Agricultural and Resource Economics Commons^™

Supply Chain Performance Of The Australian Beef Industry: Comparing The Industry Structure, Inter-Firm Relationships And Knowledge Systems Of Western Australia And Queensland, Mohammad Nasir Uddin,, Nazrul Islam, Mohammed Quaddus

Books & book chapters

The meat and livestock industry in Australia accounts for more than 45 per cent of Australia’s total value of agricultural production, within which beef is the largest industry in value terms (Nossal, Sheng and Zhao 2008). But the industry is experiencing a long-term decline in terms of trade, and has lagged behind other industries in rates of productivity improvement (MLA 2008). As it is critical for the economy that the beef industry maintains profitability and sustainability, it is believed that the performance, competitiveness and success of the industry depends on improving cost efficiency and productivity of the whole supply chain …

Using System Dynamics Modelling Approach To Develop Management Tools For Animal Production With Emphasis On Small Ruminants, L. O. Tedeschi, C. F. Nicholson, E. Rich

Agribusiness

Small ruminants are important assets in several regions of the world. They account for more than half of the domesticated ruminants. Despite the growth in goat production in the world (more than 2% per year), research related to goat production is less than desired. One underused but potentially valuable approach for research on small ruminants is simulation modelling. Models of the components of small ruminant systems can enhance the financial returns and reduce negative environmental impacts. These models can be used to assess many dimensions of small ruminant production, from rumen dynamics to economic policies designed to support small ruminant …

Recommendations For Economic Development In Guadalupe, Ca, Larissa Requa Heeren

Master's Theses

It is recommended that the City of Guadalupe prepare and implement a small-scale business expansion and retention program using existing service providers in the area.  This type of program model seems to hold the most potential for Guadalupe. A mixed-methods approach including in-depth cases studies of existing economic development programs and an analysis of opportunities and constraints in Guadalupe informs a set recommendations for future economic development in the City. Data was collected in three phases: short interviews with a variety of economic development program staff, short interviews with Guadalupe business owners and City officials and in-depth interviews with staff …

Planting Seeds For An Improved Agrifood System? Linking The Aims Of The Alternative Agrifood Movement To Executive Action In The First Two Years Of The Obama Administration, K. Glowa, Sarah Carvill, Costanza Rampini

Faculty Publications, Environmental Studies

This paper uses several case studies to look at the dialogic relationship between the Obama administration and the alternative agrifood movement. We evaluate the case studies based on criteria developed from the agroecology literature and literature on food security, agrarianism, and the alternative agrifood movement as a whole. Additionally we compare the policy tools utilized and the funding levels of each of the cases. Our findings suggest that the Obama administration is committed to tackling issues of food security and promoting the well-being of small- and mid-scale farmers and their local agrifood economies. Deconsolidation of large agribusiness, equitable trade, and …

Empirical Methods-A Review: With An Introduction To Data Mining And Machine Learning, Matt Bogard

Economics Faculty Publications

This presentation was part of a staff workshop focused on empirical methods and applied research. This includes a basic overview of regression with matrix algebra, maximum likelihood, inference, and model assumptions. Distinctions are made between paradigms related to classical statistical methods and algorithmic approaches. The presentation concludes with a brief discussion of generalization error, data partitioning, decision trees, and neural networks.

Replacement Alternatives For Beef Cow Herds: An Analysis Of Retaining Non-Pregnant Cows, Trenton T. Bohling

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

A non-pregnant cow is a liability to a producer. Over the last four years, cow-calf producers have had an increased number of non-pregnant cows due to factors like environmental conditions and diseases like trichomoniasis. While most research has indicated that culling a non-pregnant female and replacing the cow with retained heifers, purchased heifers, or purchased cows are the only economic alternatives, recent trends in the cattle market have suggested that keeping a non-pregnant cow may also be an alternative.

Annual beef cow budgets were created based on typical Nebraska Sandhills conditions. Revenues and costs in these budgets vary according to …

Yak, A Green Icon And A Good Investment, Caroline Kang

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

“Yak, A Green Icon and Good Investment” was conceived after I briefly interned for the Mongol Yak Society during the NGO Drop Off. I became interested and even, invested in their mission. For three weeks of the ISP period, I worked closely with the Mongolian Yak Society based in Ulaanbaatar and researched how increasing the productive value of yaks through improved communications, equipment, knowledge, and support will address several key environmental and economic issues. I further focused on the Mongolian Yak Society and its role as a detached entity that intervenes on various levels of the yak wool value chain: …

Saŋɔ Baara Cogo N´A Feere Cogo Gafe: Mogo Minuwye Gafe Dilan Oye = Fiche De Production Et De Commercialisation Du Mil = Production And Marketing Of Millet, Botorou Ouendeba, Niaba Teme

USAID Mali Mission Awards

U.S. government publication about millet production and sales in West Africa. In the Bambara language.

