Agricultural and Resource Economics Commons^™

Invited Introduction To Jerec, Matthew Kahn

Journal of Environmental and Resource Economics at Colby

No abstract provided.

Welcome By The Editor, Nathan W. Chan

Journal of Environmental and Resource Economics at Colby

No abstract provided.

Geometry-Based Mass Grading Of Mango Fruits Using Image Processing, M. A. Momin, Md Towfiqur Rahman, M. S. Sultana, C. Igathinathane, A. T. M. Ziauddin, T. E. Grift

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Mango (Mangifera indica) is an important, and popular fruit in Bangladesh. However, the post-harvest processing of it is still mostly performed manually, a situation far from satisfactory, in terms of accuracy and throughput. To automate the grading of mangos (geometry and shape), we developed an image acquisition and processing system to extract projected area, perimeter, and roundness features. In this system, images were acquired using a XGA format color camera of 8-bit gray levels using fluorescent lighting. An image processing algorithm based on region based global thresholding color binarization, combined with median filter and morphological analysis was developed …

A Good Kiwi Isn't Acidic: How Ocean Acidification Is Affecting The New Zealand Economy, Lily G. Hurley

Student Theses 2015-Present

In a country that houses a mere 4 million people, it is no wonder that agriculture has become the main facet of New Zealand’s economy. However, while the sheep and produce have flourished from land protection laws, marine life has struggled in recent years due to an increase in oceanic carbon levels. In an area of the Pacific that is so rich in coral reefs, Great White breeding areas, and a plethora of fish species, any upset of the natural preexisting chemical balance has a tangible impact. New Zealand is dealing with a crisis with huge economic and ecological ramifications. …

A Step Towards A "Greener" Dining Services: Procuring Locally For The Health Of Students And The Earth, Jessica Fischer

Senior Honors Projects

Supporting local food has been a goal of dining services for some time now. Buying local means you know exactly where your food is coming from. Typically the farmer has a direct relationship with the processors that puts pressure on them to abide by all laws and regulations. Secondly, the shorter time between the farm and your table, the less likely that nutrients will be lost during the time it takes to transport food across the country. Third, buying local food builds a sense of community. When you buy direct from a farmer, you’re engaging in a time-honored connection between …

Growth And Poverty Traps: Examples From Literature, Danielle Chaloux

Honors Scholar Theses

The writings of Charles Dickens, Emile Zola, Knut Hamsun, and Laura Ingalls Wilder capture humanity on the page. The characters in the works of these authors are confronted by realistic or autobiographical situations and make choices based on history, personal preferences, societal pressures, and economic constraints, just as real-life individuals do. They can thus serve as data for illustrating the implications of economic models, specifically poverty traps. To do so, I will draw from Great Expectations (1861) by Charles Dickens, The Fat and the Thin (1873) by Emile Zola, Hunger (1890) by Knut Hamsun, and The First Four Years (1971) …

Rice Value Chain Development And Policy Sequencing In Southern Africa, Sandratra M. Razafinjoelina

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In the wake of the 2008 food crisis, net food importing countries questioned the reliance on the volatile world market to meet their food demand. Consequently, the necessity to be selfsufficient returned to the forefront of national priorities. In Africa, the Coalition for African Rice Development (CARD) initiative was initiated and aimed to double rice production in the continent by 2018, with the eventual goal of achieving self-sufficiency in rice production. To attain this goal, each of the 23 CARD member countries drafted a comprehensive value chain upgrading strategy called the National Rice Development Strategy (NRDS). This study intends to …

Determining The Effects Of Sulfur Fertility Levels On Edamame Soybean [ Glycine Max ( L. ) Merrill ] Protein Components, Theoneste Nzaranyimana

Theses and Dissertations

Edamame [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] a vegetable type soybean is harvested and consumed before reaching its maturity stage (R6). Its health properties drew attention to U.S. consumers because of its high protein content. Proteins are the major structural component of all cells in the living organisms. They are made of essential and non-essential amino acids which play a big role in growth and development and are source of energy. Proteins act as enzymes, antibodies, and hormones and blood protein. Sulfur (S) is a component of the amino acids cysteine (Cys) and methionine (Met) which are the building blocks for proteins. …

Do Farm Subsidies Affect Crop Diversification?, Chadwick O'Neal

Georgia College Student Research Events

The United States spends $20 billion each year on farm subsidies. Farmers face increased risk and income variation when their crop portfolio is less diversified. It’s possible for farm subsidies to decrease diversification if they are focused on specific crops. Utilizing state level subsidy and agricultural data from the Environmental Working Group, I used econometric analysis to estimate the effect of farm subsidies on crop diversification. I used the number of acres planted from the 15 top most subsidized and grown crops in the United States to derive my dependent variable, the Herfindahl-Hirschman index (HHI). The HHI is a market …

