Agricultural and Resource Economics Commons^™

Water Management Funding Issues, J. David Aiken

Cornhusker Economics

In 2007, the Nebraska Unicameral authorized Natural Resources Districts (NRDs) located in the Republican River Basin to impose two new taxes to pay for water management activities associated with Republican River Compact compliance. The taxes were intended to pay for NRD bonds to finance needed Republican River water management activities. One tax was a general property tax levy of up to ten cents, and the second an occupation tax of up to $10/acre, levied only against irrigated land. This article reviews the lawsuits associated with these two NRD water management taxes.

Consumer Attitudes And Labeling Regimes As Determinants Of The Market Success Of Food Nanotechnology, Amalia Yiannaka

Cornhusker Economics

In a recent poll conducted by the Institute of Food Technologists, when consumers were asked about their knowledge of nanotechnology and its applications to the food sector, two-thirds said they had heard ‘nothing at all’ about the technology (Food Safety News 2010). European polls tell a similar story; a 2010 Eurobarometer survey showed that, while public awareness of nanotechnology is gradually emerging, more than half of the respondents knew nothing about the technology, and could not tell whether it would have a positive or a negative impact on their lives (European Commission 2010).

According to the National Nanotechnology Initiative, nanotechnology …

Sorgo Sureño Normal: El Sorgo Tradicional De Honduras De Doble Proposito, Alberto Morán Araujo, Miriam Villeda

INTSORMIL Scientific Publications

Origen: En Honduras, el Sorgo Sureño Normal ingresó a la estación experimental La Lujosa, en Choluteca, en el año de 1982, por medio del vivero de resistencia a l a i n t e m p e r i e , d o n d e s e seleccionó por su rendimiento, adaptación y calidad tortillera.

El Sorgo Sureño Normal fue liberado por la Secretaría de Recursos Naturales (SRN) y el Programa Internacional de Sorgo y Mijo (INTSORMIL) en 1985.

Adaptación: Sureño Normal se adapta a climas secos y calientes, suelos pobres, en condiciones de sequía y exceso de humedad …

Changing The Way We Address Change, Richard Straight

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

Covers factors impacting private forest management in the United States, and other related issues.

Assessment Of Windbreak Condition And Indicators To Renovate, Steve Rasmussen

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

A presentation covering assessment of windbreak condition and indicators to renovate.

Natural Resources In Nonmetropolitan Nebraska: Use And Priorities: 2012 Nebraska Rural Poll Results, Rebecca J. Vogt, Cheryl A. Burkhart-Kriesel, Randolph L. Cantrell, Bradley Lubben

Nebraska Rural Poll

Many rural Nebraskans say they already recycle a lot and face no barriers. However, many rural Nebraskans cite lack of programs and difficulty getting materials to drop-off sites as barriers to recycling. Persons living in or near smaller communities are more likely than persons living in or near larger communities to say their community doesn’t offer recycling. However, most rural Nebraskans say their community offers either curbside pickup or drop-off recycling for all of the materials listed with the exception of glass bottles.

Most rural Nebraskans are in favor of building the Keystone XL pipeline, but think it should be …

Agricultural Productivity In China: National And Regional Growth Patterns, 1993–2005, Hazhi Tong, Lilyan E. Fulginiti, Juan Sesmero

Department of Agricultural Economics: Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Quality Of Life In Nonmetropolitan Nebraska: Perceptions Of Well-Being And Church Life: 2012 Nebraska Rural Poll Results, Rebecca J. Vogt, Cheryl A. Burkhart-Kriesel, Randolph L. Cantrell, Bradley Lubben, Philip Schwadel

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 (51%) 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, and persons with lower educational levels are the groups most likely to be pessimistic about the present and the future.

When asked if they believe people are powerless to control their own lives, most …

Accounting For The Impacts Of Public Research, R&D Spill-Ins, Extension, And Roads In U.S. Regional Agricultural Productivity Growth, 1980–2004, Ling Sun Wang, Eldon Ball, Lilyan E. Fulginiti, Alejandro Plastina

Department of Agricultural Economics: Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Foreign Land Investments In Developing Countries, E. Wesley F. Peterson

Cornhusker Economics

In 2009, the government of Liberia leased 220,000 hectares (543,4000 acres) of land to a Malaysian company, Sime Darby, which intends to develop the land for palm oil and rubber production. While the company has promised that its operations will create jobs and comply with all environmental standards, local farmers have expressed concerns about environmental degradation and slow payments to workers (Siakor and Knight).

In recent years land deals in low-income countries involving foreign firms and governments have increased substantially. The World Bank estimated that there were large scale land deals to purchase or lease 56 million hectares of land …

What Cost, Biomass For Fuel?, Richard K. Perrin, Kassu Wamisho, Dereje B. Megeressa

Cornhusker Economics

Biomass has a prominent role in discussions of future United States energy supplies. Why? Because it could reduce our dependence on foreign petroleum supplies, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions compared to using petroleum or other fossil fuels.