The Costs Of Increased Localization For A Multiple-Product Food Supply Chain: Dairy In The United States, Charles F. Nicholson, Miguel I. Gomez, Oliver H. Gao

Agribusiness

There is increased interest in greater localization of food supply chains but little evidence about the effects of localization on supply-chain costs. Assessing these effects is complex in multiple-product, multi-process supply chains such as the dairy industry. In this study, we develop a spatially-disaggregated transshipment model for the US dairy sector that minimizes total supply-chain costs, including assembly, processing, interplant transportation and final product distribution. We employ the cost-minimizing solution as benchmark to compare alternative scenarios of increased supply chain localization. Our results indicate: (1) short-run limits to increased localization, (2) modest impacts on overall supply-chain costs, and (3) large …

Validating The Culture Of Agriculture: Farmers Groups And Organic Agriculture Mitigating Rural To Urban Migration In Bhutan, Emma Dosch

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Agricultural occupations make up the largest proportion of Bhutan’s workforce. Over the past two decades the occupation has shrunk from 90% to 65% of Bhutan’s employment. The younger generation of Bhutan’s rural population is seeking livelihood opportunities in urban areas, leaving farms with labor shortages. The movement may compromise the identity and sustainability of Bhutan’s rural population and undermine the nation’s goals of Gross National Happiness (GNH) directed policy. Initiatives to retain and legitimize agricultural livelihoods are emerging inside and outside of government policy. Existing efforts are models of ways to reconnect educated individuals with the needs and values of …

Fiche De Production Et De Commercialisation Du Mil = Production And Marketing Of Millet, Botorou Ouendeba, Niaba Teme

USAID Mali Mission Awards

Publication about production and sales of millet in West Africa. In French.

Factors That Influence Prices For Cool-Climate Wines: A Hedonic Analysis Of The Market For Riesling, Christiane Schroeter, Jennifer L. Ritchie, Bradley J. Rickard

Agribusiness

The price of wine represents various characteristics that differentiate each bottle, assuming that the majority of consumers use price as a signal of quality. The objective of this study is to analyze the drivers of Riesling prices, since this varietal continues to gain popularity and can be grown in all climates, including cool-climate regions. We expand the use of quality ratings by including interaction terms to express wine-quality and price-quality relationships. The results suggest that higher price premiums are associated with wines that earned high expert rating scores, and this emphasizes the importance of market-perceived quality signals.

Ŋɔsibɔ N´A Feere Cɔgɔ = Fiche De Production Et De Commercialisation Du Sorgho, Mali = Production And Marketing Of Sorghum, Mali, Botorou Ouendeba

USAID Mali Mission Awards

U.S. government publication about production and sales of sorghum in West Africa.

Fiche De Production Et De Commercialisation Du Sorgho, Mali = Production And Marketing Of Sorghum, Mali, Botorou Ouendeba

USAID Mali Mission Awards

U.S. government publication about production and sales of sorghum in West Africa. In French.

Le Développement Durable Comme Mode De Prévention Des Risques Energétiques : Une Approche Par Les Capacités D’Absorption. Le Cas De La Voiture Electrique Chez Renault, Sylvaine Castellano, Adnane Maâlaoui, Judith Schrempf-Stirling

Management Faculty Publications

Sustainability — a way to prevent energy-related risks — is the buzzword of the last decade. This trend demands radical rethinking on how society lives, consumes and produces. Herein, we focus on electric cars, which is the result of sustainable processes and initiatives in the car industry. The case of Renault illustrates how the firm based its sustainable strategy on its absorptive capacities.