Agrarian Reform In Sumber Klampok, Emma Trainor

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Agrarian reform in Indonesia is part of a movement beginning after independence was gained in 1945. Farmers have been fighting to obtain rights to their land from a government that has a history of violence, repression, and corruption for decades. Environmental, indigenous peoples’, peasant, and agrarian movements were given a legitimate, legal framework to work within after 1960 when the Basic Agrarian Law was passed, protecting the rights of the people to their land. However, during both the Old Order and especially New Order regimes, the law was often ignored by the government, and many grassroots organizations had to work …

Vulnerability And Resilience: The Farmers Of Sagara Village, Nick Olkovsky

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Agriculture is a large part of the economy and society of Tanzania, equating to 28% of the country’s GDP. Up to 80% of these farms are owned and worked by 19 million smallholder agriculturalists (FAO, 2015). Smallholder farmers are an inherently vulnerable demographic, due to their high reliance on agriculture for food and income in addition to their limited financial, technological, and labor resources (Morton, 2007). Simultaneously, these farmers are often uniquely adapted for the challenges they face, having developed strategies of addressing and mitigating risks over many generations. This study investigates the adaptative capacity of smallholder farmers in Sagara …

In Essentials, Unity : An Economic History Of The Grange Movement, Jenny Bourne

Ohio University Press Open Access Books

The Patrons of Husbandry—or the Grange—is the longest-lived US agricultural society and, since its founding shortly after the Civil War, has had immeasurable influence on social change as enacted by ordinary Americans. The Grange sought to relieve the struggles of small farmers by encouraging collaboration. Pathbreaking for its inclusion of women, the Grange is also well known for its association with Gilded Age laws aimed at curbing the monopoly power of railroads.

In Essentials, Unity takes as its focus Grange founder Oliver Kelley and his home organization in Minnesota. Jenny Bourne draws upon numerous historical records to present a lively …

Household Food Vulnerability Under An Extreme Weather Event In Sta. Cruz Subwatershed, Laguna, Philippines, Karen P. Quilloy, Agnes C. Rola

Journal of Economics, Management and Agricultural Development

This study is an assessment of the vulnerability of households to food insecurity under an extreme weather event. A subjective-qualitative technique primarily based on the perceived food security status of the households and their food insecurity coping strategies was used to examine household food vulnerability. Key findings reveal that households living in the vulnerable areas of Sta. Cruz subwatershed were generally resilient to extreme weather events and only suffered from slight to moderate form of food security problems. Impacts of extreme weather events on them were generally moderate but the highest impact was observed in their income sources, logistics, and …

Seasonal Integration And Co-Integration In The Prices Of Key Aquaculture Species In The Philippines, Primo E. Rodriguez, Marjorie-Anne D. Sumaya

Journal of Economics, Management and Agricultural Development

This paper investigates the relationship between retail and wholesale prices of milkfish (Chanoschanos), tilapia (Tilapianilotica), and tiger prawn (Peneaus monodon) using techniques that recognize the role of seasonal factors for testing orders of integration of and the existence of cointegration between these prices. This paper finds that seasonality plays an important role in explaining movements in the prices of these farmed species. This is so because, with the exception of the wholesale price of tiger prawn, unit roots occur at all frequencies for all of the prices that were examined. None of the pairs of prices were found to be …

Social Vulnerability To Climate Variability And Extremes Of Farming Households In Puerto Princesa City, Palawan, Philippines, Joan U. Ureta, Leonardo M. Florece, Juan M. Pulhin, Ma. Victoria O. Espaldon

Journal of Economics, Management and Agricultural Development

Climate-sensitive livelihoods are in the frontline of sectors which will be affected most by climate change. Without proper intervention, smallholder farmers would suffer from declining crop production, yield, and on-farm income, among others. Hence, this study aims to assess the social vulnerability of farming households residing in northern part of Puerto Princesa City, Philippines. Sustainable Livelihoods Framework (SLF) was used in developing separate social vulnerability indices for drought, typhoon, and early onset of rains. Unbalanced weighted approach through principal component analysis (PCA) was employed in assigning weights to the variables. Findings showed that financial capital has the highest contribution to …

Impact Of Trade Liberalization On Research And Development (R&D) Expenditures In The Philippines, Mary Joyce N. Vadanes

Journal of Economics, Management and Agricultural Development

This paper examines the effects of tariff reductions endorsed under GATT-WTO and AFTA-CEPT on R&D expenditures of Philippine manufacturing firms. It also considers firm characteristics like exports, capital intensity, and size as explanatory factors. Using pooled firm-level data that are harmonized with the international nomenclatures for traded products, the results uphold that intensified competition from foreign players drive domestic firms to develop their production processes and products. Accordingly, the main findings of the paper reveal that reductions in MFN and ASEAN tariffs increase the growth rate of R&D within manufacturing firms. Likewise, a rising export share is associated with higher …

