Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Government Program Decision Analysis In Nebraska At The Farm Level, Tatum R. Brunkow

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

The one-year extension of the 2018 Farm Bill until September 30, 2024, has extended several government programs for the 2024 crop year including those in Title I: Commodities. This analysis looks at three different financial scenarios and analyzes five different alternatives for a case farm to select the optimal farm program decision for the operation by evaluating net farm income. Since 2021, eligible producers have been able to elect either Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) or Price Loss Coverage (PLC) for their operation on an annual basis. Support levels for these programs are trending close together making the election decision more …

Assessing Determinants Of Participation In Conservation Programs In The U.S., Manita Ale

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

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has implemented conservation programs through Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and Farm Service Agency (FSA). Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP), and Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) are some of them. These programs provide financial and technical assistance to farmers and ranchers to adopt land management practices that generate environmental benefits. In this study, we explore the determinants of participation in conservation programs (CRP, CSP, EQIP) in Iowa, Kansas, and Nebraska. For this, we use a unique survey-based data set comprising observations from row crop farmers in these states. We are …

The Role And Implications Of Negotiation In Fed Cattle Transactions, Taralee Hudson

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

Within the past three decades, a significant evolution has occurred in how fed cattle are bought and sold. Driven by changes in the quality of beef and consumer health preferences, the beef industry began to advocate for “value-based marketing,” resulting in the development of grid pricing and eventually formula transactions. Alternative marketing arrangements (AMAs) have become the predominant method used for the sale of fed cattle, ultimately resulting in fewer transactions in the negotiated cash market. Such market conditions have recently reignited concerns among industry stakeholders about potentially uncompetitive outcomes for beef producers, particularly after the occurrence of sequential Black …

The Effect Of The Environmental Protection Agency’S Exhaust Emissions Standards On Diesel Tractor Fuel Efficiency, Jerin Tekolste

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

Since its inception the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has been tasked with the assessment, research, and education, of the nation’s environment while also maintaining and enforcing national standards. A characteristic display of this agency’s work is the Exhaust Emission Standards for Nonroad Compression-Ignition Engines that began in 1995. Since the introduction of exhaust emissions standards in 1995, no study has fully examined the subsequent impact on fuel efficiencies.

In this paper we analyze the resulting fuel efficiency caused by the EPA’s exhaust emission standards. We identify the impact of the emissions standards on tractor fuel efficiency through a statistical …

Biological Capital Estimation For The United States: Data Sets For Adauto Rocha Dissertation, Adauto B. Rocha Jr.

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

Excel files with calculations used for chapters in the above dissertation are posted here in the following order:

Ch 1: BIOLOGICAL CAPITAL ESTIMATION FOR ANIMAL CATEGORIES: CAPITAL MEASUREMENT USING DATA ON PRICE OF NEW ASSETS

Dairy capital report US.xls

Beef capital report US.xls

Hog sows capital report US.xls

Ch 2: BIOLOGICAL CAPITAL ESTIMATION FOR ORANGE ORCHARDS: CAPITAL MEASUREMENT USING BUDGET SHEETS

Orange capital report CA.xls

Orange capital report FL.xls

Oranges summary stocks and services.xls

Ch 3: BIOLOGICAL CAPITAL ESTIMATION FOR APPLE ORCHARDS: CAPITAL MEASUREMENT USING BUDGETS

Apple capital report MI.xls

Apple capital report NY.xls

Apple capital report WA.xls

Ch 4: …

Regenerative Farming Practices: How Much Carbon Do They Sequester?, Andrew M. Havens

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

Along with the recent rise of voluntary carbon markets comes potential carbon credit producers seeking reliable information on how much carbon they can expect to sequester. In this thesis a distribution of expected sequestration outcomes is constructed using cost-benefit analysis and data gathered from agronomic experiments and land-grant university crop budgets for cover crops and no-till practices. The inverse cumulative distribution of carbon sequestration outcomes from adopting a regenerative agricultural practice is visualized and the net social benefit of paying farmers to produce carbon credits is estimated. Results show that on average there is between $29.02 and $37.20 of social …

The Role Of Intertemporal Preferences, Active Consideration Of Health Outcomes, And Simple Health Prompts On The Nutritional Quality Of Food Choices, Olivier Tuyizere

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

This thesis consists of three chapters. The first chapter introduces the thesis by highlighting a brief review of intertemporal preferences, active consideration of health outcomes, and health prompts during food choices. The introduction paves the way for the following two chapters, which are related, but stand-alone papers.

