Agricultural and Resource Economics Commons^™

The Conservation Reserve Program: Then And Now, Richard T. Clark

Cornhusker Economics

The Food Security Act of 1985 first authorized the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP). Since that time CRP has undergone numerous changes with the passage of the Food, Agriculture, Conservation and Trade Act (FACTA) in 1990 and the Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act (FAIR) in 1996. Nonetheless, CRP has survived, and today enjoys an enrollment not much smaller (33.4 million acres) than its peak of about 36.4 million acres, nationwide. Most contracts for enrollment in CRP were, and currently still are for 10 years. There are some exceptions such as land enrolled for tree practices and other conservation specific practices, …

Consumer Willingness-To-Pay For Flavor In Beef Steaks: An Experimental Economics Approach, Dillon M. Feuz, Wendy J. Umberger

Cornhusker Economics

This article summarizes the major findings of a just completed agricultural economics dissertation research project that analyzed consumers' perceptions of beef flavor, and more importantly, their willingness-to-pay for various flavor preferences. The research was conducted jointly with the Animal Science Department at UNL. A novel experimental design was used to determine consumers willingness-to-pay for their flavor preferences. After tasting various steak samples, consumers were given the opportunity to bid on and purchase steaks from the same sample. The experimental auction was a sealed-bid, fourth-price auction (similar to a Vickrey auction) where the fourth highest bid determined the market price and …

Moving Beyond Gloomy Environmental Policy, Gary D. Lynne

Cornhusker Economics

The wide-array of books and materials (both textbooks and supplementary reading) now available for helping students in our universities understand the arena of environmental and ecological policy economics is staggering and impressive, while at the same time disturbing. The books are impressive in their comprehensiveness and sophistication of analysis; students can be well prepared, indeed. Yet the same books are disturbing, for while some project doom (e.g., Hackett, 1998) and others seem to have an air of surrealistic cornucopia (e.g., Anderson and Leal, 1991), both lead to a rather gloomy set of environmental policy recommendations.

Agricultural Land Values And Rents In A Stable Mode, Bruce B. Johnson, Peter Brummels, Lance Kuenning

Cornhusker Economics

In an ocean of economic uncertainty, Nebraska’s agricultural real estate market remains on a generally steady course, as revealed by preliminary results from the UNL’s 2001 Nebraska Farm Real Estate Market Survey. As of February 1st, the state’s all-land average value was $709 per acre, up 1.6 percent from 12 months earlier (Table 1). However, the choppiness of the economic waters is evident by the variations in the value changes across the various land types and substate areas.

Community Development And Small Business Training, Marilyn R. Schlake

Cornhusker Economics

Findings from a CARI study conducted in 1997 illustrated the importance of business development as a key component of community development. Sixty-five percent reported that the development of small businesses was a high priority. In fact, in communities of less than 500, 72% of the respondents indicated business development would be an effective strategy for their community. How we work with these businesses can determine the future of Nebraska’s communities.

County Feedlot Regulations Invalidated, J. David Aiken

Cornhusker Economics

The development of large swine production facilities has been highly controversial in Nebraska for the past several years. On November 1, 2000 the Nebraska Supreme Court issued its first decision dealing substantively with local government efforts to regulate large swine facilities. In Enterprise Partners v Perkins County, 260 Neb. 650 (2000) the court ruled that county regulations requiring swine lagoons to be covered and regulating discharges from lagoons onto county roadways were zoning regulations, and in this case were invalid because no comprehensive plan had first been adopted. The court came to the correct conclusion but used an incorrect legal …

Year 2001 Multiple-Peril Crop Insurance For Nebraska Corn, Grain Sorghum, Soybeans And Wheat, Roger Selley, H. Douglas Jose

Cornhusker Economics

The deadline for sign-up for Multiple-Peril Crop Insurance for spring crops in Nebraska is March 15. Winter wheat sign-up deadline is September 30. Premium subsidies have changed, particularly for higher coverage levels and CRC. In 2001 the administrative fee for CAT is $100 per crop per county, and for all policies above CAT the fee is $30 per crop per year.

