Agricultural and Resource Economics Commons^™

U.S. Agricultural Productivity And Returns To Research, Jennifer S. James, Julian M. Alston, Philip G. Pardey, Matt Andersen

Agribusiness

No abstract provided.

Nebraska Farm Real Estate Market Developments 2006-2007, Bruce B. Johnson

Nebraska Farm Real Estate Reports

Nebraska agricultural land values rose sharply during the year ending February 1st, 2007 according to the UNL Nebraska Farm Real Estate Survey. The all-land value increase was 14.0 %, the largest annual percentage increase in 19 years. Sharply higher crop commodity prices towards the end of 2006, the result of a rapidly-expanding ethanol industry in the state, appeared to contribute greatly to the run-up in land values. In addition, potential for further irrigation development in some areas of the state led to spirited bidding for such land; while regions experiencing water restrictions had more muted value changes for the year. …

Grazing Demand And Insurance Situation, Matthew A. Diersen, Martin Beutler

Economics Commentator (1972- 2016)

No abstract provided.

Small Business Security Issues, Marilyn R. Schlake

Cornhusker Economics

Consumers nationally, and even globally, continue to embrace e-commerce technology. Since 2001, ecommerce retail sales climbed from $8.3 billion to $31.5 billion in the first quarter of 2007, which is an annual growth rate of more than 27 percent. Although this figure accounts for only 3.1 percent of all 2007 first quarter retail sales, the e-commerce rate is on a continuous rise (U.S. Census Bureau News, May 16, 2007). Additionally, projections see an annual growth rate of at least 19 percent in the near future.

Distribution Of Farm Program Payments In South Dakota, Larry Janssen, Yonas Hamda

Economics Commentator (1972- 2016)

No abstract provided.

North Central Risk Management Education Center, Cheryl Griffith

Cornhusker Economics

The North Central Risk Management Education Center has been providing program coordination for extension risk management education in the North Central Region since 2001. During this time $4.8 million has been awarded to public and private entities to carry out producer-focused risk management education programs. The North Central Region includes: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin.

Accounting For Taiwan Gdp Growth: Parametric And Nonparametric Estimates, Ling Sun, Lilyan Fulginiti

Department of Agricultural Economics: Faculty Publications

The purpose of this paper is to study the impact of changes in prices of tradables on economic growth in a highly open economy, Taiwan. We do so by measuring productivity growth with both index number and parametric approaches, and identifying the sources of output growth using a methodology that allows the impacts of changes in the terms of trade to be accounted for. The results show that Taiwan’s economic growth depends on inputs accumulation as well as technical progress with the terms-of-trade effect being negligible.

Free Land!, Cheryl A. Burkhart-Kriesel

Cornhusker Economics

Yes, that was the slogan used with the Homestead Act of 1862. But it has now taken on a slightly different meaning. The phrase “free land” today means free residential lots available to anyone pledging to build a new home in selected communities. As an incentive to entice new residents to repopulate areas of the Great Plains, this is a new and intriguing strategy.

Nama At National Marketing Competition In Dallas, Janae Althouse, Rosalee A. Swartz, Lance Brown

Cornhusker Economics

The National Agri-Marketing Association (NAMA) is comprised of over 25 chapters in six regions nationwide and has more than 3,500 professional and student members. NAMA professionals have backgrounds in advertising, marketing, media and other areas of agribusiness. This year, nine members of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln (UNL) chapter of NAMA attended the NAMA Annual Conference held April 10-13 in Dallas, Texas. The Conference proved an exciting arena where the UNL team competed in the student marketing competition and vied for national awards and scholarships.

The Valuation Of Nature: An Examination Of Benefits And Costs Associated With Duck Nesting Structures And The Marginal Duck Recruit, Tessa Haagenson

Honors Capstones

Capstone submitted as a graduation requirement for the BSU Honors Program.

National Animal Identification System (Nais): The Road Ahead, Matthew Stockton, Roger K. Wilson

Cornhusker Economics

The National Animal Identification System (NAIS) has been a widely discussed concern of livestock owners and producers since it was first conceived. The movement of animals and their products has created a need to identify sources of disease outbreaks and to assure consumers of product quality and safety to reduce possible individual firm and industry losses. This issue is sometimes confused with COOL, Country of Origin Labeling, which is an economically motivated issue, and is focused on differences consumers might place on domestically produced beef. As a policy matter, NAIS is basic in concept but has many complex hurdles to …

The Economic Impact Of Ethanol Production In Hall County, David J. Peters

Department of Agricultural Economics: Faculty Publications

This analysis estimates the economic impact of a 110 million gallon dry-mill ethanol plant in Hall County. The facility is operated by BioFuel Energy LLC and is currently under construction in Wood River. This analysis looks at both the construction and operation impacts of this facility.