In the second chapter, we explore a novel question: how does actively considering health outcomes (both current and future) during decision-making affect the nutritional quality of food choices? We explore this question with an online experiment on food choices. Our findings show that active consideration of health outcomes leads to choosing products with …

Essays On Conservation Outcomes On Rented Farmland-Role Of Gender, Diya Ganguly

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

The essays in this dissertation explore why female landowners may be less likely than male landowners to achieve long term conservation on their land. In Chapter 1 we develop theory to model the strategic interaction between a landowner and a tenant with a focus on their gender and implementation of conservation practices on land. Within the context of a sequential-move game, we use the principal-agent framework and identity theory to model land-use choice and equilibrium payoffs between landowner and tenant. We consider cash rent lease and discounted lease whereby the tenant pays a reduced rent if they implement conservation practices …

Essays On Socioeconomic Shocks And Policies In Agriculture, Wilman Iglesias

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

The three chapters of this doctoral dissertation estimate the responses of agricultural productivity, production value of agriculture, and crop supply to some external shocks and policies. Using unique panel datasets for Colombia and the United States, this research provides new insights regarding the responsiveness of agriculture to some socioeconomic effects and related market policies. Chapter 1 studies the impact of armed conflicts in rural areas on legal agricultural productivity in Colombia by using a production function that includes violence shocks such as the forced intra-national displacement of the rural population from 1995 to 2017. Chapter 2 investigates the effect of …

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 …

Distillers' Grains: Past, Present, And Future Economic Analyses, Daniel E. Gertner

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

This thesis is comprised of four chapters, each of which discusses or conducts economic research related to the distillers’ grains market. The first three chapters are meant to be standalone papers. Chapter four provides potential paths forward in distillers’ grains research based on the findings of the first three chapters and concludes the thesis.

The first chapter conducts a comprehensive literature review that categorizes and summarizes economic research on distillers’ grains products. This section shows how the physical market has moved beyond the current academic understanding of market products and structure. Existing research finds that traditional distillers’ grains products positively …

Perceptions Of Future Community And Individual Well-Being In Rural Nebraska, Amanda L. Kowalewski

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

Populations of rural areas continue to decline, yet some communities are more vibrant than ever. While past research has studied current satisfaction or well-being, few have examined future well-being. Using an ordinal logistic regression and combining primary and secondary data sources, this study investigates the predictors of rural Nebraskan’s sense of future well-being, both at the community and individual levels. The model indicates that resilience may be more important in well-being than social capital. Additionally, certain satisfaction indicators are more important than others. Factor analysis was employed to re-index variables, and findings were similar. Social capital, resilience, and quality of …

Corn Co-Product Logistics: An Application Of Linear Programming, Dmitry Kalashnikov Adams

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

The purpose of this thesis is not to explore new ways to apply or to study the general field of linear programming. Rather the emphasis is on applying a particular type of linear programming to a specific problem. In this thesis the classic case of Linear Programing - the transportation problem – is used to optimize corn co-product logistics between six ethanol producing facilities. At the core, the problem of corn germ logistics lies in transporting products from areas of excess supply to areas with excess demand. The challenge of optimizing corn germ logistics lies in managing transportation between producing …

Nebraska Cow-Calf Operations: Use Of Pricing Tools And Market Diversification Strategies To Manage Market Risk, Logan Kalkowski

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

This thesis is the work of Logan Kalkowski with assistance and direction from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and advisors Jay Parsons and Elliott J. Dennis. This thesis is divided into three chapters. The first chapter of this thesis investigates years of research and data collection from multiple agencies to find connections to reasoning for producers to choose marketing and diversification tools used in their operation.

The second chapter examines cow-calf marketing and risk management practices in Nebraska. Marketing and risk management behavior are examined by using the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Cow-calf survey data collected in 2016. The survey captures characteristics …

The Role Of Quality Characteristics In Pricing Hard Red Winter Wheat, Shane J. Roberts

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

In this thesis, we empirically examine the role of conventional and end-use wheat quality characteristics on the pricing of hard red winter wheat (HRWW). We use detailed quality characteristic data as well as location matched price data for 50% and 100% harvest completion weeks and utilize a hedonic price analysis framework. We find evidence that end-use characteristics, specifically milling and baking quality characteristics, have a statistically and economically significant effect on the price of HRWW. This evidence suggests that, while HRWW producers are not directly paid premiums or discounts for end-use quality, they are paid indirectly through basis. Comparing results …

The Role Of Myopic Loss Aversion In Pre-Harvest Grain Marketing, Iyore Eronmwon

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

In this study, we investigate the role of myopic loss aversion (MLA) risk preferences on pre-harvest grain marketing decisions using a laboratory experiment. Prospect theory parameters were estimated to measure MLA. We estimated a power function for utility and obtained power estimates indicating linear utility for gains and concave utility for losses. We obtained a loss aversion parameter estimate that suggests the presence of loss aversion. We found evidence of probability weighting for both gains and losses. We classified individuals into three categories based on their MLA status. They are no NMLA, MLA, and high loss aversion (HLA). We observed …