The Livestock Mandatory Reporting Act: Could It Be A Mixed Blessing?, Azzeddine Azzam

Cornhusker Economics

The Livestock Mandatory Reporting Act of 1999 (the Act), which went into effect February 1, 2001, requires meat packers to report detailed price and quantity information on cattle, hogs, lambs and products to the USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) on a daily basis. Historically, packers reported to AMS on a voluntary basis. However, “as more animals are being bought and sold under marketing arrangements where neither the arrangements nor the final purchase prices are publicly disclosed, ... it has become more difficult for producers to determine the actual prevailing purchasing price for livestock..” So, by making reports to AMS mandatory …

Agricultural Production Contract Act, J. David Aiken

Cornhusker Economics

Agricultural production contracts are becoming more widespread in Nebraska. (Contract production should be distinguished from custom farming, which is not at issue here). Under ag production contracts, farmers may contract to produce crops or livestock typically for processors. Contracting is widespread in the broiler industry, and is becoming more common in the swine and beef industry, and for some crops. The Producer Protection Act of 2000 (PPA) is a proposed model state statute prepared by the National Association of Attorneys General to deal with legal issues associated with agricultural contracting. The PPA was developed in order to avoid some problems …

The Impact Of The Agricultural Risk Protection Act Of 2000 On Crop Insurance Programs, H. Douglas Jose

Cornhusker Economics

After considerable discussion and alternative proposals, crop insurance reform became a reality in the form of the Agricultural Risk Protection Act (ARPA) last summer. Here are some of the key features of the act.

The Potential For Hard White Winter Wheat In Nebraska, Richard K. Perrin, Phil Anthony

Cornhusker Economics

Hard white winter wheat, a crop developed using traditional crop breeding techniques, is a new crop with some potential payoff for Nebraska wheat producers. Phil Anthony, currently a Masters' degree student in the Dept. of Agricultural Economics, completed a study of the economic potential for this crop as part of a senior honors project while an undergraduate at UNL. The following is based largely on that study.

The Changing Nature Of “Success”, Wade Nutzman

Cornhusker Economics

What is the definition of a good farmer/rancher? Of course, that has always depended a great deal on whom you ask, as well as their age. As things have changed, so has this definition, in my opinion.

Working individually with many Nebraska farmers and ranchers over several years has given me a chance to recognize some patterns. Here are a few common threads, along with some reasons those valued qualities continue to change.

Fertilizer Diversification, Glenn A. Helmers

Cornhusker Economics

Crop diversification is commonly regarded as a risk reducing strategy to moderate the impacts of variable crop prices and yields. The addition of one or more livestock enterprises may lead to still greater income stability for an agricultural producer. Diversification reduces income volatility whenever low returns in one enterprise are associated with relatively moderate or high returns in another enterprise. The reverse phenomenon (moderate or relatively high returns in the first enterprise, occurring during years of low returns for the second enterprise) is also necessary for diversification to be effective. The greater the tendency for enterprise returns from different enterprises …

Valuing Farmland Conservation Easements, Steven B. Mitchell, Bruce B. Johnson

Department of Agricultural Economics: Faculty Publications

According to USDA estimates, more than 2 million acres of farmland are developed for urban and other nonagricultural uses each year. Nearly 30 percent of this acreage is considered prime farmland—farmland that has the soil quality, growing season, and moisture supply needed to sustain high yields when managed according to acceptable farming methods. Much of the farmland being lost lies in two of the nation’s major agricultural states, California and Florida, which account for much of the nation’s fruit and vegetable production. However, the land conversion process is occurring in every state to some degree. In Nebraska, thousands of acres …

Slotting Allowances And Price–Cost Margins: A Note, Azzeddine Azzam

Department of Agricultural Economics: Faculty Publications

It has become common practice for retail grocers to charge grocery manufacturers a slotting allowance for placing products on the retail shelf. Manufacturers view the allowance as anti-competitive. Retailers view it as compensation for the risks associated with stocking new products. The largely theoretical literature on the subject is consistent with both views. This article proposes an empirical model to test the effect of slotting allowances on performance, and discusses if and how the model can be tied to the qualitative predictions of existing theoretical literature.