When Do Fat Taxes Increase Consumer Welfare?, Jayson L. Lusk, Christiane Schroeter

Agribusiness

Previous analyses of fat taxes have generally worked within an empirical framework in which it is difficult to determine whether consumers benefit from the policy. This note outlines on simple means to determine whether consumers benefit from a fat tax by comparing the ratio of expenditures on the taxed good to the weight effect of the tax against the individual’s willingness to pay for a one-pound weight reduction. Our empirical calculations suggest that an individual would have to be willing to pay about $1500 to reduce weight by one pound for a tax on sugary beverages to be welfare enhancing. …

Animal Welfare: Perceptions Of Nonmetropolitan Nebraskans: 2011 Nebraska Rural Poll Results, Rebecca J. Vogt, Randolph L. Cantrell, Bradley Lubben, Connie Reimers-Hild

Nebraska Rural Poll

Almost all rural Nebraskans recognize the importance of livestock and poultry production to the state’s economy and most rural Nebraskans are familiar with livestock care practices. In fact, many rural Nebraskans have experience raising beef cattle, poultry and swine. They have less experience with dairy production.

Most rural Nebraskans believe animal welfare means providing adequate exercise, space and social activities for the animals in addition to food, water and shelter. However, the vast majority of rural Nebraskans agree that animal welfare means at least providing adequate food, water and shelter to livestock animals.

Most rural Nebraskans trust livestock farmers and …

Quality Of Life In Nonmetropolitan Nebraska: 2011 Nebraska Rural Poll Results, Rebecca J. Vogt, Randolph L. Cantrell, Bradley D. Lubben, Connie Reimers-Hild

Nebraska Rural Poll

Most rural Nebraskans are positive about their current situation. And, they continue to be generally positive about their future situation. Over one-half (52%) of rural Nebraskans think they are better off than they were five years ago and just under one-half (45%) think they will be better off ten years from now.

Certain groups remain pessimistic about their situation. Persons with lower household incomes, older persons, persons with lower educational levels and persons who are divorced or separated are the groups most likely to be pessimistic about the present and the future.

When asked if they believe people are powerless …

Development And Evaluation Of An Integrated Simulation Model For Assessing Smallholder Crop-Livestock Production In Yucatán, Mexico, David Parsons, Charles F. Nicholson, Robert W. Blake, Quirine M. Ketterings, Luis Ramírez-Aviles, Danny G. Fox, Luis O. Tedeschi, Jerome H. Cherney

Agribusiness

Mixed farming systems constitute a large proportion of agricultural production in the tropics, and provide multiple benefits for the world’s poor. However, our understanding of the functioning of these systems is limited. Modeling offers the best approach to quantify outcomes from many interacting causal variables in these systems. The objective of this study was to develop an integrated crop–livestock model to assess biophysical and economic consequences of farming practices exhibited in sheep systems of Yucatán state, Mexico. A Vensim™ dynamic stock-flow feedback model was developed to integrate scientific and practical knowledge of management, flock dynamics, sheep production, partitioning of nutrients, …

Application Of A Simulation Model For Assessing Integration Of Smallholder Shifting Cultivation And Sheep Production In Yucatán, Mexico, David Parsons, Charles Nicholson, Robert W. Blake, Quirine M. Ketterings, Luis Ramírez-Aviles, Jerome H. Cherney, Danny G. Fox

Agribusiness

Simulation models are effective tools to examine interactions between livestock, cropping systems, households, and natural resources. Our study objective was to use an integrated livestock and crop model to assess the outcomes from selected suites of management decisions observed in smallholder sheep-cropping systems of Yucatán, Mexico. The scenarios contrasted specialized systems versus mixed farming, and evaluated the outcomes of increased crop-livestock integration. Mixed enterprise scenarios involving sheep provided more income than specialized enterprises, and capitalized on a lower price of on-farm maize grain, efficient utilization of surplus labor, and availability of common land. Labor and management income was greatest for …

An Hsi Report: The Impact Of Industrial Farm Animal Production On Food Security In The Developing World, Humane Society International

HSI REPORTS

Food security is often incorrectly used as a justification for the inhumane confinement of animals on industrial farm animal production facilities, while in reality, the industrialization of animal agriculture jeopardizes food security by degrading the environment, threatening human health, and diminishing income-earning opportunities in rural areas. Support from governments and international agencies for more humane and sustainable agricultural systems can ensure adequate food consumption and nutrition throughout the developing world.

Community Life In Nonmetropolitan Nebraska: Current Perceptions And Future Strategies: 2011 Nebraska Rural Poll Results, Rebecca J. Vogt, Randolph L. Cantrell, Bradley D. Lubben, Connie Reimers-Hild

Nebraska Rural Poll

By many different measures, rural Nebraskans are positive about their community. Many rural Nebraskans rate their community as friendly, trusting and supportive. Most rural Nebraskans also say it would be difficult to leave their community. In addition, most rural Nebraskans disagree that their community is powerless to control its future.