What is meant by biomass for fuel? Generally, the term is used to designate either crop residues such as corn stover or dedicated energy crops such as switchgrass and poplar trees. Technically of course, grains themselves are biomass and they can be used for fuel as well.

Farm Lease Termination, J. David Aiken

Cornhusker Economics

Many farm leases, especially those between family members, are not written but are verbal "handshake" agreements. Because nothing is in writing, the parties may have different recollections of their agreement, making lease disputes more difficult to resolve. The most common legal issue associated with verbal farm leases is how a lease may legally be terminated. For unwritten leases, six months advance notice must be given to legally terminate the lease. In contrast, the termination of a written lease is determined by the terms of the written lease. If nothing is specified, a written lease terminates automatically on the last day …

Agriculture And Food In Crisis: Conflict, Resistance, And Renewal [Book Review], Charles A. Francis

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Edited by Fred Magdoff and Brian Tokar. 2010. Monthly Review Press, New York, New York, United States. 348 p. Paperback, cloth US$ 75.00, paper US$ 18.95, ISBN-13 978-1-58367-226-6.

That doubling of food production over the next four decades will be needed to adequately nourish our human population is not news, but the incredible steps essential to achieve that goal and their political and social implications are less well reported. In this series of 16 essays edited by Fred Magdoff and Brian Tokar, several thoughtful specialists in global food issues explore the historical, biological, economic, energy, political and social dimensions of …

Profitable Farms And Woodlands: A Practical Guide In Agroforestry For Landowners, Farmers And Ranchers, J. O. Idassi

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

This handbook is part of an interdisciplinary, interinstitutional and comprehensive effort to develop a practical guide to assist underserved and limited resource small farmers and woodland owners to adopt best management technologies in agroforestry. Funding for this effort was provided through the USDA National Agroforestry Center (NAC) from the US Forest Service and the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) under cooperative agreement number 68-7482-7-361 with Tennessee State University, Cooperative Extension Program and the 1890/1862 Agroforestry Team.

This guide was prepared by an agroforestry team of research and extension specialists from the 1862 and 1890 Land Grant Universities in collaboration with …

Agroforestry: Accounting For Windbreak's Climate Change Contributions, Michele Schoeneberger, Jim Brandle, Xinhua Zhou, John Kort, Tom Sauer

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

No abstract provided.

Tempering The Over-Use And Abuse Of Common-Pool Resources, Marianna Khachaturyan, Gary D. Lynne

Cornhusker Economics

Elinor Ostrom, a professor at Indiana University, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences (first woman to ever receive it) in 2009, sharing it with Professor Oliver Williamson. The prize was awarded “for her analysis of economic governance, especially the commons.” She “challenged the conventional wisdom by demonstrating how local property can be successfully managed by local commons without any regulation by central authorities or privatization”. Also, full privatization, i.e., assigning individual property rights rather than shared, common property rights, is also not essential. She summarizes her contribution in the finding “that humans have a more complex motivational structure …

Ecological Revival And Sustainable Living In The Tropical Dry Evergreen Forest Of Tamil Nadu: A Measurement Of Residential Perception In Sadhana Forest, Elizabeth Collette Mcguire

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

Since 1970, the role and function of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has been to promote environmental quality and to form strategies for carrying out environmental policy¹. The EPA has committed to sustainability as the next level of environmental protection. The agency states that sustainability calls for policies and strategies that meet society’s present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs². Presently, society’s requirements have resulted in natural resource exploitation and population distention- projected to reach 10 billion people within two human generations³. These paired occurrences are …

World Food Crisis: Imperfect Markets Starving Development, A Decomposition Of Recent Food Price Increases, Christine Costello

College of Business: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The recent decade has experienced two rather substantial food price spikes. This thesis sets out to provide an in-depth look at the recent food price increases by achieving two goals: assessing the forces driving food prices, and determining the magnitude of those forces. These goals are reached by reviewing selected rhetoric on the recent food price increases, analyzing case studies, and lastly determining our modeling capabilities in decomposing food price changes. Additionally, this thesis will serve as a tool for stakeholder's to better address critical policy issues surrounding food, agriculture, and energy policies.