Separating The Impacts Of Crop Diversification And Rotations On Risk, Glenn A. Helmers, Charles F. Yamoah, Gary E. Varvel

Department of Agricultural Economics: Faculty Publications

It has been commonly accepted that crop rotations reduce risk compared with monoculture systems. Quantifying this phenomenon requires that effects of yield stability on risk (positive or negative) arising from rotating crops be separated from other risk elements. Using an ARS–University of Nebraska series of yields for corn (Zea mays L.) and soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] grown over a 14-yr period, both in rotation and in monoculture, the impact of crop rotation on risk was isolated and estimated. Risk was defined as the failure to meet an annual per-hectare net return target. A corn–soybean rotation had significantly …

Departmental Publications In Agricultural Economics 2000

Department of Agricultural Economics: News, Announcements, and Information

Includes a comprehensive listing of Articles in Professional Journals; Books and Book Chapters; Experiment Station Research Bulletins; Departmental Publications; Conference/Symposium Proceedings; Unpublished Papers/Speeches Presented; Popularized Magazine Articles; Published Abstracts and Book Reviews; Extension Publications, Other and Miscellaneous, & Theses

The Design Of Supranational Organizations For The Provision Of International Public Goods: Global Environmental Protection, E. Wesley F. Peterson

Department of Agricultural Economics: Faculty Publications

An international environmental organization would need to be loosely structured initially with a focus on a narrow range of environmental issues. It also would need to emphasize consensus and limit the scope of its interventions to avoid defections by important participants. The benefits of such an organization include the potential for achieving more nearly optimal levels of environmental protection, cost savings from reduction of duplication and managerial economies of scale, and the strengthening of environmental interests in negotiations on the coordination of the environmental regime with other international regimes such as those focusing on trade or development.

Hog Risk Management Survey: Summary And Preliminary Analysis, George F. Patrick, Alan E. Baquet, Keith H. Coble, Thomas O. Knight

Department of Agricultural Economics: Presentations, Working Papers, and Gray Literature

This paper summarizes the results of a survey of a stratified, random sample of 630 hog operations in Indiana and Nebraska. The survey was conducted in March and April, 2000 with support of a research grant to contribute to the development of a knowledge base to guide the design and implementation of effective risk management programs, policies and tools.

This staff paper provides selected summary statistics with limited analysis of size of operation and state effects. Information is presented on sources and responses to risk as well as producers' views on selected agricultural policy, risk management and marketing issues. Use …

Intertemporal And Interspatial Variability Of Climate Change On Dryland Winter Wheat Yield Trends, Saleem Shaik, Glenn A. Helmers

Department of Agricultural Economics: Presentations, Working Papers, and Gray Literature

The importance of climate (temperature and precipitation) variability on Nebraska dryland winter wheat yield trend is examined. The use of short term (1956-1999) climatic divisional panel data (interspatial) and long term (1909-1999) state time series data (intertemporal) is to address the predictability power of estimating the yield trends accounting for climate variability.

Farm-Level Characteristics Of Southern Nebraska Farms/Ranches With Annually-Planted Crops, John M. Antle, Susan M. Capalbo, Christine N. Heggem, Richard T. Clark, Nancy Norton, Roger Selley

Department of Agricultural Economics: Presentations, Working Papers, and Gray Literature

The information presented in this report represents data collected from farming and ranching operations in the southern two tiers of counties in Nebraska. This study was based on a random sample of 15 1 southern Nebraska farms that have annually-planted crop acreage. Information was obtained for the 1997 crop year. This data set is referred to as the MSU/UNL survey data.

From the MSU/UNL survey data, the average size of the farming operations in the survey, in 1997, was 1,3 16 acres. Of these, 856 acres were planted to annual crops, and the remaining 460 acres included 61 acres in …

Urbanization Of Rural Landscapes Ii: Second Syllabus And Teaching Materials From A University Course, Spring 2000, Charles A. Francis, David Mortensen

CARI Extension and Education Materials for Sustainable Agriculture

Editors' Introduction and Executive Summary 2

Table of Contents 3

Other Volumes in Series and Ordering Information 4

Syllabus, Spring 2000 5

Principles of Planning for Lincoln and Lancaster County, Student Reports, 2000 9

Recommended Amendments to the 1994 Comprehensive Plan, Student Report, 1999 35

Course Evaluations, Spring 2000, by students and faculty evaluators 45

Resource Materials, some with Student Summaries (with permission of the publishers) 50

Stevens Creek study heralds new era for city, Lincoln Journal-Star 50

Developer, city closer on north Lincoln project, Lincoln Journal-Star 51

Study outlines new vision for Lincoln-Omaha corridor, Lincoln Journal-Star 53

Smart growth …

Air Quality And Shelterbelts: Odor Mitigation And Livestock Production, A Literature Review, John Tyndall, Joe Colletti

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

This literature review is focused on the potential for innovative use of trees and other vegetation to reduce the odor associated with livestock production. The goal is to examine available evidence to assess if trees and shelterbelts may: 1) be able to help control odor through physical and biological means, and 2) be an economically feasible technology for livestock producers as well as surrounding communities.