Differences of opinion exist by the size of their community. Residents of smaller communities are more likely than residents of larger communities to rate their community favorably on its social dimensions and to have positive sentiments about their community. However, residents of larger communities are more likely than residents of …

The Digital Age: Nonmetropolitan Nebraskans’ Use Of Technology: 2011 Nebraska Rural Poll Results, Rebecca J. Vogt, Randolph L. Cantrell, Bradley D. Lubben, Connie Reimers-Hild

Nebraska Rural Poll

Most rural Nebraskans use the Internet or email from home. The groups most likely to use the Internet or email from home include: persons living in or near larger communities, residents of the Panhandle region, persons with higher household incomes, younger persons, females, married persons, persons with higher education levels and persons with management, professional or education occupations. The Internet applications used by the majority of rural Nebraskans include: research, looking for health information, purchasing a product, watching a video and social networking.

Most rural Nebraskans have positive opinions about shopping online: that the Internet is the best place to …

From Peasants To Farmers: Peasant Differentiation, Labor Regimes, And Land-Rights Institutions In China's Agrarian Transition, Q. Forrest Zhang, John A. Donaldson

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

The development of factor markets has opened Chinese agriculture for the penetration of capitalism. This new round of rural transformation—China’s agrarian transition— raises the agrarian question in the Chinese context. This study investigates how capitalist forms and relations of production transform agricultural production and the peasantry class in rural China. The authors identify six forms of nonpeasant agricultural production, compare the labor regimes and direct producers’ socioeconomic statuses across these forms, and evaluate the role of China’s land-rights institution in shaping these forms. The empirical investigation presents three main findings: (1) Peasant differentiation : capitalist forms of agricultural production differentiate …

Ua37/29 Gary Ransdell - Federal Reserve Board - Ben Bernanke Town Hall Meeting, St. Louis Federal Reserve Board

Faculty/Staff Personal Papers

Email sent to members of the St. Louis Federal Reserve Board of Ben Bernanke's town hall meeting with educators.

Foodshed Foundations: Law's Role In Shaping Our Food System's Future, Margaret Sova Mccabe

Law Faculty Scholarship

[. . .] This symposium Article analyzes how we can rethink the architecture of law based on a foodshed model to provide a greater role for local, state, and regional government in the American food system. In turn, greater roles for different levels of government may help America achieve greater efficiencies in domestic food safety, nutrition and related public health issues, sustainability, and international trade.

Americans need a greater voice in the food system. The foodshed model is a powerful vehicle that allows us to conceptualize change, allowing greater citizen participation and a more nuanced approach to food policy. The …

Behavioral Economics: A New Heavyweight In Washington?, Sean B. Cash, Christiane Schroeter

Agribusiness

No abstract provided.

A Forward-Looking Commentary: China's Agricultural Development, Priya A. Roy

Journal of Global Initiatives: Policy, Pedagogy, Perspective

This paper describes China's agricultural development before the reform period from institutional, economic, and ideological perspectives; the reform period; the 11th 5-year plan; and the current situation. The paper gives two case examples of the Soviet Union and India. Finally, the paper ends with a discussion of what this means for China.

A Case Study On Contracted Seasonal Workers And Farm Labor Contractors In The Stockton Area, Cristal Verduzco

Agribusiness

This study was conducted to define the current situation between contracted seasonal workers and farm labor contractors in the Stockton area. Specifically, this study focuses on the perception workers have of farm labor contracted employment. It also addresses the perception farm labor contractors have on the contracting business.

To gather the information needed to compare perceptions, interviews with twelve contracted seasonal workers and two farm labor contractors were conducted in Stockton. The analysis process consists of a detailed account of the problems workers and farm labor contractors encounter in the farm labor contracting business.

The results of these interviews concluded …

A Comparison Of Costs And Returns For Organic And Conventional Cabernet Sauvignon Grape Production In San Luis Obispo County, Amanda N. Johansen

Agribusiness

This study examined the differences in costs and profitability for established conventional and organic Cabernet Sauvignon vineyards in the Edna Valley region of San Luis Obispo County, California. The study used a partial budgeting approach to compare cost and profitability for established vineyards for 2009, and thus ignored transition costs. Data were obtained from UC Davis cost studies for organic and conventional grape production in other regions of California in previous years. Adjustments made to these costs to account for changes in input use, input costs and grape prices in San Luis Obispo County during the 2009 growing season.

The …