Agricultural and Resource Economics Commons^™

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 …

Assessing Food Security Across Connecticut Towns For 2009, Kendall Erskine

Honors Scholar Theses

Assessing Food Security Across Connecticut Towns for 2009 Food security is an increasingly critical issue in the United States with health-related issues consistently on the rise. Community food security, an extension of household food security, should be measured in order to better understand the food systems of towns and cities in Connecticut.

This study measured community food security on the town level in Connecticut through quantifying approximately 40 indicators of food security including socio-demographic factors, community food resources, household food security, food resource accessibility, food availability and affordability, and community food production resources. The towns and cities in Connecticut are …

Household Dependence On Forest Income In Rural Zambia, Samuel M. Bwalya

Zambia Social Science Journal

This article estimates the contribution of forests and woodland resources to the incomes of households living around six local forest reserves earmarked for the Joint Forest Management programme in Zambia. It identifies the key factors that influence their decisions to engage in commercial exploitation of forest resources. The analysis shows that, in addition to the subsistence use of forest resources, rural households earn 30 % of their cash income from harvesting and selling forest products. The amount of forest income that households earn varies significantly across study sites and is influenced by market and household level factors as well as …

Structural Differences In Rural Food Poverty Between Female And Male-Headed Households, Ceren Gürkan, Issa Sanogo

Zambia Social Science Journal

This article explores differences among female-headed households (FHHs) and male-headed households (MHHs) in terms of food poverty in Cameroon, Laos, Madagascar, Mauritania, and Tanzania. Stochastic dominance analysis shows that FHHs are more likely to be food poor related to MHHs, though this trend is less clear when looking only at food poor households. This ambiguity was clarified using discriminant function analysis. The results show that both female and male food poor households face the same obstacles to rural employment across the countries; barriers to access to land, productive assets, education, remittances and over-dependence on subsistence agriculture. Although further research is …

Vol. 2, No. 1 (May 2011) Table Of Contents

Zambia Social Science Journal

No abstract provided.

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.

An Environmental And Economic Analysis Of The Printing Practices Of Periodicals And Publications By The University Of Rhode Island And Similar Universities Nationwide, Matthew B. Cotton

Senior Honors Projects

An Environmental and Economic Analysis of the Printing Practices of Periodicals and Publications by the University of Rhode Island and Similar Universities Nationwide

Matthew Cotton

Faculty Sponsor: Thomas Husband, Natural Resources Science

Being environmentally-friendly, or “Going Green”, is a relatively new way of thinking that provides both immediate and long term benefits for the environment and the planet while also creating new and exciting business and marketing opportunities. To tap into this movement requires a great deal of commitment, acceptance to change, and selflessness. It means altering one’s perception of the world and their place in it, along with the …

Rule Britannia: Britain, Breadfruit, And The Birth Of Transoceanic Plant Transportation, Annabel Tudor

Master of Liberal Studies Theses

This paper examines the events that precipitated transoceanic plant transportation and British imperial expansion during the second half of the eighteenth century. Combined circumstances forced the British to explore transoceanic plant transportation to make colonies, especially those in the British West Indies, more self-sufficient. Hurricanes in the Caribbean destroyed ground crops vital for slaves and plantation operations, and fallout from a volcanic eruption in Iceland poisoned soil in Britain and northern Europe for years. Wars with France and America inhibited oceanic trade and trade routes. These circumstances fostered the British desire to control its own food supply and resulted in …

Recetario De Productos Elaborados A Base De Sorgo (Sorghum Bicolor, L. Moench), Kimberly Christiansen

INTSORMIL Scientific Publications

El Centro Nacional de Tecnologia Agropecuaria y Forestal (CENTA), “Enrique Álvarez Córdova”, a través del Laboratorio de Tecnología de Alimentos, ha venido desarrollando por más de una década, investigaciones relacionadas al uso de sorgo en la alimentación humana, con la colaboración del instituto para la investigación en Sorgo y Mijo de los Estados Unidos de América (INTSORMIL). A partir del año 2000, las investigaciones en el cultivo del sorgo han tomado más auge, por lo que el Programa de Granos Básicos, como apoyo al trabajo que realiza el Laboratorio de Tecnología de Alimentos, ha desarrollado una serie de variedades mejoradas, …

Ec872 Crop Budgets: Nebraska 2011, Robert N. Klein, Roger Wilson

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension: Historical Materials

This publication contains crop production budgets for 13 crops and 50 cropping systems, as well as tables of power, machinery, labor, and input costs used to develop these budgets. Each budget consists of five sections: • Heading • List of representative field operations • List of materials and services used • Operations and interest tabulations • Overhead costs including real estate taxes and opportunitycharges The budgets are presented in a worksheet format with a “Your Estimate’’ column for recording cost modifications. Budget Divisions The heading consists of the crop name, source, amount, and method of water application, operating systemdescription, yield …