Adviser: Hendrik Van Den Berg

Agricultural Productivity Growth In Central America And The Caribbean, Ayako Ebata

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

This thesis estimates total factor productivity (TFP) growth in the agricultural sector of fourteen regions in Central America and the Caribbean. First, TFP is measured parametrically and non-parametrically, using the Ordinary Least Square (OLS) method and the Maximum Likelihood (ML) method to estimate a translog production function and the Malmquist index approach. Secondly, the thesis incorporates an environmental bad, CO₂ emissions from expansion of agricultural land by sacrificing forest area and estimates environmentally adjusted productivity (EAP) growth rates using an output distance function in order to assess how the growth of TFP rates changes when such a bad is …

Growing The Experience Economy, Cheryl A. Burkhart-Kriesel

Cornhusker Economics

Some of us, and I confess I am in this group, can remember when our mother would make us a birthday cake. She used basic ingredients or commodities like flour, sugar, eggs and cocoa to create it from scratch. It was always a wonderful creation and quite affordable – probably under 50 cents for the entire cake. Then a few years later it seemed fashionable to use cake mixes and canned frostings. Betty Crocker, Duncan Hines and others figured out that they could take the commodities and package them in such a way as to make a consumer good. …

2012 Nebraska Crop Budgets, Roger K. Wilson

Cornhusker Economics

Overall, average projected cash costs per unit of production for 2012 are almost 15 percent higher than the 2011 projections made in April.

Some of this increase is due to a higher labor wage. Twenty dollars per hour was used as the wage rate in 2012, compared to $12 per hour in 2011. Wage rates vary substantially from one producer to the next, and there is no suitable index for determining a representative wage. It is not likely that actual wages paid increased that much from one year to the next, so this change represents an adjustment upwards as well …

Sensitivity Analysis On Mapping Evapotranspiration At High Resolution Using Internal Calibration (Metric), Venkata Naga Ravi Kumar Choragudi

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Mapping EvapoTranspiration at high Resolution using Internal Calibration (METRIC) is most widely used to quantify evapotranspiration (ET) spatially and temporally. It is essential to inspect the model’s response to errors in various parameters used in the model. Landsat 5 images from May 30 2009, July 1 2009 and a Landsat 7 image from September 27 2009 are used in this study. Fourteen different fields composed of Corn, Soybeans, Alfalfa are randomly chosen for each crop type.

Two kinds of errors are addressed in this study. One, with the errors that are transferred and potentially compensated by calibration (Global error) and …

The Increasing World Population: A Call For Entrepreneurial Leadership And Innovation, Connie Reimers-Hild

Cornhusker Economics

According to the United Nations, the world’s population hit seven billion on October 31, 2011. The United Nations is projecting the world population to reach 9.3 billion by 2050. The new population landmark set off alarms in governments and organizations around the world. Most of the growth will occur in the poorest and least developed regions of the world, which already must work to resolve issues related to shortages of quality food, soil, air and water. Many people living in these countries also lack access to education, healthcare and global political capital.

More developed countries face many of the same …

Nebraska’S Entrepreneur Acceleration System, Marilyn R. Schlake

Cornhusker Economics

On December 8, 2011, 120 Nebraska business owners will complete their first year enrollment in the Entrepreneur Acceleration System (EAS). The program encourages the growth of a business by creating value-based relationships with customers through engaged employees, leading to economic growth and job creation. It was offered in partnership with Gallup, Inc., University of Nebraska- Lincoln Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Nebraska Department of Economic Development and the Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce.

Twenty-six individuals from various Nebraska communities and business backgrounds were selected to participate in the EAS mentor training at the Gallup Campus in Omaha, in the …

Equity Redemption Practices Of Nebraska Farmer Cooperatives, Jeffrey S. Royer

Cornhusker Economics

The ability of a cooperative to redeem the equities of members and former members depends on its particular business and financial characteristics. However, data on the equity redemption practices of other cooperatives can provide useful benchmarks for assessing a cooperative’s equity redemption performance. A recent U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) report based on a 2008 survey of 792 farmer, rancher, and fishery cooperatives offers valuable information about the equity redemption practices of cooperatives according to organizational form, major business activity, asset size, and geographic location. In particular, the report contains some information specific to Nebraska cooperatives.

In 2008, there were …

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Cornhusker Economics

Thanksgiving Holiday

Public Opinion And Food Animal Welfare, Randolph L. Cantrell

Cornhusker Economics

In the October 12, 2011 edition of Cornhusker Economics, Professor Dave Aiken brought us up to date on the issue of food animal welfare as it might affect Nebraska agriculture. His update was rendered out of date a mere six days later when the Nebraska Farmers’ Union (NEFU) and the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) announced an agreement and the formation of a new advisory body, the Nebraska Agricultural Council of the Humane Society of the United States. The stated goal of the new organization is “To advance more humane practices on farms and ranches and to …

What Do We Do With All This Carbon?, Benjamin Eigbrett

Op-Eds from ENSC230 Energy and the Environment: Economics and Policies, Fall 2011

No abstract provided.

Urban Sprawl, Noah Philson

Op-Eds from ENSC230 Energy and the Environment: Economics and Policies, Fall 2011

No abstract provided.

No Means No, Mr. President, Danny Martin

Op-Eds from ENSC230 Energy and the Environment: Economics and Policies, Fall 2011

No abstract provided.