Hall County, including Wood River, is part of the Grand Island Micropolitan Statistical Area. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has over 55,000 residents, and has grown by nearly four percent in the last decade. Over 80 percent of the adult population has a high school education, and nearly 16 percent have …

Retail Sales Trends Across Nebraska Counties And Localities, Bruce B. Johnson, Ben Blomendahl

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

Retailing patterns are changing everywhere. Consumer preferences and resources are ever-changing; while simultaneously, the retail sector is constantly evolving into new configurations. Often retail trade centers are pitted against one another in a “zero-sum game” so to speak with any relative gains in trade volume by one occurring at the expense of others. Nebraska is certainly no exception to these universal changes. In fact, the changes often seem compounded across its wide size continuum of towns and cities.

This report represents an update to an earlier report, Retailing Patterns and Trends across Nebraska, 1970-1998. In it we are attempting …

A Global View On Irrigation Development, Karina Schoengold

Cornhusker Economics

Given the current problems that Nebraska is facing with respect to water management and the need to reduce water consumption, it is worthwhile to consider what the relevant issues related to water consumption and management are in other parts of the world. Are other parts of the world facing similar shortages in water availability? What are the historical roots behind the development of irrigation?

Revolving Fund May Provide Alternative For Nebraska Cooperatives, Jeffrey S. Royer, Tyler W. Gilkey, Darrell R. Mark

Cornhusker Economics

Most Nebraska marketing and farm supply cooperatives use age-of-patron plans for managing the investments their members make in the organizations. Under an age-of-patron plan, equity allocated to an individual member from retained patronage refunds is held in the cooperative until that member reaches a particular age, often 65 years. At that point, all the member’s equity is eligible for redemption.

Public Reporting Of Fed Cattle Grid Prices: Policy Reform Consequences, Scott Fausti, Bashir Qasmi, Matthew Diersen

Economics Staff Paper Series (1969 - 2017)

Mandatory livestock price reporting was implemented in April 2001. Empirical evidence indicates a significant change in volatility occurred in publicly reported fed cattle grid premiums and discounts after its implementation. Empirical analysis of grid premiums and discounts across the pre-and post-reform periods indicates that increased transparency is compatible with either an increase or a decrease in price volatility in the post-MPR period. Furthermore, it appears that the public price reporting system for weekly grid premiums and discounts failed to provide an adequate level of transparency prior to the implementation of price reporting reforms. Our methodology extends the literature on the …

Can The Path Be Altered?: Salvaging And Renewing Communities Of The Rural Plains, Larry Swanson

Rural Initiative Program: Publications and Reports

Dr. Larry Swanson, Director of the Center for the Rocky Mountain West at the University of Montana, delivered the second-annual lecture on "Grassland Conservation and Sustainable Communities" on Thursday, April 12, 2007. Dr. Swanson's message that there is hope for rural communities if we act aggressively and immediately was heard by a crowd of 140 at the Great Plains Art Museum in Lincoln, NE. You can learn more about the lecture in the articles below or by visiting www.grasslandfoundation.org. We would like to thank everyone who attended the lecture and those who made the event possible. A special thanks to …

Hog Profitability, Al Prosch

Cornhusker Economics

Pork producers have enjoyed several years of profitable production. In 2002 we began keeping data on estimated breakeven cost and potential profits. Our data is based on an updated production budget for an efficient 1,200 sow farrow to finish unit. Corn and soybean meal costs are taken from the Chicago Board of Trade futures prices, to stay current with changing feed costs. For Nebraska feed costs, soybean meal is valued at the current board price and corn is valued at the board price plus a negative 30 cent basis.

Production Costs, Burton Pflueger

Economics Commentator (1972- 2016)

No abstract provided.

Supreme Court Declares Greenhouse Gas An Air Pollutant, J. David Aiken

Cornhusker Economics

On April 2, 2007, the U.S. Supreme Court in 2 Massachusetts v. EPA ruled 5-4 that carbon dioxide (CO ) was an air pollutant under the Federal Clean Air Act (CAA). The court’s decision means that the Federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is required to reconsider its decision not to regulate carbon monoxide (CO) as an air pollutant when establishing auto tailpipe emission requirements. The court’s decision is an important victory for those seeking a more active United States policy on regulating greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to combat global warming. This newsletter examines the United States role in global warming, …

Measurement Of The Market Data For The Ocean And Coastal Economy, Charles S. Colgan

Publications

This paper supplements reports and data released on the Coastal and Ocean Economies of the United States by the NOEP. It provides a discussion of the relevant literature involved in the investigation of the Ocean and Coastal related Economies, the theoretical background of measures such as gross domestic product (GDP) and gross state product (GSP), and provides details on sources, methods, assumptions, and limitations of the data provided by NOEP.