Measuring Impacts Of Uncertainty, Irreversibility, And Loss Aversion On The Adoption Of Crop Canopy Sensors Among Nebraska Corn Producers, Brooks Ronspies

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

Understanding barriers to adoption of Precision Agricultural Technologies (PATs) is important to the growth of agricultural productivity, efficiency, and sustainability. This thesis proposes and evaluates a model for estimating the impact of uncertainty, irreversibility, and loss aversion on producers’ adoption of crop canopy sensors in order to explain adoption behavior that contradicts previous expectations about the conditions necessary for technology adoption. The model is evaluated using estimated statistical distributions of price and field characteristics designed to match observations of actual corn and nitrogen prices, and of conventional and crop canopy sensor based nitrogen application. Results from this model using expected …

How Does Identifying As Gluten-Free Impact Information Choice Regarding The Gluten-Free Diet?, Pratiksha Baishya

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

The market for gluten-free products is a multi-billion-dollar industry in the United States and has seen tremendous growth in the recent years. The retail sales of gluten-free foods in the United States almost tripled between 2011 and 2015, although rates of diagnosed gluten-related health problems have not risen. In addition to people who suffer from Celiac Disease, Wheat Allergy and Non-Celiac Gluten Sensitivity, there is a category or people known as PWAG (people who avoid gluten) who seem to have significantly contributed to this boom in the market for gluten-free foods. With more people choosing to adopt the gluten-free diet, …

Which Credence Production Attributes Do Consumers Prefer? The Case Of Milk, Emmanouil Petrakis

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

The interest of consumers for non-traditional food production attributes like antibiotics free and animal welfare have made consumer preferences more complex. These new attributes, usually non-identifiable by inspection or experience of the product are called credence attributes. The objectives of this study are to analyze consumer preferences for milk production attributes by eliciting the relative importance of these attributes for consumers, and to identify possible sources of heterogeneity related to consumer characteristics and actual purchase data. The research method used to elicit consumer preferences is Paired Comparison Method. Consumers from California and Texas were administered the online survey questionnaire in …

The Effects Of Economic Factors And Groundwater Policies On The Timing Of Well Drilling, Qianyu Zhang

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

Understanding the factors that affect farmers’ irrigation decisions is critical for a better groundwater management. This study addresses the question of how economic, agronomic, and policy variables affect the timing of irrigation adoption in Nebraska. The key contribution of this paper is to identify farmers’ strategic responses to a particular type of policy intervention, a moratorium on well drilling. Our results estimate how farmers respond when a moratorium is announced but not enforced yet, and when neighboring areas implement a moratorium, which we refer as pre-regulation effect and policy spillover effect, respectively. Results show that farmers are more likely to …

Examining The Capacity Of Nebraska Rangelands For Cattle Production And Evaluating Drought Management Strategies, Kaitlyn L. Cumming

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

This thesis has two chapters focusing on the grazing capacity of Nebraska rangelands, and drought management strategies. The first chapter conducts a gap analysis comparing forage supplied by perennial grasslands to the animal unit months (AUMs) required by the cattle. The purpose of this research was to quantify potential AUM supply (i.e., carrying capacity) of grazing lands dominated by perennial grasses on a regional basis in Nebraska to the AUM demand based on cattle inventories and standard production practices in each region of Nebraska. The results suggest that Nebraska is operating at 100% of potential carrying capacity. Harvest efficiency for …

Modeling And Economic Analysis Of A Crop-Livestock Production System Incorporating Cereal Rye As A Forage, Eric R. Coufal

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

This thesis consists of two chapters using agent-based modeling for a crop-livestock production system incorporating human labor. The first chapter examines the principles used to develop a fundamental simulation pertaining to grazing cereal rye (Secale cereal L.) with calves. Within the software guidelines, the base model has the ability to capture diverse system interactions between livestock/plants and land management with human labor efficiency. AnyLogic incorporates agent-based modeling while combining with discrete event modeling and system dynamics. The purpose of the model was to find the economic returns of grazing cover crops relative to the area of Mead, Nebraska. In our …

An Empirical Long-Run Competitive Equilibrium Model Of Subsidized Crop Insurance And Farm Industry Structure, Taylor T. Kaus

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

Previous research has found a positive and significant planted acreage response to the participation in, and increases in the premium subsidization of, the federal crop insurance program. However, no research to our knowledge has evaluated what influence the response in planted acreage and crop choice to subsidized crop insurance has had on market industry in terms of farm numbers and average farm output. To address this issue, we utilize the theory of long-run competitive equilibrium with subsidized crop insurance to generate a conceptual model with econometrically testable hypotheses. Testing the econometric model in two distinct regions of the U.S, we …