Analyzing The Relationship Between Exposure To Extreme Weather And Economic Inequality In The Philippines, Rosalina Palanca Tan

Journal of Economics, Management and Agricultural Development

This paper looks into the relationship between typhoon exposure and inequality in per capita income and per capita expenditure of households in the Philippines by comparing the change in the Theil L and Theil T inequality indexes between 2009 and 2012 across different exposure groups. A decomposition analysis of the Theil index was also undertaken to establish the relative contributions of within-exposure group inequality and between-exposure groups inequality to total inequality. Conforming to the paper’s hypothesis, the group that has the highest exposure to typhoons was found to experience a worsening of both income and expenditure inequality while the group …

Three Essays On Food Safety Regulations And International Trade Of Agricultural Products, Jun Ho Seok

Theses and Dissertations--Agricultural Economics

This dissertation investigates food safety regulations and international trade of agricultural products dividing into three aspects: the signalling effect from U.S. strict food safety regulations on U.S. vegetable exports, political determinants of sanitary and photosanitary non-tariff barriers, and the impact of trade barriers on employment in developing countries. In chapter 2, we investigate the impact of high U.S. maximum residue limit (MRL) standards on U.S vegetable exports to 102 countries utilizing the hierarchical model. MRL, which is one of non-tariff barriers with respect to food safety, is applied to home and foreign countries at the same time. Thus, firms in …

High Resolution Land Cover Of Kansas (2015; Dataset), Darci A. Paull, Jakob W. Whitson, Abbey L. Marcotte, Greg C. Liknes, Dacia M. Meneguzzo, Todd A. Kellerman

United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

This data publication contains 2015 high-resolution land cover data for each of the 105 counties within Kansas. These data are a digital representation of land cover derived from 1-meter aerial imagery from the National Agriculture Imagery Program (NAIP). There is a separate file for each county. Data are intended for use in rural areas and therefore do not include land cover in cities and towns. Land cover classes (tree cover, other land cover, water, or city/town) were mapped using an object-based image analysis approach and supervised classification.

Agroforestry: Enhancing Resiliency In U. S. Agricultural Landscapes Under Changing Conditions, Gary Bentrup, Michele M. Schoeneberger, Toral Patel-Weynand

United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

Agroforestry, the intentional integration of trees and shrubs into crop and animal production systems, is being deployed to enhance productivity, profitability, and environmental stewardship of agricultural operations and lands across the United States. This assessment provides a science-based synthesis on the use of agroforestry for mitigation and adaptation services in the face of climatic variability and change. It provides technical input to land-use sector issues in the National Climate Assessment (NCA) and serves as a framework for including agroforestry systems in agricultural strategies to improve productivity and food security and to build resilience in these landscapes. It also provides follow-up …

Net Zero Energy Dairy Production: Powering Minnesota Dairy Farms With Renewable Energy, Mckenzie Dice

Honors Capstone Projects

The goal of this project was to determine if the West Central Research and Outreach Center (WCROC) dairy production could achieve a net zero energy status, meaning that the dairy operation uses as much as energy on-site as the amount of energy that is produced on-site for the dairy operation. There are several ways to accomplish this goal, principally through energy conservation, by means of installing more energy efficient technologies, as well as the installation of on-site renewable energy. At the WCROC dairy, a new utility room has been installed to introduce energy efficient technologies to the dairy operation, as …

Small Landholders Battle The Leaf Folder: Improving Livelihoods In The Solomon Islands, Dalia Tayseer Najjar

Bard Center for Environmental Policy

Sweet Potato is an important staple food crop grown by subsistence farmers in the Solomon Islands. It plays an important food security role and a major source of nutrition and livelihood in the rural areas as well as urban areas in the country. However, the spread of agricultural pests, in particular, the green leaf folder pest (Psara hipponalis), has significantly increased in recent years leaving many smallholder farmers with reduced yields and food insecurity. In this thesis, I reviewed the literature on the common mechanisms used to evaluate the drivers of pest presence and identified the major factors …

Kentucky Forestry Economic Contribution Report 2016, Jeff Stringer, Billy Thomas, Bobby Ammerman, Thomas Ochuodho, Alison Davis

Kentucky Forestry Economic Impact Reports

Forests play a pivotal role in Kentucky’s economy and in the lives of the citizens of our state. Forests are the single most dominant land type, covering nearly one-half of the state, providing a significant range of both economic and non-economic benefits to the Commonwealth. The majority of the economic contribution is derived from the harvesting of timber and processing of the wood resource. Analysis of Kentucky’s forest and wood industries in 2016 indicated an estimated direct economic contribution of $9 billion (down one percent from 2015). These industries employed over 27,700 individuals. Total economic contributions in 2016 were estimated …