Those concerned with the health of coastal and ocean resources increasingly need to understand the socio-economic context in which changes are occurring. The market data of the National Ocean Economics …

Economy Of Change: The Organic Market As A Model For Agricultural Development In India, Amanda White

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

In India, 50% of children under five years of age are malnourished amidst a yearly surplus in grain production. Approximately 40% of food is lost in transport on a daily basis, yet the country has been able to prevent major famines for over 60 years. In a country with a GDP of 8-9% and an ever-growing presence on the international economic stage, these double standards cannot be tolerated. 260 million Indians live in extreme poverty, and 40% of those depend mainly on agricultural labor. This sector accounts for approximately 26% of India’s GDP, and provides employment for about 70% of …

Ua23 Western Kentucky University Regional Assessment & Strategic Plan, Paul N. Markham

ALIVE Center Publications

The Regional Stewardship Program is a new initiative that seeks to promote regional and statewide economic development, livable communities, social inclusion, creative governance, and civic participation through public engagement activities initiated by comprehensive university faculty and staff. Its purpose is to link the resources and knowledge of our universities to the needs and challenges of their respective regions. Kentucky is the first state in the nation to launch a statewide stewardship program.

Nebraska’S Micropolitan Statistical Areas: A Growing Piece Of A Shrinking Pie, Randolph L. Cantrell

Rural Initiative Program: Publications and Reports

They have been called “urban islands in a shortgrass sea” (Popper and Popper, 1986) and “middle places” (Swanson, 2007). They are the small urban centers that dot the Great Plains and are home to an important share of the region’s non-metropolitan population and economic activity. Compared to the much larger metropolitan centers such as Omaha and Lincoln, they may appear to be minor players in the state’s social and economic landscape—but that would underestimate their role. Individually they anchor the regional “pillars of growth” identified by Thompson (Thompson et al., 2007), and collectively they play a determining role in the …

Review Of Harvest For Hope: A Guide To Mindful Eating By Jane Goodall With Gary Mcavoy And Gail Hudson, Charles A. Francis

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences (through 2013)

One of the world's preeminent experts on primate behavior, author Jane Goodall now invests her boundless energy traveling and speaking about conservation. After years of studying chimpanzees in the Gombe National Park in Tanzania, Goodall found their very existence threatened by poachers, by encroachment of farming into their habitat, and by global forces far from their wild environment. She is now on a mission to inform the public about what is wrong with our society and its impact on the planet. Harvest for Hope catalogs the problems and provides practical solutions.

“Sustainable Soy” In Santarém: Power Struggles For The Future Of Development, Jake Schoneker

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This study examines the environmental and socio-economic effects of soy development in the city of Santarém, located in the western part of Pará state in the Brazilian Amazon. In the past decade the soybean has emerged as one of Santarém’s primary crops, largely as a result of Cargill Corporation’s construction of a fluvial port in the city that now exports one million tons of soy per year to European markets. The arrival of soy agribusiness in Santarém has transformed the agricultural scene and has had drastic impacts on both local communities and the forest. Surrounding the soy conflict are various …

Ethanol, Corn Price And Weather Shifting Cattle Feeding North, Darrell R. Mark

Cornhusker Economics

Traditionally, Texas, Kansas and Nebraska have ranked as the top three cattle feeding states, in that order, amongst feedyards with 1,000+ head capacities (see Figure 1 on next page). A unique combination of severe winter weather, high corn prices and the rapidly increasing production of ethanol byproducts may have been shifting that pattern in recent months. Cattle on feed data show that Nebraska has had the second largest number of cattle on feed in lots with 1,000+ head capacities since February 1. This resulted from a 22 percent increase in feed numbers since September 2006 in Nebraska. Interestingly, other Northern …

Time For Change In U.S. Farm Policy: Fundamental Reform Emphasizing Institution's Based On Agriculture's Multifunctionality'?, Thomas L. Dobbs

Economics Commentator (1972- 2016)

No abstract provided.

Ethanol Fueling Land Market Advances, Bruce Johnson

Cornhusker Economics

Nebraska farm real estate market values and cash rents show sizable increases for the year ending February 1, 2007. Preliminary findings from the annual University of Nebraska Farm Real Estate Market Developments Survey indicate the average per-acre value of agricultural land rose 14 percent over the past year (Figure 1 and Table 1). This was the largest annual all-land value increase of the past 19 years (Figure 1 and Table 1). Moreover, the percentage increase follows on three previous years of solid advances, which puts the state’s current all-land average value more than 50 percent higher than the 2003 level.

The Wto Decision On U.S. Cotton Policy, Rita Abdelnour, E. Wesley F. Peterson

Cornhusker Economics

In 2002, Brazil filed a complaint about U.S. cotton policies with the World Trade Organization (WTO). After initial consultations and review of the Brazilian complaint, the WTO established a dispute resolution panel in March 2003. The panel returned a ruling in favor of most of the objections in Brazil’s petition in September 2004. The United States appealed this decision but the WTO Appellate Body upheld the original judgment in a ruling issued on March 3, 2005. The cotton subsidy case is of importance for the U.S. cotton industry, but it also has implications for other U.S. commodities. The federal programs …