Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Understanding The Barriers To Carbon Farming On Private Lands, Harrison Naftel

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

Climate change caused by manmade greenhouse gas emissions is one of the most important challenges facing society today. Through effective management for carbon sequestration private agricultural lands could become an important part of the solution to this problem. This paper explores the many different methods that farmers, ranchers, and landowners could use to implement sequestration on their land and examines the barriers to further participation in these projects by reviewing the challenges in the world’s current carbon offset markets and offering possible solutions.

Essays On The Economics Of Regional Development And Public Policy, Wai Yan Siu

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

My dissertation integrating theory and practice into fostering sustainable, ecofriendly, and equitable public policy that promote the well-being of generations to come. My main research questions are: how can we transform the complex socioeconomic systems to build future resilience? In the first chapter, I identify and quantify the effect of the presence of tight oil and gas extraction on the agricultural productivity. This study informs evidence-based policymaking on pressing environmental issues. In the next chapter, I studied the effectiveness of existing policy of urban growth control from an evolutionary landscape and found that the decades-old regulation does not fulfill its …

Space-Time Dynamics Of The Uinta Fremont Agricultural Transition In Eastern Utah And Northwestern Colorado, Trista N. Schiele

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Recent work in Utah’s northern Uinta Basin documents associations between variability in precipitation and fluctuating populations during the Fremont period, AD 300-1350. In this study, I evaluate the role that precipitation variability had on observed regional population density and settlement patterns. I test a model of village formation in Cub Creek, Utah across the larger Uinta Basin and its periphery by creating two predictive statistical models using archaeological data anchored in space and time. I conclude that while precipitation variability plays a role in the initial adoption of farming practices which itself leads to higher population densities, changes in patterns …

Role Of Farmer Knowledge In Agroecosystem Science: Rice Farming And Amphibians In The Philippines, Catherine R. Propper, Lisa J. Hardy, Brittni D. Howard, Rica Joy B. Flor, Grant R. Singleton

Human–Wildlife Interactions

Rice (Oryza sativa) agriculture provides food and economic security for nearly half of the world’s population. Rice agriculture is intensive in both land and agrochemical use. However, rice fields also provide aquatic resources for wildlife, including amphibians. In turn, some species may provide ecosystem services back to the farmers working in the rice agroecosystem. The foundation for understanding the complexity of agroecosystem–human relationships requires garnering information regarding human perceptions and knowledge of the role of biodiversity in these rice agroecosystems. Understanding farmer knowledge and perceptions of the ecosystem services provided by wildlife in their fields, along with their …

A Landscape Perspective On Climate-Driven Risks To Food Security: Exploring The Relationship Between Climate And Social Transformation In The Prehispanic U.S. Southwest, Colleen Strawhacker, Grant Snitker, Matthew A. Peeples, Ann P. Kinzig, Keith W. Kintigh, Kyle Bocinsky, Brad Butterfield, Jacob Freeman, Sarah Oas, Margaret C. Nelson, Jonathan A. Sandor, Katherine A. Spielmann

Sociology, Social Work and Anthropology Faculty Publications

Spatially and temporally unpredictable rainfall patterns presented food production challenges to small-scale agricultural communities, requiring multiple risk-mitigating strategies to increase food security. Although site-based investigations of the relationship between climate and agricultural production offer insights into how individual communities may have created long-term adaptations to manage risk, the inherent spatial variability of climate-driven risk makes a landscape-scale perspective valuable. In this article, we model risk by evaluating how the spatial structure of ancient climate conditions may have affected the reliability of three major strategies used to reduce risk: drawing upon social networks in time of need, hunting and gathering of …

Disconnect Within Agriculture And Ecosystem Climate Effects, Adaptations And Policy, Anastasia W. Thayer, Aurora M. Vargas, Thomas E. Lacher, Bruce A. Mccarl

Applied Economics Faculty Publications

Frequently, agriculture and ecosystems (AE) are seen as separate entities, causing entity specific solutions in response to threats. Anthropogenic climate change simultaneously stresses both agriculture and ecosystems along with their interactions. Induced increasing surface temperatures [1], altered precipitation [2], drought intensification [3], altered ground and surface water quantity/quality [4,5], and diminished soil moisture [6] force adaptations for AE, but these adaptations fail to be efficient when interdependencies are not considered. Additional adaptations will be necessary, as future projections anticipate even greater climate change [1].