Renegotiating Gender And Class In The Berry Fields Of Michoacán, Mexico, Donna Chollett

Anthropology Publications

This article examines the renegotiation of gender and class in a rural Mexican community where economic crisis in the sugar industry led foreign agribusinesses to promote blackberry and raspberry production for export and hire primarily women as berry pickers. Analysis focuses on the transition from a sugar economy where mostly men worked in the cane fields to non-traditional agricultural exports when women entered agricultural waged labor in unprecedented numbers. This restructuring of the regional economy raises important questions regarding the marginalization of differentiated subaltern groups and the nature of new sets of power relations between transnational agribusinesses, berry growers, and …

The History And Future Of Genetically Modified Crops: Frankenfoods, Superweeds, And The Developing World, Brooke Glass-O'Shea

Journal of Food Law & Policy

In a 1992 letter to the New York Times, a man named Paul Lewis referred to genetically modified (GM) crops as "Frankenfood," and wryly suggested it might be "time to gather the villagers, light some torches and head to the castle." Little did Lewis know that his neologism would become the rallying cry for activists around the world protesting the dangers of genetic engineering. The environmental activist group Greenpeace made great use of the "Frankenfood" epithet in their anti-GM campaigns of the 1990s, though they have since backed away from the word and the hardline stance it represents. But genetically …

The Impact Of Water Price Uncertainty On The Adoption Of Precision Irrigation Systems, Karina Schoengold, David L. Sunding

Department of Agricultural Economics: Faculty Publications

The paper examines whether a firm is more or less likely to adopt conservation technology when input prices are stochastic. The results are critical to determining whether programs and contracts that reduce input price uncertainty may deter the adoption of conservation practices. An economic model of the technology adoption decision shows that the net effect of input price risk is ambiguous and depends on several factors: the mean price effect, the shutdown effect, and the risk aversion effect. Results are estimated using water price and irrigation technology adoption data. The results show that a stable input price increases the adoption …

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 …

Be A Part Of The Plan - Engaging People - Linking The World, Charlotte Narjes, Rebecca J. Vogt, Connie Hancock

Cornhusker Economics

Broadband is transforming the economy and society. Businesses are using telecommunications to speed up transactions, reduce costs and expand their markets. New technologies such as cloud computing are allowing businesses to further reduce costs, and increase flexibility and mobility. Students at all levels are taking courses via distance learning technologies. eHealth technologies are making complete patient information available at the point of care, eliminating the need to run redundant tests and reducing the risk of dangerous drug interactions. Broadband technologies are also opening significant opportunities for the agricultural sector to increase accuracy of production and profits, and stay abreast of …

Rural - Urban Interdependencies: What Can We Learn From Minnesota?, Cheryl A. Burkhart-Kriesel

Cornhusker Economics

In the current era of political hard choices driven by government austerity, it is not surprising to see a change in emphasis from statewide community collaboration and partnership to “every community for itself.” When tough choices at the state and regional level need to be made, one of the key issues is often where to put those limited resources . . . is it in rural areas or urban areas?

But what if we stepped back and approached this in a different way . . . instead of considering resource allocation in terms of rural or urban, what if we …

North Central Extension Risk Management Education Center, Cheryl Griffith

Cornhusker Economics

Today’s farmers and ranchers face an unprecedented risk environment. Extreme price volatility has impacted the cost of inputs for producers, as well as the prices they receive for farm commodities. Livestock producers face fluctuations forcing them to re-evaluate their business and marketing plans. Some face liquidation, due to declining profits stemming from high feed prices and reduced consumer demand. With a $1 per bushel swing possible in corn prices, feeder cattle prices could continue to be very volatile in the months to come (Feuz, 2011). At this point in the planting season there is still the potential to be short …

Do Emotions Matter In Environmental Choice? The Effect Of :) And :(, Natalia Czap, Hans Czap, Marianna Khachaturyan, Gary D. Lynne, Mark E. Burbach

Cornhusker Economics

The problem of shared resources, especially Common Pool Resources (CPRs), has been studied extensively. In such cases (e.g. aquifers), if the users are driven solely by self-interest and do not cooperate/coordinate their actions, over-extraction occurs. However, over the years many researchers (e.g. Ostrom, 2010) have found that users are not always driven solely by self-interest, and often manage to prevent the overuse of resources through self-regulation, tempering their self-interest. Similarly, while the use of other shared resources such as water in rivers and creeks and the atmosphere may not lead to over-extraction, a variety of “downstream” problems can arise, as …

