The first essay explores the economics of culling decisions in cow-calf operations in the U.S. with a novel application of a dynamic mathematical programming model. The results provide an optimal culling strategy under the base model and a range of optimal strategies that vary with respect to different components such as fertility probabilities, market …

Community Supported Agriculture Values: A Comparison Across Groups, Thomas B. Pierce

Theses and Dissertations--Agricultural Economics

Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) programs offer consumers the chance to share the risk with farming operations while gaining access to fresh, local foods. While research on CSA shareholder values such as share affordability or the local impact of participation has been conducted in the past decade and beyond, less attention has been paid to direct value-mapping of the shareholders themselves. This research seeks to determine consumer values around the CSA purchasing decision using the Best-Worst Scaling Approach. Based on a focus group discussion with CSA shareholders in a university wellness voucher program, we used affinity diagramming to develop a list …

Projecting Wheat Demand In China And India For 2030 And 2050: Implications For Food Security, Khondoker Abdul Mottaleb, Gideon Kruseman, Aymen Frija, Kai Sonder, Santiago Lopez-Ridaura

Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness Faculty Publications and Presentations

Introduction: The combined populations of China and India were 2.78 billion in 2020, representing 36% of the world population (7.75 billion). Wheat is the second most important staple grain in both China and India. In 2019, the aggregate wheat consumption in China was 96.4 million ton and in India it was 82.5 million ton, together it was more than 35% of the world's wheat that year. In China, in 2050, the projected population will be 1294–1515 million, and in India, it is projected to be 14.89–1793 million, under the low and high-fertility rate assumptions. A question arises as to, what …

Letter From The Faculty Editor, Beth Kegley

Discovery, The Student Journal of Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences

No abstract provided.

Integrated Vs. Specialized Farming Systems For Sustainable Food Production: Comparative Analysis Of Systems’ Technical Efficiency In Nebraska, Maroua Afi, Jay Parsons

Department of Agricultural Economics: Faculty Publications

Complementarities between crops and livestock production have the potential to increase input use efficiency and maintain a diversified livelihood. This paper uses non-parametric data envelopment analysis (DEA) to assess the technical efficiency (TE) of integrated crop–livestock systems (ICLS) compared to specialized cropping and specialized livestock systems in the state of Nebraska, in the central United States. We classify each county of Nebraska into one of three systems according to their dominant agricultural production revenues. We use DEA to measure the TE of each county compared, first, to a group production frontier (in-system comparison) and second, to a metafrontier (cross-system comparison). …

Fostering Infant And Toddler Music Competence At The Jean Tyson Child Development Study Center, Ellen Mathews, Laura Herold, Shelley Mcnally, Donia Timby

Discovery, The Student Journal of Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences

This paper presents a creative research project that introduced musical instruments in an outdoor setting to infants and toddlers ages 0-to-3 years old. It was grounded in research suggesting that music plays a vital component in expanding development in the early childhood years, helping to promote learning across many domains. This project began with a survey distributed to 7 infant and toddler classroom educators, after which responses were analyzed for themes regarding perceived infant interests. Subsequent observations were conducted to evaluate the best fit for the implementation of an outdoor experiential music space. Based on the findings, a developmentally appropriate …

Effects Of Cyclic Heat Stress On The Acute Inflammatory Response In Broilers, Alessandro J. Rocchi, Chrysta N. Beck, Jossie M. Santamaria, Gisela F. Erf

Discovery, The Student Journal of Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences

Heat stress (HS) is a growing concern in broiler production. Little is known regarding the effect of HS on immune function. To examine the effects of HS on innate immunity, the local- and systemic-inflammatory responses to lipopolysaccharide (LPS) were examined in Cobb 500 male broiler chicks reared under thermoneutral (TN) or cyclic HS conditions. Beginning at four days of age, HS birds were subjected to 35 °C from 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. and TN temperatures from 10:00 p.m. to 8:00 a.m. At 37 days of age, four groups of broilers were formed: LPS-TN (8 broilers), phosphate-buffered saline (PBS)-TN (4 …

An Inclusive Playground For Infant And Toddler Development, Amanda M. Swartz, Jacquelyn D. Wiersma-Mosley, Donia Timby, Shelley Mcnally, Caitlyn Daniel

Discovery, The Student Journal of Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences

The purpose of this project was to help children reach more developmental goals and to make outdoor play at the Jean Tyson Child Development Study Center more inclusive for all children. Children gain many developmental goals from playing outside and being exposed to other environments as compared to just being inside the classroom. Outdoor play should be as inclusive as indoor play and offer many different activities and outlets, just as the indoor classroom does. The implementation of this service-learning creative project was to add more versatility to the outdoor area at the University of Arkansas Jean Tyson Child Development …