Subsistence Strategy Tradeoffs In Long-Term Population Stability Over The Past 6,000 Years, Darcy A. Bird

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

I conduct the first comparative analysis of long term human population stability in North America. Questions regarding population stability among animals and plants are fundamental to population ecology, yet no anthropological research has addressed human population stability. This is an important knowledge gap, because a species’ population stability can have implications for its risk of extinction and for the stability of the ecological community in which it lives. I use archaeological and paleoclimatological data to compare long term population stability with subsistence strategy and climate stability over 6,000 years. I conduct my analysis on a large scale to better understand …

The Value Of Farmland: Mapping Assessor Data To Understand Land Use Change, Lyndi Perry

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Ideas developed by regional economists have potential applications within the urban planning field. One potential application is toward conserving farmland, and within this thesis this topic is examined for the study area of Utah County, Utah. Using assessor data, a land value map is created and further used to develop a regional economic model and spatial models that were analyzed for patterns of land use change.

Findings show that representing land value as continuous surface maps is a useful approach. The maps reveal that Utah County has densified as its population increased while farmland loss still occurred in agriculturally-important areas. …

Extension-Based Community Engagement Project Contributions To Landscape Architecture Core Competencies And Professional Values, Ole Sleipness, Jake Powell, David Anderson, David Evans, Roslynn Mccann, Shuolei Chen

Environment and Society Faculty Publications

This study evaluates the contribution of Extension-based community engagement design projects to the development of core technical competencies and professional values in the landscape architecture program at Utah State University. Many university design programs--including landscape architecture--employ community engagement to address local and regional design dilemmas. Programs within traditional agriculture schools often frame these activities as contributory to their institutions' land-grant missions. Engaged scholarship is well enumerated within the literature of landscape architecture. However, little has been published on how Extension facilitates these engagements or its contribution to the development of core competencies and professional values. Utah State University's (USU) landscape …

The Power Law Distribution Of Agricultural Land Size, Lauren Chamberlain

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This paper demonstrates that the distribution of county level agricultural land size in the United States is best described by a power-law distribution, a distribution that displays extremely heavy tails. This indicates that the majority of farmland exists in the upper tail. Our analysis indicates that the top 5% of agricultural counties account for about 25% of agricultural land between 1997-2012. The power-law distribution of farm size has important implications for the design of more efficient regional and national agricultural policies as counties close to the mean account for little of the cumulative distribution of total agricultural land. This has …

Assessment Of Potential Changes In Crop Yields In The Central United States Under Climate Change Regimes, Neil Matthews-Pennanen

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Climate change is one of the great challenges facing agriculture in the 21^st century. The goal of this study was to produce projections of crop yields for the central United States in the 2030s, 2060s, and 2090s based on the relationship between weather and yield from historical crop yields from 1980 to 2010. These projections were made across 16 states in the US, from Louisiana in the south to Minnesota in the north. They include projections for maize, soybeans, cotton, spring wheat, and winter wheat.

Simulated weather variables based on three climate scenarios were used to project future crop …

The Implications Of Group Norms For Adaptation In Collectively Managed Agricultural Systems: Evidence From Sri Lankan Paddy Farmers, Arielle Tozier De La Poterie, Emily Burchfield, Amanda R. Carrico

Environment and Society Faculty Publications

A growing literature seeks to explore the factors shaping adaptation to climate change. In collectively managed common pool resource systems, there is often a tension between behavior that benefits the individual and actions that benefit a larger group. Resource users in sustainable systems must therefore work together to ensure outcomes that are beneficial to the group as a whole. However, in the face of changing social, political, and environmental conditions, community norms may change, leading to the emerging of new behavioral patterns. Understanding when and why people decide to act in ways that benefit the group as a whole can …

China And The Northeast Region: Agricultural Machinery, Kelsey White

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Using Chinese government statistical data, relevant laws and policy regulations, and current market projections, this report aims to help new-to-market U.S. exporters understand the development of the agricultural machinery market in China and the Northeast region, identifying both challenges and opportunities.

With a vast land area and diverse topography, China is one of the world's top agricultural producers. Agriculture accounts for about 11% of China's GDP and more than 40% of China's employment. Over the past several years, China has been increasing its agricultural mechanization in an effort to move from traditional to modern farming. The central government has been …

Nutritional And Economic Analysis Of Small-Scale Agriculture In Imbabura, Ecuador, Jake Erickson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Intervention projects in the developing world normally aim to satisfy either the nutritional needs of a group, or advancing the economic stability, but not both. One of the many issues that may arise by narrowly focusing and creating an aid program is that although a group may be fed, they are not equipped to mitigate risks that will arise after project completion and thus continue or revert back to a malnourished state. A bridge is required to join the economic and nutritional programs to create aid interventions that are sustainable past the point of donor separation.