Performance Of The Producer Accumulator In Corn And Soybean Commodity Markets, Chad Te Slaa

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This research quantifies risk reduction and performance of the producer accumulator contract in corn and soybean markets. To quantify performance, we use three alternative theoretical pricing models to estimate historical producer accumulator contract specifications in corn and soybean markets. We then compare the performance of the producer accumulator to eight alternative agricultural marketing strategy portfolios that are also used in new generation grain contracts. The performance measures we compare are: average bushel price that would be received by the producer, daily portfolio risk, and the Sharpe ratio. The period we examine performance was between 2008 and 2017. We investigate performance …

Heterogeneous Nitrogen Losses: Cost-Effectiveness Analysis Of Changes In Management Across South Dakota, Archibold Quaye

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The loss of nitrogen fertilizer into the atmosphere and waterways is of increasing concern for citizens and policy makers. This is particularly relevant for hypoxia in rivers, lakes, and oceans, but also relevant for policy makers in reducing the increasing concentration of greenhouse gases (GHG) in the atmosphere. GHGs trap heat in the atmosphere and include: carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and fluorinated gases. Overall, the estimated contribution from the agricultural sector to GHG emissions was 9% in 2013 (EPA, 2013). Further, the addition of nitrogen to the soil through the use of synthetic fertilizers is a main contributor to …

Livestock-Livelihood Linkages In Uganda: The Benefits For Women And Rural Households?, Elizabeth Ransom, Carmen Bain, Iim Halimatusa'diyah

Sociology and Anthropology Faculty Publications

Livestock are an important component of rural households and gendered livelihood practices throughout sub-Saharan Africa. Widespread within the development literature is the belief in the livestock ladder, with poorer households often owning small stock and wealthier households owning large stock, with the assumption that poor households can utilize livestock to build their asset base and overtime this would allow poorer households to expand from small stock to large stock, in so doing climb the livestock ladder. There is also an assumption in the literature that women are more likely to oversee small stock. In addition, some well-known agricultural development programs …

Impact Of The Zambian Agricultural Policy On Grain Trade, Onesphore Karuho

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The agricultural sector in Zambia is supported through the government use of public expenditure programs to spur the production and subsidize the consumption of key grains to stabilize prices. Previous research has documented the effects of public spending on agriculture in terms of food prices and food security. The effects of government spending on the trade of key grains, however, is not well understood. As such, there is a gap in knowledge regarding the impact of agricultural policy on the agricultural trade. The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of Zambian agricultural policy on grain trade. A …

Analyzing The Rio Chama Flow Project’S Capacity To Implement Adaptive Management, Avery Olshefski

Water Resources Professional Project Reports

The Rio Chama is the main tributary to the Rio Grande in New Mexico. Several reservoirs were built on the Rio Chama to store water for downstream users, which has led to the river section becoming highly managed, resulting in negative ecological effects. Approximately 400,000 AF per year of water is conveyed through the system without considerable consumptive amounts, 96,200 AF of which were added with the San Juan-Chama trans-basin diversion, creating more water in the system then historically available. Therefore, the flow between the El Vado and Abiquiu Reservoirs has the potential to be optimized in order to provide …

Closing Abandoned Livestock Lagoons Effectively To Utilize Nutrients And Avoid Environmental Problems, Leslie J. Johnson, Charles Shapiro, Amy Schmidt

Nebraska Cooperative Extension: Faculty and Staff Publications

In Nebraska alone, nearly 400 earthen manure storage structures are in operation; approximately four dozen requests to cease operation of permitted lagoons were received by the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality in the prior decade with many more non-permitted storage structures being in need of proper closure. Abandoned livestock lagoons, earthen manure storage basins, and other manure storages (e.g. concrete pits) need to be decommissioned in a manner that controls potential environmental risk and makes economical use of accumulated nutrients. Currently, limited guidance is available to support lagoon closure planning and implementation and few professionals who support livestock producers have …

Executive Summary, Agroforestry: Enhancing Resiliency In U. S. Agricultural Landscapes Under Changing Conditions, Toral Patel-Weynand, Gary Bentrup, Michele M. Schoeneberger

United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

Agroforestry, the intentional integration of trees and shrubs into crop and animal production systems, is being deployed to enhance productivity, profitability, and environmental stewardship of agricultural operations and lands across the United States. The full assessment at https://doi.org/10.2737/WO-GTR-96 and summarized here provides a science-based synthesis on the use of agroforestry for mitigation and adaptation services in the face of climatic variability and change. It provides technical input to land-use sector issues in the National Climate Assessment (NCA) and serves as a framework for including agroforestry systems in agricultural strategies to improve productivity and food security and to build resilience in …