Effects Of Time-Restricted Feeding And Whey Protein Isolate Supplementation On Dietary Intake, Mood, And Sleep In A 12-Week Randomized Controlled Trial, Sydney E. Boudrey, Aubree L. Hawley

Discovery, The Student Journal of Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences

Obesity affects adults in the United States, leading to chronic diseases and reduced well-being. Time-Restricted Feeding (TRF) is a type of dietary intervention lacking current data regarding the effectiveness on facets of well-being. This study’s objective was to determine the effect of time-restricted feeding supplemented with whey protein isolate on food intake, sleep, and mood in overweight or obese adults. Nineteen participants were randomly assigned to the control or experimental group: 1) control, TRF, and 2) experimental, TRF with whey protein supplementation. Participants followed the assigned dietary intervention for 12 weeks. Every 4 weeks (baseline, week 4, week 8, and …

Rice Biomass Response To Various Phosphorus Fertilizers In A Phosphorus-Deficient Soil Under Simulated Furrow-Irrigation, Jonathan B. Brye, Kristofor R. Brye, Diego Della Lunga

Discovery, The Student Journal of Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences

Wastewater-recovered phosphorus (P), in the form of the mineral struvite (MgNH4PO4∙6H2O), may provide a sustainable alternative to decreasing rock-phosphate reserves. Struvite can be generated via precipitation methods, potentially reducing the amount of P runoff to aquatic ecosystems. The objective of this greenhouse tub study was to evaluate the effects of chemically and electrochemically precipitated struvite (CPST and ECST, respectively) on aboveground plant response in a hybrid rice cultivar grown using furrow-irrigation compared to other common fertilizer-P sources [i.e., triple super phosphate (TSP) and diammonium phosphate (DAP)] using three replications of fertilizer treatment in a P-deficient silt loam (Typic Glossaqualfs). Aboveground …

Temporal, Phenotypic, And Quantitative Characterization Of Thyroid Infiltrating Mononuclear Cells During Development Of Spontaneous Autoimmune Thyroiditis In Obese Strain Chickens, Katelyn M. Clark, Chrysta N. Beck, Gisela F. Erf

Discovery, The Student Journal of Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences

The Obese strain (OS) of chickens spontaneously develops autoimmune thyroiditis (SAT) and is a well-established biomedical model for Hashimoto’s thyroiditis in humans. Both conditions are characterized by the infiltration of thyroid glands with mononuclear immune cells resulting in the destruction of thyroid tissue and impairment of the thyroid’s endocrinological functions. Past studies described immune cell infiltration in thyroids of the OS chickens, but the time-course, cell composition, and relative amounts of the various immune cells infiltrating the thyroids have not been well defined. In this project, frozen and stored thyroid glands that were previously collected at 1, 4, 7, 14, …

Investigating The Potential For Industrial Dairy Farms To Move Towards Sustainability In Western Michigan, Kendra Kay Slater, Rebecca Williams

Student Summer Scholars Manuscripts

Industrial dairy farms, also referred to as concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOS) or factory farms, are often known for the negative effects they have on the environment and animals. However, these farms are the backbone of our food systems supplying 99% of our dairy and meat in the United States. In this qualitative case study, we conduct in-depth interviews and farm transect walks with five industrial dairy farmers in Western Michigan to examine how they view and define sustainability, how they incorporate sustainable practices on their farms, and what they perceive as the barriers to industrial dairy sustainability. To analyze …

Livestock Management In 2023 - 2024, Department Of Primary Industries And Regional Development, Western Australia

Animal production and livestock published reports

Parts of WA have experienced below average rainfall resulting in feed limitations, with below average rainfall also predicted for the coming months. The feed shortage has been further compounded by limited slaughter space and reduced market prices for sheep.

Sheep industry economist, John Young, of Farming Systems Analysis Service was commissioned to look at the economics of some key decisions this season, taking into account current seasonal and market conditions.

WA sheep producers need to have plans in place early to monitor stock condition and make decisions about which classes of stock to keep. This will also include the feed …

How Do I Grow Tedera?, Daniel Real

Animal production and livestock published reports

The issue:

Livestock producers are faced with climate variability challenges and rising input costs while trying to maximise livestock productivity and profitability.

The impact:

Traditional or older pasture systems can limit production due to poor performance in dry periods or shorter production windows.

The opportunity:

Tedera is a resilient legume pasture that can fill feed gaps at a lower cost while offering livestock productivity gains.