Food And Wine Tourism In Post-War Lebanon, Lindsay Milich

Recreation, Parks, and Tourism Administration

Tourism has played a major role in Lebanon since its peak period of 1930-1974; sometimes subsiding as a result of war and conflict, but always rebounding at least to some extent. Lebanon’s touristic appeal includes its geographic location between the East and the West, its varied landscape (beaches and mountains), its hospitable and diverse population, and its well loved cuisine. The focus of this study was food and wine initiatives across the country, and their role as related to the traditional tourism industry. The purpose of this study was to develop an understanding of the nature of regional and community …

Economic Input–Output Life Cycle Assessment Of Water Reuse Strategies In Residential Buildings And Communities, Derek J. Gardels

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

The objective of this study was to determine the environmental sustainability and economic feasibility of five water reuse designs using economic input-output life cycle assessments and benefit/cost analyses. These five water reuse designs were evaluated for four regions of the United States including the Northwest (Seattle), Southwest (Scottsdale), Midwest (Omaha), and Southeast (Tampa). The water reuse designs include a greywater reuse system with no treatment for sub-surface landscape irrigation for a single-family residential house (Model 1), an indoor greywater reuse system with treatment for toilet flushing and laundry washing for a single-family residential house (Model 2), a hybrid untreated greywater …

Understanding Bioprospecting: Can Indigenous Populations Benefit From The Search For Pharmaceuticals In Areas Of High Biodiversity, Emily Schwindt

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

Bioprospecting is a controversial issue, and anthropologists and other scientists are quick to take sides. The idea of large corporations pumping money into conservation and development programs, while developing what could be the latest life-saving drug simply sounds too good to be true, and often times is. However, if all parties work together and proceed with caution, these benefits could become more than a fantasy. Looking at case studies from Costa Rica, India, South Africa and Panama this paper attempts to find patterns among successful bioprospecting agreements and note shortcomings and identify risks. This information will be used to suggest …

Determining Profitability Strategies For Various Retained Ownership Enterprises In Utah, Matthew H. Hirschi

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

With the price of corn now over $6 per bushel, and with feedlot total cost per pound of gain now approaching $1.00 per pound of gain there are new incentives to try and add weight to calves outside of feedlots. The question then arises of how to add weight to a calf in the most economical manner. There are many different feeding programs to consider. However, with few exceptions, the cheapest way to add weight outside of a feedlot usually involves the calf grazing for an extended period of time. Winter pasture grazing, wheat pasture grazing and corn stalk grazing …

Economic Outlook: First Quarter 2011, Emmanuel Opoku, Scott Fausti

Economics Commentator (1972- 2016)

No abstract provided.

Uncertainty And Producer Fed Cattle Marketing Decisions: Theory And Evidence, Scott Fausti, Brent Lange

Economics Staff Paper Series (1969 - 2017)

The effect of carcass quality uncertainty on the structure of the slaughter cattle market is investigated. A theoretical extension of the “Theory of Factor Price Disparity” is provided. It is demonstrated that the coexistence of a risk premium wedge between pricing mechanisms (live wt., dressed wt., and grid) in conjunction with varying degrees of risk aversion across fed cattle producers explains the coexistence of multiple pricing mechanisms. It is also demonstrated that risk and risk preference provides a plausible explanation for the structure of the fed cattle market and for the variability in slaughter volume across marketing channels. Empirical evidence …

Panel Discussion Presentation: Everything Is Connected — Why Mexico’S Problems Are Everyone’S Problems On The Colorado River, And The Other Way Around, Bret C. Birdsong

North American Energy Water Nexus Roundtable

Panel Discussion: U.S.-Mexico Transboundary Perspectives

Colorado River Compact:

Allocates water among Upper Basin and Lower Basin
- 7.5 maf for each basin
- Extra 1 maf for lower basin

Supplies Mexico first from surplus above total apportionment to upper an lower basins
- If surplus insufficient to supply Mexico, then Mexico’s share supplied equally by upper and lower basins

Upper division states “shall not cause” flow to lower basin to be less than 75 maf in 10 years

The Role Of Sorghum In Food Security In Central America, Lloyd W. Rooney

INTSORMIL Presentations

Discusses the qualities of sorghum that make it suitable for human consumption, with a focus on its use in Central America.

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 Impact Of Qmm On Social Relations In Fort-Dauphin, Christopher B. Collier

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

My interest in this subject began with a general desire to understand how Malagasy society adapts to “outsiders.” We learned throughout the semester about the various external forces that have shaped the culture of the island since the arrival of the first people here thousands of years ago. At first, my ideas were focused more on the experiences of people immigrating to Madagascar. I observed very particular patterns: immigrants of certain ethnicities fill specific socioeconomic niches in specific geographic areas, and with varying reception from the Malagasy community.

I came to realize, however, that similar patterns take place even between …

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 …