This paper proposes the …

The Southeast In Context: An Assessment Of The Trauma Associated With Agriculture, Martin Welker

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Hunter-gatherer tradition prevailed as the dominant subsistence pattern for most of human history. Between 9,000 and 13,000 years ago peoples in the Levant, New World, and Asia began the domestication and cultivation of wild flora and fauna, creating a subsistence pattern that subsequently spread to neighboring regions (Abbo et al. 2010; Bellwood 2009; Purugganan & Fuller 2009; Richerson et al. 2001). The influence of this agricultural transition on human populations is manifested in various forms in the human skeleton, many of which have received intensive study: dental caries, degenerative joint disease, decreased stature, and increased birth rates (Bridges 1991; Larson …

Seeds Of Change: Farm Organizations In Depression And Post-War Utah, Robert Parson, John W. Walters, Emily Gurr-Thompson

Library Faculty & Staff Publications

As Utah continues to move further and further away from its agricultural base, it is useful to look back on the state’s agricultural heritage and how an earlier generation of farmers sought to maximize its economic security through cooperation, government support, and adoption of new methods and tools made available through the nation’s land-grant colleges. Following World War II, two competing organizations, the Utah Farm Bureau and the Utah Farmer’s Union, emerged as champions of Utah farmers. Where Utah farmers and their organization had given strong support to Franklin Roosevelt and the Democratic Party’s New Deal during the 1930s, in …

A Proposal To Make Grain Storage Financially Feasible, David L. Garrett

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

The United States has a National Oil Reserve but not a food reserve. Just as the oil reserve is designed to buffer unforeseen disruptions in the critical supply, the nation should also have a food reserve for the same purpose.

The United States and other developed nations have little or no food reserve beyond the typical demands between growing seasons. Marvelous production achievements in agriculture beginning in the early 1960s and known as the “Green Revolution” are now leveling off. Food production, suffering from such negative side effects as reduced water tables, is being outstripped by population growth (Bourne, 2009).

Random Forests Applied As A Soil Spatial Predictive Model In Arid Utah, Alexander Knell Stum

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Initial soil surveys are incomplete for large tracts of public land in the western USA. Digital soil mapping offers a quantitative approach as an alternative to traditional soil mapping. I sought to predict soil classes across an arid to semiarid watershed of western Utah by applying random forests (RF) and using environmental covariates derived from Landsat 7 Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+) and digital elevation models (DEM). Random forests are similar to classification and regression trees (CART). However, RF is doubly random. Many (e.g., 500) weak trees are grown (trained) independently because each tree is trained with a new randomly …

The Influence Of Collective Action And Policy In The Development Of Local Food Systems, Lori Porreca

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The modern global agrifood system has had significant negative impacts on consumers and producers. This has precipitated the rise of local food systems that are purported to improve the health and livelihoods of consumers and producers. High expectations have led to significant public and private resources dedicated to the development of local food systems. Despite this, there has been little systematic research exploring the social and institutional conditions that facilitate or frustrate local food system development.

Using a comparative case study approach, this study explored the ways local structural conditions, collective action, food system policies, and the political context affect …

Treatment Of Saltcedar (Tamarix Spp.): Economics And Feasibility, Christopher L. Thompson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The invasive species Saltcedar is affecting water and land resources throughout the western states of America. Because of great water use capabilities and other ecosystem detriments, Saltcedar has been targeted for treatment.

For successful management of Saltcedar, individual landowners need to be aware of the costs and benefits of treating Saltcedar. Eleven of the most commonly reported treatment methods were evaluated for firm level economic feasibility. Evaluated on the basis of treatment cost, treatment effectiveness, Saltcedar water-use, and re-vegetation water-use, a production plan of ten years was created for each treatment method. Some treatment methods required re-treatment and were evaluated …

Nursery Production Of Selected Actinorhizal Species, Taun D. Beddes

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

An important aspect of sustainable landscaping includes utilization of plants requiring few to no inputs once installed. Limited research exists for many of these species. For this research, we chose four with potential for use: Mexican cliffrose (Purshia mexicana), silver buffaloberry (Shepherdia argentea), roundleaf buffaloberry (Shepherdia rotundifolia), and seaside alder (Alnus maritima). All are actinorhizal, meaning they form a symbiotic relationship with soil-borne Frankia bacteria that fix atmospheric N₂ for plant use. Many actinorhizal species are also native to arid environments where soils have low organic matter (OM) content. We suspect …

Agroforestry Practice Adoption Among Solomon Island Women On The Island Of Malaita, Etta K. Sechrest

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The goal of agricultural training is the adoption and diffusion of introduced agriculture techniques. New subsistence agricultural techniques have been introduced mainly to the male population in many developing countries, even though most subsistence farmers are women. Therefore, an understanding of how new subsistence agricultural techniques can be introduced and adopted by women would be important to achieve. This study focuses on women's adoption of agricultural techniques. It takes place on the island of Malaita, in the Solomon Islands. The study looks at the adoption of agroforestry and several other subsistence techniques that were introduced under a joint program by …

Cache County, Utah Agricultural Landevaluation And Site Assessment Handbook, Douglas B. Jackson-Smith, G. Busch