Understanding The Economic Factors Influencing Farm Policy Preferences, Keith H. Coble, Thomas O. Knight, George F. Patrick, Alan Baquet

Department of Agricultural Economics: Presentations, Working Papers, and Gray Literature

Freedom to Farm legislation enacted in 1996 was widely perceived as a dramatic step toward a more market oriented farm policy which would create a producer decision environment more conducive to competitive adjustments. Enacted in a time of high market prices and large exports of agricultural products, the transition payments were initially larger than deficiency payments would have provided. Generally, this legislation received strong support from Midwestern and Central Plains states. However, final passage was secured through concessions to legislators from other regions.

Agroforestry In The United States: Research And Technology Transfer Needs For The Next Millennium

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

If society's needs and aspirations for forestderived goods, services, and amenities truely are to be met, we must find ways of augmenting traditional forestry by gleaning some portion of these benefits from agricultural lands. For example: windbreaks, riparian forest buffers, hybrid poplar trees, farm woodlots, and grazing/timber systems.

Flexible Cash Leasing Of Cropland, Roger A. Selley, Bruce B. Johnson, H. Douglas Jose, John D. Cole

Department of Agricultural Economics: Faculty Publications

• Reasons For Flexible Cash Leases
• Advantages of Flexible Cash Leasing
• Disadvantages of Flexible Cash Leasing
• Incorporating Flexibility in a Cash Lease Arrangement
• Flexing Mechanisms
• Table I. Example of Cash Rent Flexed on Revenue
• Modifying Calculated Rents
• Separate Flex Mechanism for Price and Yield
• Table II. A Historical Distribution of Yields and Proposed Flexing Rules
• Table III. Evaluating Rental Alternatives using Historical Yield and Prices
• Setting Prices and Yields
• Summary

Agreeing on a cash rent can be a challenging task. Typically there is considerable uncertainty about what prices and …

Estimation Of Demand For Wheat By Classes For The United States And The European Union, Samarendu Mohanty, E. Wesley F. Peterson

Department of Agricultural Economics: Faculty Publications

This study estimates demand for wheat differentiated by classes using a dynamic AIDS model for the United States and the European Union (EU). The results suggest that imported wheat is more price responsive than domestic wheat in the U.S. market but not in the EU market. This may suggest that the Canadian policy that reduces prices of Canadian wheat in the U.S. market or U.S. export subsidies that raise prices of U.S., wheat could be expected to give rise to substantial substitution of Canadian for U.S. wheat. It is also found that in the EU, complementary relationships exist between spring …

Have Price Policies Damaged Ldc Agricultural Productivity?, Lilyan E. Fulginiti, Richard K. Perrin

Department of Agricultural Economics: Faculty Publications

This paper examines price policies and agricultural productivity in 18 developing countries over the period 1961—1985. We measure productivity with both a nonparametric Malmquist index and a production function, confirming previous findings of declining agricultural productivity, but with sufficient inconsistencies as to raise concern about the adequacy of the methods. We nonetheless find considerable support for the hypothesis that unfavorable price policies have damaged agricultural productivity performance in these countries.
Beginning in the mid 1960s and continuing into the 1980s the "green revolution" swept across the agricultural sectors of many less developed countries (LDCs), a revolution consisting of new varieties …

Crop Producer Risk Management Survey: A Preliminary Summary Of Selected Data, Keith H. Coble, Thomas O. Knight, George F. Patrick, Alan E. Baquet

Department of Agricultural Economics: Presentations, Working Papers, and Gray Literature

Changes in the risk environment and tools available to manage risk have resulted in an increased need for risk management skills among farmers and ranchers. In response the USDA initiated a risk management education competitive grants program in the spring of 1998. This is the first report from one of the grant-funded projects. The project's primary objective is to provide supporting research that will contribute to the design and implementation of effective risk management education programs, policies and tools. This report provides selected summary statistics, without analysis, from a survey of crop producers conducted as part of the first phase …

Shadow Price Of Environmental Bads: Weak Vs. Strong Disposability, Saleem Shaik, Glenn A. Helmers

Department of Agricultural Economics: Presentations, Working Papers, and Gray Literature

This paper addresses the issue of the shadow price of environmental bads treated as an undesirable output (normal input) with weak (strong) disposability in a two-stage estimation. Nebraska agriculture sector time series data is spread over 1936-94. Results indicate the difference in the price due to the disposability property.