Understanding Consumer Attitudes Towards Antimicrobial Risk Reducing Practices, Sabrina Gulab

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

The emergence and spread of antimicrobial resistance is a natural evolutionary reaction to antimicrobial exposure. However, the misuse and overuse of antimicrobial drugs in human medicine and in agriculture are speeding up the process. Antimicrobials have been used in food-producing animals for therapeutic purposes as well as to promote growth by applying low concentrations in animal feed. Antimicrobial resistant pathogens can enter the food chain through food containing residues of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and cause infections in humans. In the United States, millions of people are infected every year with antimicrobial resistant bacterial diseases causing approximately 23,000 deaths (CDC 2013). This …

The Relationship Of Male And Female Pastoralist Income With Household Food Security And Nutrition Status In Tanzania: Maasai, Sukuma, And Barabaig Ethnic Groups., Henriette Gitungwa

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

Although previous work provides a significant baseline for understanding the impact of gender on household decision making and resource (i.e. income and food) allocation, there are gaps in evidence for important groups, including East African pastoralists. Previous authors have noted that pastoralists’ gender roles and relations appear to be resistant to change, potentially impeding household development. This paper attempts to assess the relationship between male and female pastoralists’ income control and household food security and nutritional status in Tanzania. We use three surveys: a household-level livestock health and economics survey, a household food security survey, and an individual woman-level survey …

Irrigation Management, Environment, And Profits: Who Wins?, Emily O'Donnell

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

The impact of irrigation technology on farmers’ management strategies and resulting environmental benefits depends upon agronomic properties and market forces. We evaluate the role of deficit irrigation using soil moisture probe technology on corn yield and evapotranspiration, which is a measure of water use efficiency. Evapotranspiration represents the water that transits through the plant during planting to harvest (transpiration) and the evaporation from the soil into the environment, or the displaced water in the production process. We develop yield and evapotranspiration response functions to inform a constrained profit maximization model used to identify the optimal irrigation level across a variety …

Using Regression Analysis To Determine Land Cover Impacts On Groundwater Levels In The High Plains, Dylan T. Riley

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

Many parts of the High Plains region are facing declining aquifer levels, which threatens the long-term viability of irrigated agriculture. Furthermore, some areas of the High Plains region, like the Republican River Basin in Nebraska, need to keep groundwater levels high enough in the short-term to ensure that hydrologically connected rivers have enough streamflow to fulfill surface water obligations, such as Nebraska's interstate river compact with Colorado and Kansas. To better manage groundwater, it is important to understand the unintended effects of policies that may not be aimed at groundwater conservation, such as the USDA- Conservation Reserve Program (USDA-CRP). The …

Estimating Adaptation To Climate Change In Groundwater Irrigation, James Keeler

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

Understanding the adaptive capacity of irrigated agriculture, including to what extent producers adjust irrigation choices along the intensive and extensive margins, is vital to the development of accurate and holistic estimates of the impacts of climate change on agricultural production and the sustainability of water-related ecosystem services. This thesis proposes and implements a natural experiment using statistical matching methods to estimate how producers adjust groundwater extraction, irrigated crop acreage, and irrigation technology in response to long-term changes in precipitation and evapotranspiration. Results from groundwater irrigated fields in Kansas suggest that intensive and extensive margin water use adaptations are generally limited …

Testing Global Dietary Convergence, Sri Noor Cholidah

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

Historical evidence shows that compared to Western countries, where the nutrition transition from a diet heavy in starchy staples to the modern Western diet took more than two centuries, the nutrition transition in developing countries towards Western-type diets has taken only a few decades, suggesting a trend towards global dietary convergence. This thesis explores the extent of such convergence by measuring βconvergence and σ-convergence of diets of 152 countries using FAO data on total calorie intake and calories by source from 1961-2009. Results for β-convergence show that a) countries who started in 1961 with lower calorie intake, in total or …

How Do Restaurant Menu Calorie Labeling Requirements And Exercise Impact Consumer Food Decision Making?, Nigina Rakhmatullaeva

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

The percentage of the U.S. population that is obese has increased markedly over the past fifty years. Obesity is driven in part by imbalances in energy consumption and expenditures. There are two main behavioral factors that influence that balance: food consumption and exercise. In this thesis, I report the results of two experiments that encompass both food choice and exercise.

The consumption of food prepared away from home is growing rapidly. Since individuals do not control the ingredients in foods prepared away from home, these foods are frequently less healthy than home-cooked foods. The role of calorie labeling for foods …