Sociology, Social Work and Anthropology Faculty Publications

Urban encroachment on farmland has serious implications for the farm sector. As the county’s economic base and population has grown, important agricultural lands have been converted to urban uses. Since 1986, Cache County has lost 8,884 acres of prime and statewide important farmland - nearly 14 square miles - to urban development. The current rate of development is consuming over 600 acres of prime and statewide important farmland each year. As we plan for the future and the most cost efficient means for housing this population growth, it is important to note two things: 1) Housing is most affordable in …

Planning For Agriculture In Wisconsin: A Guide Forcommunities, Douglas B. Jackson-Smith

Sociology, Social Work and Anthropology Faculty Publications

The purpose of this guide is to provide you with basic information to help Wisconsin’s rural communities prepare to plan for agriculture. The guide was developed in response to the Comprehensive Planning Law passed under the 1999-2001 Wisconsin State Biennial Budget. This law requires that by January 1, 2010, all programs, actions, and decisions affecting land use must be consistent with the locally adopted comprehensive plan in order for the community to continue making land use related decisions. The law applies to cities, villages, towns, counties, and regional planning commissions.

Smart Growth And Wisconsin Agriculture, Douglas B. Jackson-Smith

Sociology, Social Work and Anthropology Faculty Publications

Relatively low and volatile agricultural commodity prices have placed increasing pressure on the state’s farm sector in the 1990s. At the same time, an unusually robust non-farm economy has generated significant demand for rural housing and recreational land development. The result has been a dramatic acceleration in the rate of farmland conversion to non- farm uses over the last 15 years. Non-farm growth pressures have affected many other aspects of Wisconsin’s urban and rural landscape as well. To help communities grapple with these new challenges, the state legislature passed a new “Smart Growth” law in the fall of 1999 (1999 …

Limitations Of Agricultural Land Useplanning Tools In Rural Wisconsin, Douglas B. Jackson-Smith, J. Bukovac

Sociology, Social Work and Anthropology Faculty Publications

Recent opinion polls suggest that farmland preservation is one of the most widely shared goals for local land use planning in Wisconsin. Although the state has long been a leader in the use of tax and zoning policy tools to protect agricultural lands from residential or commercial development, continued high rates of farmland loss have cast doubt on their effectiveness. This paper critically examines statistical evidence for the effectiveness of farmland tax credit and exclusive agricultural zoning policies in Wisconsin. Using data collected at the township level (the local unit of land use decision-making in most counties), and controlling for …

Wisconsin Agriculture In Historical Perspective:Economic And Social Changes, 1959-1995, Douglas B. Jackson-Smith

Sociology, Social Work and Anthropology Faculty Publications

Anyone who travels through the Wisconsin countryside and speaks with an average farm operator will quickly come to appreciate the acute sense of anxiety about the future of agriculture that permeates rural life in the state. Long hours, a lack of vacation time, declining commodity prices, and rising farm expenses have all contributed to a growing inability to find young people interested in taking over Wisconsin farm operations. The loss of farms - particularly dairy farms - in many regions of the state has placed stress on the economic vitality and cultural identities of rural communities that have traditionally depended …

The Value Of Microcomputers In Agriculture, John P. Gibney

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purpose of this paper was two-fold. To examine the hardware and software purchased, training taken, and benefit recieved by farmers recently purchasing micro computers and to demonstrate a systematic approach of evaluating software. Over five hundred farmers that use microcomputers were surveyed on farm size and type, personal and computer system characteristics, and perceived benefit from the computer. Farmers that use computers were found to be younger, have higher incomes and benefit more from their computer systems with time than averages for all farmers. The use of printers and/or modems appeared to be justified for all levels of income. …

Economic Impacts Of Water Conservation Measures In Agriculture And Energy Within The Upper Colorado River Basin, Douglas R. Franklin

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The demand for water is increasing in the western United States. Coupled with growing emphasis on development of the western resources, the limited supply of water will create an expanding competitive market for water by agricultural, energy, industrial and municipal users.

The Upper Colorado River Basin is faced with a question of what water conservation measures in the agricultural and energy sectors can be instigated without reducing agricultural output. If the decision is made to adopt water conservation technology measures, this study addresses the impacts in the private and public investment sectors under alternative public policies, i.e., regulation or non-regulation …

The Impact Of The Prototype Oil Shale Development On Agricultural And Municipal Water Supplies In The Uintah Basin, Roger Orson Tew

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

In this paper the institutional factors affecting water distribution in the Upper Colorado River Basin in general and the Uintah Basin are presented. The historical development of the appropriation doctrine of water allocation is outlined and Utah water policy is examined. These institutional factors are analyzed in light of the prototype oil shale development in the Uintah Basin and potential impact on the area's agricultural sector. Oil shale water estimates are compared with Uintah Basin water availability and examined with regard to population projections and municipal water use. Lastly, Utah water policy and the appropriation doctrine are viewed as restraints …